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Sec. III, Ch. 11: Turquoise

Sec. III, Ch. 11: Turquoise Page of 366 Sec. III, Ch. 11: Turquoise Text size:minus plus Restore normal size   Mail page  Print this page
The Turquoise.                              223
(still scratched by the Arabs), and the central one, not known precisely save to the Bedouins, who call it Jebel Shekayk. But all the stones from these localities soon lose their colour.
The Arabian Turquoise, though no longer worked, was highly prized by the ancient Egyptians, who opened Tur­quoise-mines in the WadyMaghara, in the Desertof Sinai. Wé know from existing inscriptions that the copper and turquoise mines of the Sinaitic Peninsula were taken possession of by Seneferu, a king who reigned as far back as the fourth dynasty, at the very beginning of authentic Egyptian history ; and that these mines were worked to about the end of the 19th dynasty. The Turquoise occurs there either in nodules scattered through a base of red marl, or in veins running through red sandstone. The mines were visited and described some years ago by Mr. H. Bauerman.
The late Major MacDonald sent to the Exhibition of 1851 some fine Turquoises which he had obtained from the red sandstone quarries in the Desert of Arabia. Egyptian Turquoises, however, are of only small value, because their colour usually fades when exposed to the light. So it happened with those exhibited. Harry Emanuel, and myself purchased one of them for the large sum of £2,000 ; but the colour soon faded, and most of the money was lost.
It is known that Turquoise was extensively worked by the ancient Mexicans previously to the discovery of America, and it is probable that this was at least one of the stones known under the name of Chalchihuitl, and noticed by Bernal Diaz, Torquinadó, and others. The Spaniards found that this "green stone" was highly esteemed for personal ornaments and for the temples of the gods ; and
Sec. III, Ch. 11: Turquoise Page of 366 Sec. III, Ch. 11: Turquoise
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