7 8 S/iclls as ci'idciicc of the Mio-ratiojis. 



Tlie inhabitants nf the Island of Bahrein — the Tylos 

 of Ptolemy — have been devoted to pearling from time 

 immemorial, and the fishing to-day is carried on much as 

 it was 2,000 years ago. This island was in touch with 

 Chaldean civilization, and one of the traditional sources 

 of the Phoenicians, and wlience came that fish-god who — 

 according to the Bab^-lonian myth — bore the ark over the 

 deluge.-" 



In Persia, pearls were almost certainl)- known in the 

 seventh century P..C. ; they are not mentioned in the 

 extant fragments of ancient literature, but pearl ornaments 

 of great antiquit}- have been found among Persian re- 

 mains. Assyrian and Persian bas-reliefs show that pearls 

 were used profusely for adornment by the sovereigns and 

 great personages of those coiuitries. Tlie portraits of 

 Persian queens on coins and gems commonly show ear- 

 pendants of pearls.-^ Portraits of Sassanian kings show a 

 pearl pendant of large size hanging from the right ear, 

 and among Persian nobles it was the custom to wear in 

 the right ear a golden ornament containing pearls. The 

 women also wore a ring through the left nostril, upon 

 which three pearls were strung, and round their heads 

 was a band with jiendent jewels or pearls. The kings of 

 the Medes and Persians wore bracelets and necklaces of 

 pearls, and these gems were" employed lavishly in their 

 trappings and equijDages. At the present time pearls 

 play a jirominent part in great festivals in Persia.--' 



Among tlie ancient Persians a solar origin was 

 attributed to the pearl.'--' 



Babylonian dignitaries and j)riests, it is stated, wore 



'■"' Kunz and Stevenson, op. lif., pp. 90 sruj. 



-' J/'id., pp. 5 and 40.'i. 



-^ SUeeter, 0/1. </7., j-p. 30-31. 



■^» /bu/., p. 48. 



