982 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1896. 



Onyx, a variety of quartz. — Given iu the Revised Version of tlie 

 Hebrew sholiam. ISIioJunns set in gold were ])nt on each of the two 

 shoulderstraps of tlie e2)}tod of the High Priest, and the two together 

 liad engraved the names of the tribes of Israel (Exodus xxviii, 12). 

 It is mentioned in Genesis ii, 12, in the account of the Garden of Eden. 



Jasper, a variety of quartz (two specimens). — This is the accepted 

 meaning of the Hebrew name yashpeh, the words being probably 

 identical in origin. 



Carnelian, a variety of quartz (three specimens). — Possibly 

 Hebrew odem of the High Priest's breastplate (Exodus xxviii, 17), and 

 tlie sardius in Revelation iv, 3; xxi, 20. 



Chrysolite (two specimens). — Possibly Hebrew tarsMsh. 



Amber (two specimens). — Probably the Hebrew hashmal (Ezekiel i, 

 4). Some suppose that amber is understood by Hebrew leshem. 



Chrysoprase, a variety of quartz (four specimens). — Enumerated 

 in the description of the foundation of the Heavenly City (Revelation 

 xxi, 20). 



Lapis lazuli (Persia). — Some authorities suppose that by sappir 

 not sapphire but lapis lazuli is meant. 



Pearl. — It is supposed by some that the pearl is meant by the 

 Hebrew penmim, which is often employed in the Old Testament as a 

 figure of something valuable, and jirecious.' 



In addition to the gems there was also exhibited a silver breast- 

 plate, used as an ornament for the manuscript copy of the Pentateuch 

 {Torah) employed in the synagogue, which represented the twelve 

 stones which were set in the breastplate of the High Priest^ with the 

 names of the twelve tribes of Israel underneath them. 



A SELECTION OF THE COINS OF BIBLE LANDS. 



(Plate 9.) 



Coined money did not circulate among the Israelites previous to 

 their return from the Babylonian captivity, and indeed there is no 

 evidence that it did then. It is unquestioned, however, that specific 

 weights of gold and silver were well recognized iu commercial transac- 

 tions from a very early period.' This was principally silver in the 

 form of bars — ingots — translated in the authorized and revised versions 



'Proverbs iii, 15; xxxi, 10; Job xxviii, 18. Jesus uses the pearl for the same 

 purpose (Matthew vii, 6; xiii, 45): "Give not that which is holy uuto the dogs, 

 neither cast your pearls before swine, lest haply they trample them under their feet, 

 and turn and rend you." Again, " The Kingdom of Heaven is like unto a man that 

 is a merchant seeking goodly pearls ; and having found one of great price, ho went 

 and sold all that he had and bought it." 



^Exodus xxviii. 



'Compare the first chapters in Ernest Babelon's Lea origines de la monnaie con- 

 8id6r^s au point de vue 6conomique et histonque, Paris, 1897. 



