Distribution of Pearls and Peart-shell. 79 
strings of pearls, most of which no doubt came from the 
Persian Gulf fisheries.* In the ruins of Babylon, however, 
no pearls have been found ; the relatively moist soil con- 
taining much saltpetre may account for their non-survival 
for so many ages.” 
According to Kunz and Stevenson (of. ct, p. 405), 
one of the most interesting examples of the use of a pear! 
in ancient times is a beautiful prehistoric pearl pin from 
Paphos, on the Island of Cyprus, which is mounted with 
a large marine pearl measuring 14 mm. in diameter, and 
weighing about 7o grains. [t is surmounted by a small 
fresh-water pearl 4 mm. in diameter. 
In excavations made in the Huaran district in Syria, 
a number of pearls were found in a rock-cut tomb said to 
be of Roman origin. The pearls were still attached to a 
bronze wire with which they had been strung. A_ pearl 
pin and a single earring bearing a pearl have also been 
recorded from a rock-tomb at Caesarea, in Syria.% 
Pearls were esteemed by the Greeks in the time of 
Homer, who appears to allude to them under the name 
TplyAnva (triple drops or beads) in his description of Juno, 
in the Iliad, xiv., 183; and in the Odyssey, xviii, 208. 
Classical designs of Juno usually show the three pear- 
shaped pearls pendent from her ears. The pearls of the 
ancient Greeks were obtained probably through the 
medium of the Phoenicians, and during the Persian wars 
of the fifth century B.c., they doubtless extended their 
acquaintance with these beautiful gems.” 
The necklaces and earrings, on the heads of female 
divinities, goddesses, and nymphs, represented on Greek 
coins from the fifth century B.C., are considered by many 
2 MY bs Vb BU 
26 Kunz and Stevenson, of. cz/., p. 5. 
26 Tbid., p. 406. 
aI Ma by \2b ee 
