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COMMENTARY
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even though early authors speak of such stones as though they were common in their day. Possibly the stone was called omphax only because of its color, and for this reason it may have been some other stone such as green quartz. Stephanides207 suggested that it might have been the variety of quartz now known as chrysoprase, a translucent form of chalcedony colored bright green by nickel. Here again, surviving examples of seals made of this material which would confirm the identification are lacking. Both these identifications should be regarded as conjectural, since the total lack of description makes it impossible to determine which particular stone was called omphax.
30. roc\ crystal. This is the generally accepted identification of κρύσταλλος, and there can be little question that it is correct. In discussing crystallus, Pliny208 refers to the Greek name as a word meaning a kind of ice; he clearly describes the hexagonal form of crystalline quartz, and even mentions the occurrence of variations in the characteristic pyramidal terminations of the crystals. Though Theophrastus lists it as one of the stones upon which seals were engraved, the small number of examples contained in modern collections of ancient engraved stones indicates that it was not commonly used for this purpose in his day. However, numerous specimens oi engraved rock crystal of earlier date are known. About five per cent of the carved Mycenaean stones described by Furtwangler209 and less than five per cent of the early Greek gems are made of this material, whereas less than one per cent of the stones ascribed to the Hellenistic and early Roman period are made of it. In Roman times rock crystal was commonly carved into relatively large objects such as dishes and drinking glasses, and these seem to have been highly valued.210
30. amethyst. There is little doubt that the stone named άμΑθνσον by Theophrastus was identical with our amethyst, a purple variety of
207 The Mineralogy of Theophrastus, p. 76.
208 XXXVII, 23.
209 Furtwangler, Die antigen Gemmen, Vol. II, pp. 7-18, 25-27, 37-69, 130-46, 152-
53. 153-73·
210 Pliny, XXXVII, 27-29.
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