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The coral referred to in the Bible is the precious coral (Corallium rubrum), the formation of which is a calcareous secretion of certain polyps resulting in a tree-like formation. Presently coral is found in the Mediterranean , the northern coast of Africa furnishing the dark red, Sardinia the yellow or salmon-colored, and the coast of Italy ...
A lapidary is a text in verse or prose, often a whole book, that describes the physical properties and metaphysical virtues of precious and semi-precious stones, that is to say, a work on gemology. [1] It was frequently used as a medical textbook, since it also includes practical information about the supposed medical application of each stone ...
Symmachus, an ancient Jewish translator whose Greek translation of the Pentateuch appeared in Origen's Hexapla, has also written κεραύνιος in Exodus 28:17, literally meaning ‘of a thunderbolt’, following the resemblance of the Hebrew word bareḳet to the word baraḳ ‘lightning’. Jerome, however, understood the Greek word to ...
Lapis lazuli (UK: / ˌ l æ p ɪ s ˈ l æ z (j) ʊ l i, ˈ l æ ʒ ʊ-,-ˌ l i /; US: / ˈ l æ z (j) ə l i, ˈ l æ ʒ ə-,-ˌ l i /), or lapis for short, is a deep-blue metamorphic rock used as a semi-precious stone that has been prized since antiquity for its intense color.
An amethyst stone from South Africa. Amethyste or Amethystos (Ancient Greek: Ἀμέθυστη, romanized: Améthustē, lit. 'non-drunk') is supposedly a nymph in Greek mythology who was turned into a precious stone by the goddess Diana/Artemis in order to avoid a worse fate at the hands of the god Dionysus, thus explaining the origin of the semi-precious stone amethyst.
Aqeeq, akik or aqiq (Arabic: العقيق) means quartz in Arabic, and agate in Turkish, however in the context of rings usually refers to a ring set with a chalcedony stone. Well-known types of chalcedony are carnelian, agate, and onyx.
Another reference to a gem by the name of khalkedón (χαλκηδών) is found in the Book of Revelation (21:19); however, it is a hapax legomenon, found nowhere else in the Bible, so it is hard to tell whether the precious gem mentioned in Revelation is the same as the mineral known by this name today. [7]
In Exodus 28:19, one of the precious stones set into the hoshen (the breastplate worn by the High Priest of Israel) is called, in Hebrew, leshem, which is often translated into English as "jacinth". [5]