556 



REPORT t)F NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1900. 



become that the courts hav«^ l)een called iu to decide what constitutes a 

 rubv. Their decision was in substance that the word ruby could be 

 apjilied only to the red-colored corundum, anhydrous oxide of alumi- 

 num occurring read^' formed in nature. 



VII. GEMS OF THE BIBLE. 



The Bible contains three lists of g-ems. The first of these is an 

 account of the jewels on the ephod of Aaron. The ej>h(><l is described 

 as having a front part and a back part fastened at each shoulder with 

 an onyx mounted in gold and engrayed with the names of the children 

 of Israel, six on each stone, to memorialize the Lord of the promise 

 made to them. [Exodus xxviii, 6, 12, 29.] The breastplate was made 

 of the same material as the ephod., and folded so as to form a kind of a 

 pouch in which the U rim and Thummin were placed. [Exodus xxxix, 

 9.] The external part of this gorget, or "breastplate of judgment" 

 Avas set with four rows of gems, three in each row, each stone set in a 

 golden socket and having engraved upon it the name of one of the 

 twelve tribes of Israel. [Exodus xxviii, 17-20.] 



The following lists taken from Biblical antiquities by Adler and 

 Casanowicz^ give the names of these stones in the original and in the 

 Septuagint, together with the meaning adopted by most authorities, 

 the rendering of the Revised Version, both in text and margin being 

 added in parentheses: 



In many instances the equivalent of the Biblical names of gems is 

 uncertain in the nomenclature of modern mineralogy, and as a conse- 

 ([uence there are several distinct lists of names given for the stones in 

 the breastplate. In the Division of Oriental Religions in the U. S. 

 National Museum is a very old silver breastplate employed as an orna- 

 ment for the maiuiscript copy of the Torah, or Pentateuch, used in an 

 ancient synagogue. The twelve stones, with the names of the twelve 

 tribes, according to it are as follows: Garnet, Levi; diamond, Zebulon; 

 amethyst. Gad; jasper, Benjamin; chrysolite, Simeon; sapphire, 



' Report of the U. S. National Museum, 1896, p. 94:1 



