Chian stone was black; he also says it was translucent, perhaps a reference to its surface appearance when polished. In section 33, where Theophrastus gives brief descriptions of inferior variegated dark stones used for seals, he apparently compares one of them with a stone from Chios. On the whole it would appear that the ancient Chian quarries yielded a black or dark marble or other rock, in which there were spots or streaks of light-colored minerals.
That the Theban quarries here mentioned by Theophrastus were located in the vicinity of ancient Thebes in Egypt rather than the Greek city of Thebes in Boeotia is almost certain, for not only does he go on immediately to name particular stones found near Thebes in Egypt, but he also says—what is well known— that the ancient Egyptian locality was celebrated for its great stone quarries. If Theophrastus is referring to quarries in or near the Egyptian Thebes, then he must be speaking of the still so plentiful in this part of the Nile Valley. Even now there is evidence of the ancient workings there. If, as is more probable, Theophrastus meant to include the quarries in the general territory of Thebes, then sandstone and even granite could also be mentioned, although the great source of granite was at Syene (modern Aswan), about a hundred miles or so south of the city of Thebes. It is perhaps significant that the Theban stone which Pliny30 mentions was apparently a granite.
6. alabastrites. This was well known in ancient times, as is attested by numerous references to it in the works of early writers. Judging from the description given by Pliny,81 this stone was in all probability compact stalagmitic calcium carbonate, the onyx marble of Egypt, sometimes called "oriental alabaster" to distinguish it from true alabaster, which is similar in appearance but is actually a compact variety of gypsum, a hydrated calcium sulfate. Even today this particular onyx marble is often loosely called "alabaster." It is a beautiful white or yellowish-white stone, slightly translucent, and frequently, though not always, traversed by bands of slightly differing shades. That this stone was extensively quarried in ancient
80 XXXVI, 63, 157.
s* XXXVI, 59-61.
