■’295 G E M. 
thefe precautions are taken, and the operation well con¬ 
duced, it is praCicable to bring the doublets to fo near 
a refemblance of the true gems, that none but the belt 
judges can diftinguifh them. The method of deteCing 
them, is to hold the doublet betwixt the eye and the 
light, in fucli a pofition that the light may pafs through 
the upper plate of the brilliant, when it will be readily 
feen that there is no real colour in tlie fubdance of the 
gem. 
Of antique GEMS. 
There is perhaps no fpecies of refearclt v/hich falls 
under the eye of the antiquarian, fo full of intereft and 
valuable information, as far as regards the tafte and re¬ 
finement ofremote ages, and the confequcnt progrefs of 
the fine arts, as that which refults from an invefiigation 
of the antique gems. Thefe confifl of all the precious 
fiones above defcribed, cut and polilhed by the art of 
the lapidary, and engraved or ornamented by the inimit¬ 
able artifts of ancient days, with the portraits of he¬ 
roes and gods, of legidators and philofophers, of hiero- 
glyphics, allegories, and attributes, and of numbcrlefs 
figures under various forms and attitudes, as devices for 
bulls, medallions, fignets, rings, bracelets, and all thole 
ancient ornaments wherewith princes and princelfes were 
wont to be diftinguilhed, when they were “fumptuouliy 
decked out with jewels and precious Hones.” The ob¬ 
ject which artills had in view by engraving thefe gems, 
was to record or immortalize, on fuch unperilhable ma¬ 
terials, th; noble aCions of their anceflors, the attributes 
of the gods, the feats of kings and heroes, the celebra¬ 
tion of religious rites, of viCories, and the I'ecular 
games, by which devices the mind might be furnilhed at 
a llngle glance, with a retrofpeCive view of the princi¬ 
pal palfages and events in the hiltory and mythology of 
ancient times. 
In what age, or in what country, the art of grinding 
and engraving precious Hones firH took its rife, has been 
a qtieHion of great difficulty and doubt; and concerning 
which the opinions of mankind have been much divided. 
The honour of this invention was for a long time attri¬ 
buted to the Greeks, and afterwards to the Egyptians ; 
but more modern rel'earch feems now inclined to bear 
away the palm in favour of the Aliatics, and the abori¬ 
ginal inhabitants of KindooHan ; from whence it appears 
to have found its way into Egypt, and thence to the 
Greeks. For this information the public are principally 
indebted to the laudable exertions of the literary fociety 
of Calcutta, founded by the late ingenious and learned 
fir William Jones; from whofe inveHigation of the 
Shanl'crit language, and the rites and ceremonies of the 
ancient brapnins, it is ffiewnthat the art of polilhing and 
engraving precious Hones w'as pradtifed in Afia long be¬ 
fore the timeof Mofes. Though the figures exprelfed 
on thefe very antique gems are in fome refpedts neatly 
and cleanly cut, yet they have the awkward coarfenefs 
and Hift'nefs of the Egyptian Hyle, which adds but little 
to the beauty of the Hone, or to the ornament of the 
v/earer. But the Hone itfeif, and the fymbol engraved 
upon it, were at firH the only objedts of confideration, 
without regard to elegant forms, or refplendent coloursj 
and liowever coarfely orllightly thefe Auatic and Egyp¬ 
tian antiques are finiflied, they will for ever afford the 
higheH gratification to thofe who fet a juH value upon 
authentic monuments of the infant world, and of the ori¬ 
gin and progrefs of its ideas and arts—which we have 
indeed inherited, but not always improved. 
Many of thefe curious antiques, by the figns and fym- 
hols iinprefled upon them, manifeH the moH ingenious 
and corredt reprefentations of nature. Death was re- 
prefcated v, ith crooked legs ; beauty and youth, by long 
treffes of hair ; power, by long hands; fwiftnels and 
agility, by long feet. Thele gradations of antique gems 
rank among the earlieH of the Grecian arts ; and are not, 
as Winckelmann iniiauates, “ precious gems of Etrufean 
workmanffiip.” It has been ffiewn by M. Pauw, that 
the Egyptians engraved ihtpietre dure, or gems, full two 
thoufand years before the chriHian era ; but it has been 
proved that fimilar works of art amongH the ancient 
Greeks, cannot date from an earlier period than the time 
of Homer; which is generally, and upon rational grounds, 
conceived to have been about the time of the reign of 
David and Solomon in Judea: yet it appears that the 
mechanical art of common engraving had reached the 
Greeks long before they began to reckon by Olym¬ 
piads. Their gems being engraved in intaglio, on the 
flat part of perforated I'carabees, demonHrates that they 
were not worn or mounted as rings, though-they miglit 
be ufed for fealing ; and as they are evident imitations 
of the old Egyptian facred fcarabees with hieroglyphi- 
cal figures, it follows pretty obvioufly that the art of 
cutting and engraving gems came long afterwards to the 
Greeks by the way of Egypt,—as did their architecture 
and many other branches of I'cience ; which has been fa- 
tisfaCborily proved by M. Denon and others, in their 
recent promulgation of Egyptian antiquities.—See the 
article ECvpt, vol. vi. p. 374-378. 
Indeed, if the Hlence of Homer as to the knowledge of 
engraved gems in any part of Greece is not decifive of 
the faCt above Hated, we have the unexceptionable au¬ 
thority of the facred writings in fupport of it; in which 
we find that the Egyptians-and the llVaelites, in the time 
ot iVIofes, had rings and engraved gems long before the 
epoch of the liege of Troy ; and at a period when, by 
w hatever lyHem of chronology we chul'e to reckon, the 
Greeks had not even emerged from barbarity. For at 
a much more remote era, Pharaoh had taken the feal- 
ring from his finger, and placed it on that of Jofeph ; 
and Mofes had been directed to build the holy fanCtuary 
from the offerings of the people, among which were 
“ onyx-Hones, and Hones to be fet in the ephod of the 
high-pricH and his breaH-plate.” Exod. xxv. 7. Of 
thefe he was direCled to take “two onyx-Hones, and 
^rave on them the names of the children of Ifrael ; fix of 
their names on one Hone, and the other fix names on the. 
other Hone, according to their birth.” And “ with the 
w ork of an engraver in Hone, like the engravings of a 
Jignet, Hialt thou engrave them ; and fet them in ouches 
of gold, and put them on the fhoulders of the ephod, 
that Aaron the high-prieit bear their names before the 
Lord upon his flioulders for a memorial.” And he was 
further direfted to “ make for Aaron a breaH-plate of 
judgment, and to fet it in lettings of Hones, four rows, 
each containing three; which Hone lhall be, with the 
names of the children of Ifrael,- twelve, according to 
their names, like the engravings of a lignet.” Exod. 
xxviii. 9-21. It is alfo to be noticed, that the onyx- 
Hones, and Hones to be fet for the ephod, were brought, 
not by the commonalty of the Ifraelites, but by the rulers 
of the people ; Exod. xxv. 27 ; which plainly indicates their 
then great fcarcity and high prices, much beyond tlie 
reach of common, people. And it is curious to remark 
that the diamond, which was then found only in Alia, 
is mentioned as one of the engraved Hones in the fecond 
row of the breaH-plate; and tliat confequently the art 
of engraving and cutting it muH be of much higher an¬ 
tiquity than is commonly fuppofed. 
But when the art of cutting and engraving gems had 
diffufed itfeif throughout the Perfian, Grecian, and Ro¬ 
man, empires, there feems to have been no bounds to the 
extravagance of the rich and great in procuring thofe 
jewels for drefs and ornament. Rings, bracelets, ear¬ 
rings, necklaces, clafps, girdles, faflies,—nay, even the 
robes, gowns, and Ihoes, of the great and noble, were 
richly let and variegated with engraved gems. The 
fame taHe and profuHon alfo adorned the helmets, brealN 
plates, bucklers,, fword-handles, and fcabbards,—and 
even the faddles and horfe-furniture of their warriors. 
And indeed this profufion of ornamental gems is Hill 
anxioufly fought for by the Turkilh and Ferlian nobles, 
and. 
