The Curious Lore of Precious Stones: Being a description of their sentiments and folk lore, superstitions, symbolism, mysticism, use in medicine, protection, prevention, religion, and divination. Crystal gazing, birth-stones, lucky stones and talismans, astral, zodiacal, and planetaryKunz, George Frederick
Religion
The Curious Lore of Precious Stones: Being a description of their sentiments and folk lore, superstitions, symbolism, mysticism, use in medicine, protection, prevention, religion, and divination. Crystal gazing, birth-stones, lucky stones and talismans, astral, zodiacal, and planetary
Kunz, George Frederick
Gems; Gems -- Folklore
The principal necklace was undoubtedly regarded by the fair Egyptian
as an amulet of great power, but it failed to protect her from an
untimely end; perhaps, however, its virtues may have aided her soul in
its passage through the trials and tests imposed in the underworld. Of
the numerous pendants which lent to the necklace its peculiar quality
as an amulet, three, in carnelian, figure the god Bes; seven, also
in carnelian, the hippopotamus-goddess Toeris, of whom there are
besides two representations in lapis-lazuli; then we have a heart of
lapis-lazuli; a cat of lapis-lazuli; four falcons of carnelian; one
crocodile of carnelian and two of lapis-lazuli; four fish of carnelian,
as well as two others of a blackish-white and of a green stone,
respectively, and two scorpions of carnelian, and seven flower-forms
of the same stone. The greater part of the beads in this necklace are
of annular form, of gold, electrum, ivory, or lapis-lazuli; there are
a few larger annular or spherical beads of carnelian, chrysoprase, and
malachite, and measuring up to 3.5 cm. in diameter.[20]
A necklace, from the time of the Old Empire (c. 3500 B.C.), and having
for its chief adornment a turquoise pendant rudely fashioned into
the form of an ibex, was found by the German Orient-Gesellschaft at
Abusîr el-Meleq in 1905. This necklace, the parts of which were found
about the neck of a body, presumably that of a young man, was composed
of rounded and annular beads of carnelian and shell, as well as of
flat, perforated fragments of turquoise and almandine garnet and an
approximately lozenge-shaped bead of amethyst 1.7 cm. long and 1.4 cm.
broad. The chief ornament was the turquoise ibex 1.7 cm. in length and
0.9 cm. high.[21] This figure suggests a comparison with the animal and
bird forms fashioned out of turquoise that have been found in Indian
graves in Arizona and New Mexico, and it probably had the quality of a
fetich, or at least of a talisman, intended to guard the wearer of the
necklace from harm.
That there was in Egypt a strong inclination to use a certain
particular stone for a given amulet, will be noted in the case of those
inscribed with special chapters of the Book of the Dead. This is also
true of amulets of certain forms. For instance, the head-rest amulet
is usually of hematite as is also the carpenter’s square. Of the heart
amulets, numbering 47 in the rich collections of the Cairo Museum,
nine are of carnelian, four of hematite, two of lapis-lazuli, and two
each of green porphyry and green jasper, carnelian being thus the most
favored among the more precious materials. Amulets of animal form are
plentifully represented in this collection, figuring a large variety
of members of the animal kingdom such as the hippopotamus, crocodile,
lion, bull, cow, hare, dog-headed ape, cat, dog (somewhat doubtful),
jackal, hedgehog, frog, hawk, cobra and fishes, to which list may be
added a four-headed ram and a ram-headed sphinx.[22]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account