The Australian Naturalist 
Vol. V. JULY .1, 1922. . Part 3. 
NOTE.— Members having any matter of interest suitable for public 
ation in these pages are requested to communicate with the Lditor. 
THE GEM-STONES OF THE BIBLE. 
Lecture delivered 2nd May, 1922. 
By Tiros. StEEL. 
Frequent mention is made in different parts of the Bible 
of various stones, minerals and gems, and it will I trust be not 
only interesting, but instructive, to devote a little time to the 
consideration of precisely what was referred to when any par- 
ticular stone or gem is mentioned. Apart from the importance 
naturally attaching to a detailed study of any aspect of the 
Bible narrative, exact knowledge is of considerable additional 
value when we come to deal with the significance of the refer- 
ences to objects such as those which we are now considering, 
for the possibility of gleaning the full meaning’ of an allusion 
very often depends on the correct interpretation of the name 
given by the original Hebrew or Greck writer to the object 
indicated. 
It must not be thought that the stones and gems alluded 
to in Holy Writ are all native to Palestine or even to the 
immediately surrounding countries, for the greater number of 
the minerals mentioned in the Bible are precious stones which 
do not occur in the Holy Land, but must have been brought 
by traders from distant sources. We find references for in- 
stance, to the “land of Havilah (near the reputed site of the 
Garden of Eden), where there is gold . . . . there is the 
bdellium and onyx stone” (Gen. 2, 11, 12), we find “oold of 
Parviam” (2 Chron. 3, 6), “gold of Ophir” (Job. 28, 16), 
“topaz of Ethiopia” (Job. 28, 19), while the breastplate of the 
High Priest with its brilliant array of jewels was in use when 
the Israelites were sojourning in the desert of Sinai, and the 
jewels were probably derived from those brought from the land 
of Kgypt. We know that as early as about 600 B.C. in the 
days of the prophet Ezekiel, Tyre was famous as a centre of 
commerce, the Phoenicians being without doubt the greatest: 
