On the Twelve Gems

1On the twelve gems. By our holy father Epiphanius, Bishop of Cyprus, to Diodorus, Bishop of Tyre, concerning the book of the twelve stones that are in the ornaments of Aaron. Prologue.

The first stone is sardius, so called the Babylonian; but it is fiery in kind and blood-like, resembling the sardine fish; therefore it is called sardius, taking the name from its kind. It is found in Babylon, toward Assyria. The stone is bright; and it is powerful for healing, which doctors use for swellings and other wounds caused by iron. There is also another sardonyx which is called Molochas; it is soft of texture, and it has the same appearance, turning pale, and it is most much-blooming near the beginning of spring, when the passions begin.

The stone is topaz, red in kind beyond coal; and it is found in Topaz, a city of India, by those who once mined stones there, in the heart of another stone which the miners, having seen to be bright, and having indicated an alabastron to some, departed for a small price. The Thebans brought it to the queen of that time; and she, receiving it, placed it in the middle of her forehead in her diadem. The stone has such a test: being rubbed with a medical probe, it does not give a red juice according to its color, but a milky one; and the vessels are filled as much as the one rubbing desires, and the previous weight is not diminished at all. This juice from it is also useful for an eye ailment; and being drunk, it opposes dropsy and the sea-storms caused by grapes.

The stone is emerald. This is also called green; and it is pale in kind, and there is a certain difference among them; for some call them Neronian, others Domitian. The Neronian is bitter, very pale in kind, and also of a shining nature. Whether it is called Neronian or Domitian for such a reason, is because they say that Nero or Domitian poured enough oil into vessels, and from the oil the oil turns green with time, and by this, the stone being soaked, becomes more bright in color. Others say that a certain Nero, a craftsman of the old painters, or a stone-worker, discovered the most necessary thing of the emerald, and from this it is called Neronian, and the others Domitian. But there are also other emeralds: the first in Judea is very much like the Neronian, and the other in Ethiopia, which is said to have come into being in the Phasis river. Phasis is what the Greeks call the Indus, but the barbarians call the Ganges. They also say that coal is found in it; for there, Moses says, is the coal and the stone...

2Green. They say the power of the stone, namely the emerald, is in reflecting the face. The myth-makers also say it is prophetic.

1.4 Stone: coal. This kind has a sharp, reddish tint. It is produced in Carthage of Libya, which is called Africa. Others say this stone is found in this way: it is not sought during the day, but at night, like a torch from a distance or a sparkling coal; and as it appears from afar, those searching for it recognize it and find it easily. But when carried, it is impossible to hide, for whatever garments might cover it, its radiance appears from outside the fold, whence it is called coal. The fulgurite stone is near to this, because it is found in the same place.

1.5 Stone: sapphire, purpling, like the appearance of black Tyrian purple. Many kinds of this exist; for there is the royal kind and the gold-streaked kind, but this one is not so much to be marveled at as the purpling diopside. This too is said to be in India and Ethiopia. Therefore, they say among the Indians there is a temple of Dionysus having steps made of sapphire stone, even if it is unbelievable to the many. But the stone is wonderful, well-formed, and graceful. Therefore, they also set this in rings and armlets, especially kings. It is a wound-remover; for being rubbed and becoming moist and fumigating, it heals wounds when applied to the affected places with milk. It has also been written in the Law that the vision seen by Moses on the mountain, and the law given, is said to have been on sapphire stone.

1.6 Stone: jasper. This is emerald-like in appearance; it is found near the banks of the Thermodon river and around Amathus in Cyprus. It is also much called 'amathusian.' The appearance of the stone is such: it is turning emerald-green, but is sharper and more dim; and from within the body it is green, resembling copper having four-lined veins. As we heard, this is a fantasy, as the mythologists say. There is another kind, more blue-grey like the sea, deeper in bloom and in dye; and another in the caves, in the mountain of Ida in Phrygia, resembling the cochineal from blood, being more translucent.

3One gem is like wine, more yellow than the undiluted sort, for it is not of a single color or of the same power; one is more tawny and whiter, neither very shining nor receding. Another is like crystal water, which the myth-makers call a phantom of visions. This was found among the Iberians and the shepherds of the Hyrkanians near the Caspian land. Another is jasper, not very shining and green, possessing lines in its midst. There is also another jasper, called the ancient one, which resembles either snow or the foam of the sea. The myth-makers say that hunters fear this one and phantoms in the field.

1.7 The Lygirion stone. We have in no way known the discovery of this, neither from the physiologists nor from any of the ancients who have studied these matters. We do find a stone called the lagkurion, which some call the lagourion in the coarse dialect; and perhaps I think this is the lygirion, since the divine writings have translated the names differently, such as the emerald green, and because in the naming of these stones they did not even mention the hyacinth, even though it is a transparent and precious stone; thus the divine writing calls this lygirion to our mind so that we might not miss it. The hyacinth has various appearances; for the deeper the color of the stone is found, the more necessary it is than the others. The hyacinth resembles the heath, or perhaps it is somewhat purple-tinted. Therefore also the divine writing says that the priestly garments are adorned with hyacinth and porphyry. The first stone is called thalassites, the second rhodinos, the third nativos; the fourth is called channaios, and the fifth perileukios. These are found in the inner barbarity of Scythia. These stones, in addition to being precious, possess such a power: when thrown into coals of fire, they themselves are not harmed, but they extinguish the coals. Not only this, but if someone takes the stone, wraps it in a shield, and places it upon coals of fire, even the covering shield is not ignited but remains unburnt. It is said that the stone is useful to women in childbirth, and it is also a repeller of phantoms.

1.8 The Agate stone. This was understood to be called perileukos, which is found under the hyacinth; and it is wonderful, appearing subaquatic in form, and around the outside...

4It has a white color, like marble or elephant ivory. And this is found around Scythia. Among these stones is one having the color of a lion. If rubbed with water and applied to the bite of a beast, it repels the venom of a scorpion, vipers, and such things.

1.9 The amethyst stone. This stone glows deeply according to its circumference, and it is whiter at the center, emitting a wine-colored appearance. Its form is varied; perhaps it also comes into being in the mountains of Libya, for one kind is near pure hyacinth, while another is like a snail-shell. It is found on the shores of the sea of that same Libya.

1.10 The chrysolite stone. Some have called this gold-leaf. It is indeed golden-colored, and it is found in a deep well near the wall of Achaemenian Babylon; for they call Babylon and that well Achaemenian because, they say, the father of King Cyrus was called Achaemenes. There is also gold-dust. This, when rubbed and drunk for stomach and abdominal ailments, is medicinal.

1.11 The beryl stone is sea-blue and sea-dyed, having the appearance of the water-hyacinth. It comes into being near the boundary of the mountain called Taurus. If anyone wishes to reflect this stone against the sun, it appears as if it contains transparent sea-foam within. Another beryl is near the eye-pupils of the dragon. There is yet another similar to wax, which appeared near the outlet of the Euphrates river.

1.12 The onyx stone. This stone has a very yellow hue. They say that the nymphs of kings or of wealthy men delight in this stone, and some have even turned this stone over into their own ornaments. There are also others called onyxes by the same name, which are some near to honey-colored wax; some say they are formed from dripping water. They call them onyxes naturally, because the nail of noble men is shared with marble along with the likeness of blood; others also sometimes call the marble stone onyx falsely because of the purity of its whiteness.