Distribution of Pearls and Pearl-sliell. jg 



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 (op. cit., p. 405J, 

 one of the most interesting examples of the use of a pearl 

 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 70 grains. It is surmounted by a small 

 fresh-water pearl 4 mm. in diameter. 



In excavations made in the Huaran district in Sj'ria, 

 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 ha\e also been 

 recorded from a rock-tomb at Csesarea, in S3ria.* 



Pearls were esteemed by the Greeks in the time of 

 Homer, who appears to allude to them under the name 

 Tp'iyXrjva (triple drops or beads) in his description of Juno, 

 in the Iliad, xiv., 183 ; and in the Odyssey, xviii., 298. 

 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 Phcenicians, 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 



" Ibid., p. 31. 



2' Kunz and Stevenson, op. cit., p. 5. 



" Ibid., p. 406. 



2' Ibid., p. 8. 



