METALS MENTIONED IN THE OfJJ TESTAMENT. 



261 



in Persian ; sardum in Syriac ; sardinon in Coptic ; samuk in 

 Samaritan. It is given as sardius by B. K. L. li. S.* 



Sardius, or noble carnelian pits exist in Guzerat near the 

 river Nurbudda, thirteen miles from Baroda, and have been 

 worked from the remotest antiquity. Other pits whence 

 sardius is obtained in the same region are worked near Eatanpur 

 and Kompurwanye. The Indian sardius, which is derived from 

 igneous rocks, differs from carnelian only in its being 

 coloured milk-white, greenish, or black. The natives heat it 

 powerfully for a few hours in pots with goat or cow dung, when 

 the dark orange varieties assume a splendid clear, uniform red 

 colour, becoming somewhat translucent. It is a very precious 

 stone, and was worked by the ancients in a most magnificent 

 manner. Udemis supposed to have been a variety, from Odom, 

 red. These pits are exclusively worked by the primitive 

 indigenous races, who send all the produce to be cut by the 

 celebrated lapidaries at Cambay. Noble red sardius is likewise 

 found in Bokhara. 



Shebo, translated agate, a^ar^ in S., is achates in Coptic, 

 whence achates in Latin ; shebo in Persian ; sebog in Arabic. 

 Given as agate by B. K. L. 0. It evidently corresponds to 

 chalcedony, xaX/crjScov in R. ; both are mineralogically identical, 

 only the latter being uniformly whitish, and the former 

 polychrome. 



Shoham, translated onyx, ovvyiov in S., by others 6vv%, 

 craphovueov and /3epv\\iov ; sardonyx in Latin, is given as onyx 

 by B. L. S. J., and clearly corresponds to sardonyx, aapSouv^, in 

 E. J. ; it is stated by K. to signify beryl, but there does not 

 seem to be sufficient ground for his interpretation, the more 

 so as he also suggests sardonyx as probable. Sardonyx differs 

 from carnelian simply from its yellow colour. It is found in 

 India with the sardius, also in Egypt. 



Yahalum, translated diamond; (?) the xpvaoXtSos of the S., 

 given also as diamoud by B. and L., is considered by K. to 

 have been the ovvx^ov of the S. ; whence he translates it onyx. 

 In fact the so-called greenish diamond from near Baroda is 

 merely a variety of chalcedony, and if so would correspond to 

 Xpvvoirpaaos in R, that being simply a greenish variety of 



* Abbreviations. — Authorities. B. Braun, Be Vestitu sacerdotum hebr. 

 1680 ; Bvv. Bredow, Historische Untersuchungen ; Keferstein, Mineralogia 

 poh/glotta, Halle, 1849 ; Luther, Die Bibel ; O., Old Testament ; Aaron 

 Pick, The Bible Students' Concordance, to ascertain the literal meaning in 

 the original, 1845 ; R. Revelations ; S. Septuagint ; J. Jervis. 



