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.
 AN INSCRIBED SCARAB (GREEN STONE) OF THE TYPE KNOWN AS A
HEART-SCARAB. DATE ABOUT 1300 B.C.

The Scribe Pa-bak: Let him say: “O Heart that I received from my mother (to be
said twice), O Heart that belongs to my spirit, rise not against me as witness, oppose
me not before the judges, contradict me not in the presence of the Guardian of the
Scales. Thou art the spirit that is in my body, Khnum that makest sound my limbs.
When thou comest to the place of judgment whither we go, cause not my name to be
rejected by the assessors, but let the pronouncement of judgment be favorable, and
such as causes joy to the heart.”

It appears to have been the rule to engrave certain special

chapters of the Book of the Dead, among those referring to the
heart, upon particular stones. Thus, for instance, the 26th chapter
was engraved on lapis-lazuli, the 27th upon feldspar, the 30th upon
serpentine, and the 29th upon carnelian.345 This may perhaps have
been originally due to some association of the god principally
invoked in the text with the precious substance upon which the text
was engraved.
The form of an eye, fashioned out of lapis-lazuli and ornamented
with gold, constituted an amulet of great power; it was inscribed
with the 140th chapter of the Book of the Dead. On the last day of
the month Mechir, an offering “of all things good and holy” was to be
made before this symbolic eye, for on that day the supreme god Ra
was believed to place such an image upon his head. Sometimes
these eyes were made of jasper, and could then be laid upon any of
the limbs of a mummy.346
Of the image of Truth, made from a lapis-lazuli and worn by the
Egyptian high-priest, Ælian aptly says that he would prefer the judge
should not bear Truth about with him, fashioned and expressed in an
image, but rather in his very soul.347
Among the Assyrian texts giving the formulæ for incantations and
various magical operations, there is one which treats of an ornament
composed of seven brilliant stones, to be worn on the breast of the
king as an amulet; indeed, so great was the virtue of these stones
that they were supposed to constitute an ornament for the gods
also. The text, as rendered by Fossey, is as follows:348

Incantation. The splendid stones! The splendid stones! The

stones of abundance and of joy.
Made resplendent for the flesh of the gods.
The ḥulalini stone, the sirgarru stone, the ḥulalu stone, the
sându stone, the uknû stone.
 The dushu stone, the precious stone elmêshu, perfect in
celestial beauty.
The stone of which the pingu is set in gold.
Placed upon the shining breast of the king as an ornament.
Azagsud, high-priest of Bêl, make them shine, make them
sparkle!
Let the evil one keep aloof from the dwelling!

The names of two of these gems, the ḥulalu and the ḥulalini,
suggest that they were of similar class. As the fundamental meaning
of the root whence the names are formed is “to perforate,” it is
barely possible that we have here the long-sought Assyrian
designation for the pearl, which was commonly regarded in ancient
times as a stone. In Arabic the perforated pearl has a special name
to distinguish it from the unperforated, or “virgin pearl.” All we know
of the sându is that it must have been a dark-colored stone. The
uknû, however, is almost certainly the lapis-lazuli. It is often
mentioned in the Tel el Amarna tablets as having been among the
gifts sent by the kings of Babylonia and Assyria to the Pharaohs of
Egypt, and also by the latter to friendly Asiatic monarchs. Of the
sirgarru and dushu stones nothing is known, but the elmêshu, the
seventh in the list, was evidently regarded as the most brilliant and
splendid of all; indeed, Prof. Friedrich Delitzsch hazards the
conjecture that it is the diamond. In any case this stone must have
been set in rings and considered very valuable, for in an Assyrian
text occurs the following passage: “Like an elmêshu ring may I be
precious in thine eyes.”349 The fact that this stone is described as
having “a celestial beauty” might incline us to believe that it was a
sapphire.
The idea of this mystic ornament, composed of seven gems,
probably originated in Babylonia, where the number seven was
looked upon as especially sacred. As we shall see, there is some
reason to attribute a Hindu origin to the nine gems, “the covering” of
the King of Tyre, enumerated by Ezekiel, while the breastplate on
the ephod of the Hebrew high-priest, with its twelve stones,
symbolizing the twelve months of the year, appears to be of later
date, and seems to belong to the time of the return from the
Babylonian Captivity and the building of the second temple.
Certainly, the historic and prophetic books of the Old Testament
know nothing of it, although the Urim and Thummim are mentioned
and the elaborate description given in Exodus is generally regarded
by Biblical scholars as belonging to the so-called “Priestly Codex,”
the latest part of the Pentateuch, gradually evolved during the Exile
and given its final form in the fifth century b.c.
In the very ancient Assyrio-Babylonian epic narrative of the
descent of the goddess Ishtar to Hades, the guardian of the infernal
regions obliges the goddess to lay aside some part of her clothing
and ornaments at each of the seven gates through which she
passes. At the fifth, we are told that she stripped off her girdle of
aban alâdi, or stones which aided parturition.350 It has been
asserted, and perhaps with some reason, that of the many mineral
substances supposed to possess this virtue, jade (nephrite) or
jadeite was the earliest known.
The Babylonian legends also tell of trees on which grow precious
stones. In the Gilgamesh epic a mystic cedar tree is described. This
grew in the Elamite sanctuary of Irnina and was under the
guardianship of the Elamite king Humbaba. Of this tree an
inscription relates:
It produces samtu-stones as fruit;
Its boughs hang with them, glorious to behold;
The crown of it produces lapis-lazuli;
Its fruit is costly to gaze upon.
Another tree bearing precious stones was seen by the hero
Gilgamesh, after he had passed through darkness for the space of
twelve hours. This must have been a most resplendent object, to
judge from the following description on a cuneiform tablet:351
It bore precious stones for fruits;
Its branches were glorious to the sight;
The twigs were crystals;
It bore fruit costly to the sight.
One of the rarest and most significant specimens illustrating the
use of valuable stones for religious ceremonial purposes in the
pagan world is in the Morgan-Tiffany collection. It is an ancient
Babylonian axe-head made of banded agate. So regular, indeed, is
the disposition of the layers in this agate that one might be justified
in denominating it an onyx. Its prevailing hue is what may be called
a “deer-brown”; some white splotches now apparent are evidently
due to the action of fire or that of some alkali. This axe-head bears
an inscription in archaic cuneiform characters, and presumably in the
so-called Sumerian tongue, that believed to have been spoken by
the founders of the Babylonian civilization. The form of the
inscription indicates that the object dates from an earlier period than
2000 b.c.
 BABYLONIAN AXE HEAD.
Agate, with inscription. Morgan collection, American Museum of
Natural History, New York.

While the characters are clearly cut and can be easily deciphered,
the inscription is nevertheless exceedingly difficult to translate. It is
evident that the axe-head was a votive offering to a divinity,
probably on the part of a certain governor named Adduggish; but
whether the divinity in question was Shamash (the sun-god), or the
god Adad, or some other member of the Babylonian pantheon,
cannot be determined with any finality. The French assyriologist,
François Lenormant, who first described this axe-head in 1879, and
Prof. Ira Maurice Price, of the Semitic Department of Chicago
University, both, admit that it may have been consecrated to Adad.
As the weather-god, the thunderer, the axe-symbol would have been
more especially appropriate to him in view of the usage, almost
universal among primitive peoples, of associating stone axe-heads or
axe-shaped stones with the thunderbolt, and hence with the divinity
who was believed to have launched it toward the earth.
This Sumerian axe-head measures 134.5 mm. in length (5.3
inches), 35.5 mm. in width (1.4 inches), and 31 mm. in thickness
(1.22 inches). It was originally secured by Cardinal Stefano Borgia
(1731-1804), for some time secretary of the College of the
Propaganda in Rome, who probably acquired it from some
missionary to the East. From the cardinal’s family it passed for
15,000 lire ($3000) to the Tyszkiewicz Collection, and when the
objects therein comprised were disposed of at public sale, the writer
purchased it for the American Museum of Natural History in New
York, April 16, 1902.352
At Alicante, in Spain, cut upon the pedestal of an ancient statue,
supposed to have been that of Isis, was found an inscription giving a
list of the offerings dedicated by divine command, by a certain Fabia
Fabiana in honor of her granddaughter. Evidently the fond
grandmother had given of her best and choicest jewels which were
used to adorn the statue. They consisted of a diadem set with a
“unio” (a large round pearl) and six smaller pearls, two emeralds,
seven beryls, two rubies, and a hyacinth. In each ear of the statue
was inserted an ear-ring bearing a pearl and an emerald; about the
neck was hung a necklace consisting of four rows of emeralds and
pearls, eighteen of the former and thirty-six of the latter. Two circlets
bound around the ankles contained eleven beryls and two emeralds,
while two bracelets were set with eight emeralds and eight pearls.
The adornment was completed by four rings, two bearing emeralds,
while two, placed on the little finger, were set with diamonds. On the
sandals were eight beryls.353
A notable instance of an antique votive offering is the necklace of
valuable precious stones dedicated to the statue of Vesta. The
Byzantine historian Zosimus attributes the tragic end of Stilicho’s
widow, Serena, to her having despoiled the image of Vesta of this
costly ornament, and finds a sort of poetic justice in the manner of
her death, since she was strangled by a cord which encircled her
neck.
It is not only in the works of the Fathers of the Christian Church
that we find precious stones used as similes of religious virtue, in
Buddhist writings also we have examples of this. In the “Questions
of King Milinda,” composed perhaps as early as the third century of
our era, occur the following passages:354

Just, O King, as the diamond is pure throughout; just so, O

King, should the strenuous Bhikshu, earnest in effort, be
perfectly pure in his means of livelihood. This, O King, is the
first quality of the diamond he ought to have.
And again, O King, as the diamond cannot be alloyed with
other substance; just so, O King, should the strenuous Bhikshu,
earnest in effort, never mix with wicked men as friends. This, O
King, is the second quality of the diamond he ought to have.
And again, O King, just as the diamond is set together with
the most costly gems; just so, O King, should the strenuous
Bhikshu, earnest in effort, associate with those of the highest
excellence, with men who have entered the first or second or
third stage of the Noble Path, with the jewel treasures of the
Arahats, of the recluses of the threefold wisdom, or of the
sixfold insight. This, O King, is the third quality of the diamond
he ought to have. For it was said, O King, by the Blessed
one,355 the god over all gods, in the Sutta Nipâta:
Let the pure associate with the pure,
Ever in recollection firm;
Dwelling harmoniously wise,
Thus shall ye put an end to griefs.
 The description of the New Jerusalem in the book of Revelations
finds a curious parallel in the Hindu Puranas. Here we are told that
the divine Krishna, the eighth incarnation of Vishnu, took up his
abode in the wonderful city Devârakâ, and was visited there by the
various orders of gods and geniuses.356

Gods, Asuras, Gandharas, Kinnaras began to pour into

Dwáraká, to see Krishna and Valaráma.
Some descended from the sky, some from their cars—and
alighting underneath the banyan tree, looked on Dwáraká, the
matchless.
The city was square,—it measured a hundred yojonas, and
over all, was decked in pearls, rubies, diamonds, and other
gems.
The city was high,—it was ornamented with gems; and it was
furnished with cupolas of rubies and diamonds,—with emerald
pillars, and with court-yards of rubies. It contained endless
temples. It had cross-roads decked with sapphires, and
highways blazing with gems. It blazed like the meridian sun in
summer.

As compared with the description in Revelations we cannot fail to

note the lack of definiteness. Instead of the well-ordered scheme of
color as represented by the twelve precious stones dedicated to the
twelve tribes of Israel, the mystic Hindu city is simply a gorgeous
mass of the most brilliant gems known in India.
The poetic description of the royal city Kusavati, given in the Maha
Sudassana Suttanta, may perhaps have originated in some tradition
regarding Ecbatana or Babylon. Seven ramparts surrounded
Kusavati, the materials being respectively gold, silver, beryl, crystal,
agate, coral and (for the last) “all kinds of gems.” In these ramparts
were four gates—one of gold, one of silver, one of crystal and one of
jade—and at each gate seven pillars were fixed, each three or four
times the height of a man and composed of the seven precious
substances that constituted the ramparts. Beyond the ramparts were
seven rows of palm trees, the fourth row having trunks of silver and
leaves and fruit of gold; then followed palms of beryl, with leaves
and fruit of beryl; agate palms, whose fruit and leaves were of coral,
and coral palms, with leaves and fruit of agate; lastly, the palms
whose trunks were composed of “all kinds of gems,” had leaves and
fruits of the same description, “and when these rows of palm trees
were shaken by the wind, arose a sound sweet and pleasant, and
charming and intoxicating.”357
In Greek literature also there is a “gem-city,”—namely, the city of
the Islands of the Blessed, described by Lucian in his Vera
Historia.358 The walls of this city were of emerald, the temples of
the gods were formed of beryl, and the altars therein of single
amethysts of enormous size. The city itself was all of gold as a fit
setting for these marvellous gems.
Hindu mythology tells of a wonderful tank formed of crystal, the
work of the god Maya. Its bottom and sides were encrusted with
beautiful pearls and in the centre was a raised platform blazing with
the most gorgeous precious stones. Although it contained no water,
the transparent crystal produced the illusion of water, and those who
approached the tank were tempted to plunge into it and take a
refreshing bath in what appeared to be clear, fresh water.359
The Kalpa Tree of Hindu religion, a symbolical offering to the gods,
is described by Hindu poets as a glowing mass of precious stones.
Pearls hung from its boughs and beautiful emeralds from its shoots;
the tender young leaves were corals, and the ripe fruit consisted of
rubies. The roots were of sapphire; the base of the trunk of
diamond, the uppermost part of cat’s-eye, while the section between
was of topaz. The foliage (except the young leaves) was entirely
formed of zircons.360
 The Chinese Buddhist pilgrim Heuen Tsang, who visited India
between 629 and 645 a.d., tells of the wonderful “Diamond Throne”
which, according to the legend, had once stood near the Tree of
Knowledge, beneath whose spreading branches Gautama Buddha is
said to have received his supreme revelation of truth. This throne
had been constructed in the age called the “Kalpa of the Sages”; its
origin was contemporaneous with that of the earth, and its
foundations were at the centre of all things; it measured one
hundred feet in circumference, and was made of a single diamond.
When the whole earth was convulsed by storm or earthquake this
resplendent throne remained immovable. Upon it the thousand
Buddhas of the Kalpa had reposed and had fallen into the “ecstasy
of the diamond.” However, since the world has passed into the
present and last age, sand and earth have completely covered the
“Diamond Throne,” so that it can no longer be seen by human
eye.361
In the Kalpa Sutra, written in Prakrit, one of the sacred books of
the Jains, the rivals of the Buddhists, it is said that Harinegamesi,
the divine commander of the foot troops, seized fourteen precious
stones, the chief of which was vajra, the diamond, and rejecting
their grosser particles, retained only the finer essence to aid him in
his transformations. In the same sutra the following glowing
description is given of the adornment of the surpassingly beautiful
goddess Sri:362

On all parts of her body shone ornaments and trinkets,

composed of many jewels and precious stones, yellow and red
gold. The pure cup-like pair of her breasts sparkled, encircled by
a garland of Kunda flowers in which glittered a string of pearls.
She wore strings of pearls made by clever and diligent artists,
strung with wonderful strings, a necklace of jewels with a string
of Dinaras, and a trembling pair of ear-rings, touching her
shoulders, diffused a brilliancy; but the united beauties and
charms of these ornaments were only subservient to the
loveliness of her face.
 As engraved decoration of a fine Chinese vase of white jade with
delicate crown markings, appear eight storks, each of which bears in
its beak an attribute of one of the Eight Taoist Immortals. Thus we
have the double gourd as attribute of the most powerful of these
demi-gods known as “Li with the Iron Crutch,” whose aid is sought
by magicians and astrologers; the magic sword, with which Lu
T’ung-pin vanquished the spirits of evil that roamed through the
Chinese Empire in the form of terrible dragons; the basket of
flowers, attribute of Lan Ts’ai-ho, the patron of gardeners and
florists; the royal fan used by Han Chung-li, of the Chow Dynasty
(1122-220 b.c.), to call again to life the spirits of the departed; the
lotus flower, emblematic of the virgin Ho Hsien-Ku, venerated
somewhat as a patron saint by Chinese housewives, and who
acquired the gift of immortal life by the help of a powder of
pulverized jade and mother-of-pearl; the bamboo tubes and rods
with which the mighty necromancer Chang Kuo, patron of artists,
evoked the souls of the dead; the flute of the musicians’ patron, Han
Hsiang-tzu, who owed his immortality to his craft in stealthily
entering the Taoist paradise and securing a peach from the sacred
tree of life; and, lastly, the castanets of Tsao Kuo-chin, especially
revered by Chinese actors.
The prevailing belief in India, that treasures offered to the images
or shrines of the gods will bring good fortune to the generous donor,
finds expression in many ancient and modern Hindu writings. In the
Rig Veda it is said that “by giving gold the giver receives a life of
light and glory.” In the Samaveda Upanishad we read: “Givers are
high in Heaven. Those who give horses live conjointly with the sun;
givers of gold enjoy eternal life; givers of clothes live in the moon.”
Another text (Hâiti Smriti) reads:363

Coral in worship will subdue all the three worlds. He who

worships Krishna with rubies will be reborn as a powerful
emperor; if with a small ruby, he will be born a king. Offering
emeralds will produce Gyana or Knowledge of the Soul and of
the Eternal. If he worships with a diamond, even the impossible,
 or Nirvâna, that is Eternal Life in the highest Heaven, will be
secured. If with a flower of gold a man worships for a month,
he will get as much wealth as Kuvera, the Lord of Rubies, and
will hereafter attain to Nirvâna and to Muskwa, or Salvation.

At Multan, one of the most ancient cities of India, situated in the

Punjab, 164 miles southwest of Lahore, there was in the Hindu
temple an idol having for eyes two great pearls. The eyes of the
rude image of Jagganath at Puri, in Bengal (Orissa), are said to have
at one time been formed of precious stones, as were also those of
the idols of Vishnu at Chandernagore and in the great seven-walled
temple at Srirangam, whence appears to have come the Orloff
diamond.
In ceremonial worship the Hindus recognize sixteen offerings, the
ninth consisting of gems and jewelry, and a divine assurance of
adequate return to the giver appears in the Bhagavat Purana, where
Krishna says, “Whatever is best and most valued in this world and
that which is most dear to you should be offered to me, and it will
be received back in immense and endless quantity.” On certain
appointed days the holy images are decorated with the choicest
garments and the richest jewelry in the temple treasury; this is
especially the case on the day celebrated as the birthday of the
respective divinity. However, the gifts are believed to retain their
sacred character as dedicated objects only for a comparatively brief
period, varying from a month or more for garments and vestments,
to ten or twelve years for jewels, such as the naoratna or the
panchratna, the prized and revered jewels, composed respectively of
nine and five gems. The panchratna usually consists of gold,
diamond, sapphire, ruby, and pearl. After the gifts have ceased to be
worthy of use in the temples, they may be disposed of to defray the
expenses of the foundation, including the cost of supporting the
numerous priests and attendants. As the objects still retain their
sacred associations, they are eagerly bought by pious Hindus, who
undoubtedly regard them as valuable talismans. Thus they not only
serve to bring blessings upon the donors, but also constitute one of
the chief sources of income for the temples.364
One of the oldest and perhaps the most interesting talismanic
jewel is that known as the naoratna or nararatna, the “nine-gem”
jewel. It is mentioned in the old Hindu ratnaçastras, or treatises on
gems, for example, in the Nararatnaparîkshâ, where it is described
as follows:365
Manner of composing the setting of a ring:

In the centre The Sun The Ruby

To the East Venus The Diamond
To the Southeast The Moon The Pearl
To the South Mars The Coral
To the Southwest Râhu The Jacinth
To the West Saturn The Sapphire
To the Northeast Jupiter The Topaz
To the North The descending node The Cat’s-eye
To the Northwest Mercury The Emerald
Such is the planetary setting.

From this description we learn that the jewel was designed to

combine all the powerful astrological influences. The gems chosen to
correspond with the various heavenly bodies, and with the aspects
known as the ascending and descending nodes, differ in some cases
from those selected in the West. For instance, the emerald is here
assigned to Mercury, whereas in Western tradition this stone was
usually the representative of Venus, although it is sometimes
associated with Mercury also.366 On the other hand, the diamond is
dedicated to Venus, instead of to the Sun as in the Western world.
 MANI MÁLÁ, OR CHAIN OF GEMS.

Comprising diamond, ruby, cat’s-eye, pearl, zircon, coral, emerald, topaz,

sapphire, chrysoberyl, garnet, carnelian, quartz and rock-crystal. A pendant is the
naoratna, or “nine-gem” ornament, suspended from which is a pear-shaped pearl.
In possession of the late Rajah Sir Surindro Mohun Tagore, of Calcutta. From his
“Mani Málá,” Calcutta, 1879, Vol. I, iv-506 pp., 2 plates, portrait and plate; Vol. II,
xiv + ii 507-1046 pp. Contains 49 figures on 10 plates.

In the naoratna the five gems known to the Hindus as the

mahâratnâni, or “great gems,”—the diamond, pearl, ruby, sapphire,
and emerald,—were, as we see, associated with the Sun and Moon,
Venus, Mercury, and Saturn, while the four lesser gems (uparatnâni)
—namely, the jacinth, topaz, cat’s-eye, and coral—represent Mars,
Jupiter, Râhu, and the descending node. The two last named are
very important factors in astrological calculations and are often
called the Dragon’s Head and the Dragon’s Tail. These designations
signify the ascending and descending nodes, indicating the passage
of the ecliptic by the Moon in her ascent above and descent below
this arbitrary plane.
In three somewhat obscure passages of the Rig Veda there are
references to the seven ratnas. Whether these were gems cannot be
determined, since the primary meaning of the word ratna is “a
precious object,” not necessarily a precious stone; but it is possible
that we may have here an allusion to some earlier form of talisman,
in which only the Sun, Moon, and the five planets were represented.
It is easy to understand that such a talisman as the naoratna,
combining the favorable influences of all the celestial bodies
supposed to govern the destinies of man, must have been highly
prized, and we may well assume that only the rich and powerful
could own this talisman in a form ensuring its greatest efficacy. For
the Hindus believed that the virtue of every gem depended upon its
perfection, and they regarded a poor or defective stone as a source
of unhappiness and misfortune.
In modern times this talisman is sometimes differently composed.
A specimen shown in the Indian Court of the Paris Exposition of
1878 consisted of the following stones: coral, topaz, sapphire, ruby,
flat diamond, cut diamond, emerald, amethyst, and carbuncle. Here
the cut diamond, amethyst, and carbuncle take the place of the
jacinth, pearl, and cat’s-eye.
 Instead of uniting the different planetary gems in a single ring,
they have sometimes been set separately in a series of rings to be
worn successively on the days originally named after the celestial
bodies. We read in the life of Apollonius of Tyana (first century a.d.)
by Philostratus: “Damis also relates that Iarchas gave to Apollonius
seven rings named after the planets, and the latter wore these, one
by one, in the order of the weekdays.”367 Although it is not expressly
stated that the appropriate stones were set in the rings, the custom
of the time makes it probable that this was the case.
NINE GEMS.

English Sanskrit Burmese Chinese (Canton) Arabic

Diamond Vajra Chein Chun-syak Mâs
Ruby Manikya Budmiya Se-fla-yu-syak Yâkût bihar
Cat’s-eye Vaidûrya Châno Mâu-ji gan Ain al-hirr
Zircon Gomeda Gomok Pi-si Hajar yamânî
Pearl Muktâ Pa-le Chun-ti Lûlû
Coral Pravâla Tadâ Sau-ho-chi Murjân
Emerald Marakata Mujâ Luk-syak Zumurrud
Topaz Pushyaraga Outfiyâ Si-lang-syak Yâkût al-azrak
Sapphire Nîla Nîlâ Chang-syak Yâkût al-açfar

Among the Burmese the value for occult purposes of the nine
gems composing the naoratna, or nararatna, is strictly determined in
the following order: first, the ruby; second, the diamond, or rock-
crystal; third, the pearl; fourth, the coral; fifth, the topaz; sixth, the
sapphire; seventh, the cat’s-eye; eighth, the amethyst; and ninth,
the emerald.368 That the ruby, diamond and pearl should occupy
places of honor is quite natural, but the relegation of the sapphire to
sixth place, after coral and topaz, seems to be a rather unfair
treatment of this beautiful stone.
 SCULPTURED JADE MOUNTAIN.

Probably the largest mass of sculptured jade in existence. The design commemorates
the meetings of a literary club of the fourth century. The Chinese characters (colored red) in
the side of the cliff express the famous Lan Ting Hsu, or “Epidendron Pavilion Essay,” by
Wang Hi-che (a.d. 321-379), ever since used by the Chinese as a model of elegant
caligraphy, and were engraved directly from the autograph of the Emperor Ch’ien-lung,
written by him in 1784. Height 23 inches, width 38½ x 18½ inches; weight 640 pounds.
From the Summer Palace, west of Peking. Collection of T. D. Walker, of Minneapolis, Minn.

The yellow girdles worn by the Chinese emperors of the Manchu

dynasty were variously ornamented with precious stones according
to the different ceremonial observances at which the emperor
presided. For the services in the Temple of Heaven, the very
appropriate choice of lapis-lazuli ornaments was made; for the Altar
of Earth, yellow jade was favored; for a sacrifice on the Altar of the
Sun, the gems were red corals, while white jade was selected for the
ceremonies before the Altar of the Moon. Jade of different colors
was used for the six precious tablets employed in the worship of
heaven and earth and the four cardinal points. For the worship of
Heaven there was the dark-green round tablet; for that of Earth, an
octagonal tablet of yellow jade. The East was worshipped with a
green pointed tablet; the West was worshipped with the white
“tiger-tablet”; the North with a black, semi-circular tablet, and the
South with a tablet of red jade.369
Of all the Chinese works on jade the most interesting and
remarkable is the Ku yü t’ou pu or “Illustrated Description of Ancient
Jade,” a catalogue divided into a hundred books and embellished
with upward of seven hundred figures. It was published in 1176, and
lists the magnificent collection of jade objects belonging to the first
emperor of the Southern Sung dynasty. One of the treasures here
described was a four-sided plaque of pure white jade over two feet
in height and breadth, and it was regarded as of altogether
exceptional value, for on it was a design miraculously engraven. This
was a figure, seated on a mat, with a flower-vase on its left and an
alms-bowl on the right, in the midst of rocks enveloped in clouds.
The figure was an image of the Buddhist saint, Samantabahadra,
and the plaque is said to have been washed out of a sacred cave in
the year 1068, by a violent and mysterious current.370
Jade talismans are very popular at the present day in the
Mohammedan world, and among the Turks they are so highly prized
as heirlooms that it is difficult to secure any of them. There is an
orthodox Mohammedan sect, whose members call themselves
Pekdash, and who during their whole lifetime carry about with them
a flat piece of jade as a protection against injury or annoyance of
every kind.371
The four rain-making gods are shown wearing necklaces of coral
and turquoise in the ceremonial sand-paintings of the Navajos.
These four gods are respectively colored to denote the four cardinal
points; black for North, blue for South, yellow for West, and white
for East. The whole painting, measuring nine by thirteen feet, is
guarded on three sides by magic wands; toward the East it is left
unprotected, as only good spirits are believed to dwell in this
direction. Each of the rain-gods carries suspended from his right
wrist an elaborately decorated tobacco pouch, bearing the figure of
a stone pipe. The Navajos believe that in this pouch the god places a
ray of sunlight with which he lights his pipe; when he smokes,
clouds form in the sky and the rain descends. In the sand-picture
representing the God of the Whirlwind this divinity also wears ear-
pendants and a necklace of turquoise.372
Of the turquoise in Aztec times we have the testimony of the
missionary Bernardino de Sahagun that one variety, presumably that
regarded as the finest and most attractive, bore the name teuxivitl,
which signified “turquoise of the gods.” No one was allowed either to
own or wear this as it was exclusively devoted to the service of the
gods, whether as a temple offering, or for the decoration of the
divine images. Sahagun describes this turquoise as “fine, unspotted
and very clear. It was very rare and was brought to Mexico from afar.
Some specimens were of rounded shape, like a hazel-nut cut in half;
others were broad and flat, and some were pitted as though in a
state of decomposition.”373
The god of fire, Xiuhtecutli, or Ixçocauhqui, presided over the
ceremony of piercing the ears of the young boys and girls. The
image of this god was decorated with ear-rings encrusted with a
mosaic of turquoise. He held in his left hand a buckler on which
were five large green stones called chalchiuitl (jadeite), placed in the
form of a cross on a plate of gold almost covering the shield.374
At the time of the Spanish Conquest an immense emerald, almost
as large as an ostrich egg, was adored by the Peruvians in the city of
Manta. This “emerald goddess” bore the name of Umiña, and, like
some of the precious relics of the Christian world, was only exhibited
on high feast days, when the Indians flocked to the shrine from far
and near, bringing gifts to the goddess. The wily priests especially
recommended the donation of emeralds, saying that these were the
daughters of the goddess, who would be well pleased to see her
offspring. In this way an immense store of emeralds rewarded the
efforts of the priests, and on the conquest of Peru all these fine
stones fell into the hands of Pedro de Alvarado,375 Garcilasso de la
Vega, and their companions. The mother emerald, however, had
been so cleverly concealed by the priests of the shrine that the
Spaniards never succeeded in gaining possession of it. Many of the
other emeralds were destroyed because of the ignorance and
stupidity of some of their new owners, who, supposing that the test
of a true emerald was its ability to withstand hard blows, laid the
stones on an anvil and hammered them to pieces. The old and
entirely false notion that the genuine diamond could endure this
treatment may have suggested the unfortunate test.
Garcilasso likens the growth of the emerald in its mine to that of a
fruit on a tree, and he believed that it gradually acquired its beautiful
green hue, that part of the crystal nearest the sun being the first to
acquire color. He notes an interesting specimen found in Peru, half of
which was colorless like glass, while the other half was a brilliant
green; this he compares with a half-ripened fruit.376

VOTIVE ADZE OF JADEITE FROM MEXICO.

a, Front view. b, Side view. c, Rear view. Kunz Collection, American
Museum of Natural History, New York. 1013/16 × 6 × 4⅝ inches,
Weight, 19 pounds Troy.
 The remarkable jade adze, generally known as the “Kunz adze,”
was found in Oaxaca, Mexico, brought to the United States about
1890, and is now in the American Museum of Natural History, New
York. Of a light greenish-gray hue, with a slight tinge of blue, this
jade artefact is 272 mm. long (1013/16 inches), 153 mm. wide (6
inches) and 118 mm. thick (4⅝ inches); its weight is 229.3 Troy
ounces, nearly sixteen pounds avoirdupois. Rudely, but not
unskilfully, carved upon its face is a grotesque human figure. Four
small, shallow depressions, one under each eye and one near each
hand, may have served to hold in place small gold films, but no trace
of gold decoration is now extant. In its mechanical execution this
adze offers evidence of considerable skill on the part of the Aztec
lapidary, the polish equalling that of modern workers. In the fact
that a large piece, which must apparently have weighed at least two
pounds, has evidently been cut out of this implement by some one
of its Indian owners, we can see a proof of the talismanic power
ascribed to jadeite in Aztec times, for there can be little doubt that
nothing less than a belief in the great virtue of jadeite coupled with
the rarity of the material could have induced the mutilation of what
must have been regarded in its time as a remarkable work of art.377
The source of the prehistoric jade (nephrite and jadeite) found in
Europe, and also of that worked into ornaments by the Indians
before the Spanish Conquest of America, was long the subject of
contention among mineralogists and archæologists. In Germany this
question was denominated the Nephritfrage, and the most notable
contribution to the discussion was the great scientific and scholarly
work issued by Heinrich Fischer.378 His conclusion was that as there
was no evidence of the existence of these minerals outside of a few
localities in Asia, the European and American supply must have been
brought to these parts of the world from Asia, and that hence the
presence of these jade artefacts in America clearly pointed to
commercial intercourse at an early period between the American
continent and Asia, and might be regarded as offering a strong
argument in favor of an Asiatic origin for an American civilization.
According to this theory the prehistoric jade objects found in Europe
must have had a similar source, and would constitute a proof of the
existence of traffic with remote points in Asia at a date long previous
to that commonly accepted.
This view was strongly opposed by Prof. A. B. Meyer, of Dresden,
and recent discoveries have effectively disproved the theory in the
case of Europe at least, for nephrite has been found there in situ in
several places. The largest mass of this material that has been taken
from a European deposit is that found by the writer at Jordansmühl
in Silesia, in April, 1899, and which weighed 4704 pounds.379 The
origin of American jade in the forms of nephrite and jadeite has not
yet been definitely determined, but we have every reason to
suppose that deposits of these minerals will eventually be discovered
in various parts of the American continent, as they have already
been in Europe. Indeed, the existence of nephrite in Alaska is
already well attested.
The peculiar and characteristic qualities of these substances have
made them favorite materials for ornamental objects from the
earliest ages down to our own day, and in almost all parts of the
world. A most important element contributing to the popularity of
jade has been its supposed possession of wonderful talismanic and
therapeutic virtues, and while the Western world has not the same
belief in these matters as the Eastern world, a more or less definite
appreciation of what jade still signifies for many in the Orient,
continues to exercise an influence over both Americans and
Europeans, making objects of nephrite or jadeite highly prized
everywhere at the present time.
The term chalchihuitl was indifferently applied by the ancient
Mexicans to a number of green or greenish-white stones; quetzal
chalchihuitl, which was regarded as the most precious variety, may
perhaps have more exclusively denoted jadeite. This is somewhat
indefinitely described by Sahagun as being “white, with much
transparency, and with a slight greenish tinge, something like
jasper.” Of eight ornamental objects of green stone examined some
years ago by the writer, four were of jadeite, one of serpentine,
another of green quartz, and the remaining two of a mixture of
white feldspar and green hornblende. An inferior kind of chalchihuitl,
said by Sahagun to have come from quarries in the vicinity of
Tecalco, appears to have been identical with the so-called “Mexican
onyx” which is found in veins in that place and is an aragonite
stalagmite. This material, from which figures, ornaments and beads
were made by the ancient Mexicans, is to-day greatly valued as an
ornamental stone.
The greater number of ancient Mexican jadeite beads appear to
have been rounded pebbles of this material, assorted as to size and
drilled for use in making necklaces. Other green stones used at this
time in Mexico were green jasper, green plasma, serpentine and also
the “Tecalco onyx” or “marble” above mentioned. In many cases
these substances are of such rich green that they might easily be
mistaken for jadeite by those who lacked the tests or the experience
at the command of modern mineralogists. Should jadeite ever be
found in situ in Mexico, it seems probable that the discovery will be
made in the State of Oaxaca, whence came the finest ancient
specimens, including the splendid votive adze. Moreover, one of the
few materials by which jadeite can be worked is furnished by the
streams of this region, whence have been taken several rolled
pebbles which the writer has identified as yellow and blue
corundum, the quality being equal to that of specimens from
Ceylon.380
Gesner describes one of the lip ornaments worn by the aborigines
of South America in the following words:381

A green stone or gem which the inhabitants of the West

Indies use. They pierce their lips and insert this stone so that
the thicker part adheres to the hole and the rest protrudes. We
might call these ornaments oripenduli [mouth-pendants]. This
stone was given me by a learned Piedmontese, Johannes
 Ferrerius, and he wrote of it as follows: “I send a cylindrical
green stone, as long as a man’s middle finger, and having at
one extremity two ridges. It is stated that the Brazilians of high
rank wore these, from their youth, in their pierced lips; one or
more being worn according to the dignity of the wearer. While
eating, or whenever they so wish for any other reason, these
ornaments are removed from the lips.”

Similar ornaments, made of a green quartz and of beryl, are in the

Kunz collection in the Field Museum of Chicago.
The reason for these strange mutilations, which often cause
serious discomfort to those who practice them, is not at all easy to
determine. Some have conjectured that by the insertion of bright,
colored objects in the ears, nose and lips, members of the same
tribe were enabled to recognize each other at a distance; each tribe
having selected a particular color. However, although certain local
preferences are shown in the matter of color or material, there is no
hard and fast rule in this matter, and frequently neighboring tribes
will employ stones or shells of the same or similar hue and
appearance. Others find in this custom a religious significance and
suppose that the mutilation represents a form of sacrifice to the
spirits, good or bad, who must be rendered favorable to man by
some act on his part showing his unconditional submission to them.
Originating in this way the idea of adornment was a secondary
impulse. It is a fact that ancient peoples regarded the wearing of
ear-rings as a badge of slavery, and, according to a Rabbinical
legend, Eve’s ears were pierced as a punishment for her
disobedience, when she was driven from the Garden of Eden.

A curious theory was advanced by Knopf.382 He calls attention to

the habit children have of thrusting small bright objects into their
noses and ears, and suggests that this indicates a natural propensity
which, coupled with the early-developed love of adornment, induced
primitive man to affix ornamental objects on or in the nose, ear, or
mouth. There may be more in this than we are willing to admit, but
on the whole it seems most probable that ceremonial and religious
considerations gave rise to the custom.
One of the largest masses of sculptured Chinese jade is in the
collection of T. B. Walker, Esq., of Minneapolis. This shows a jade
mountain, with groups of figures artistically placed at its base, and
winding pathways up to its summit. On the face of the rock is
inscribed in beautiful Chinese characters the Epidendron Pavilion
Essay of Wang Hi-che, a masterpiece of Chinese calligraphy.
An enormous mass of New Zealand jade (punamu, “green stone”)
weighing 7000 pounds, found in South Island in 1902, is to be seen
in the Museum of Natural History, New York; it was secured by the
writer and was donated to the Museum by the late J. Pierpont
Morgan. This is the largest mass of jade known, or of which we have
any record. On it is placed a remarkable and, in its own peculiar way,
an artistic decoration, serving as a type of old Maori life, and at the
same time designating the geographic source of the jade in a
striking and unmistakable manner calculated to appeal to the least
intelligent visitor. This is a statue of a Maori warrior of the old days,
executing a war dance, characteristics of which were a distortion of
the features and a thrusting out of the tongue intended to express
defiance and contempt of the enemy; the time or cadence of the
dance was marked by slapping the thigh with the flat of the left
hand. This figure was executed from life by Sigurd Neandross;
indeed it was actually cast from the model, so that there can be no
doubt as to its fidelity.
Rock-crystal is included among the various objects used as
fetiches by the Cherokee Indians. This stone is believed to have
great power to give aid in hunting and also in divining. One owner of
such a crystal kept his magic stone wrapped up in buckskin and hid
it in a sacred cave; at stated intervals he would take it out of its
repository and “feed” it by rubbing over it the blood of a deer. This
goes to prove that the stone, as a fetich, was considered to be a
living entity and as such to require nourishment.383
 STATUE OF A MAORI WARRIOR, BY SIGURD NEANDROSS.
The base is a block of New Zealand jade from South Island, weighing three tons. It
was donated by Mr. J. Pierpont Morgan to the American Museum of Natural History.

Precious stones have been everywhere regarded as especially

appropriate offerings at the shrine of a divinity, for the worshipper
naturally thought that what was most valuable and beautiful in his
eyes must also be most pleasing to the divinity he worshipped.
However, we rarely find the usage which was remarked by Francisco
Lopez de Gomara among the Indians of New Granada about the
time of the Spanish Conquest.384 These natives “burned gold and
emeralds” before the images of the sun and moon, which were
regarded as the highest divinities. Certainly to use precious stones
for a “burnt offering” was an original and curious idea, although we
have abundant proof that pearls were offered in this way by the
mound-builders of the Mississippi Valley. In this case great quantities
of pearls were burned at the obsequies of the chiefs of the tribes, or
at those of any one belonging to the family of a chief.
In ancient Mexico the lapidaries adored the four following
divinities as their tutelary gods: Chiconaui Itzcuintli (“nine dogs”),
Naualpilli (“noble necromancer”), Macuilcalli (“five horses”), and
Cintectl (“the god of harvest”). A festival was celebrated in honor of
the three last-named divinities when the zodiacal sign called
chiconaui itzcuintli was in the ascendant. A feminine divinity
represented this sign and to her was attributed the invention of the
garments and the ornaments worn by women. The four gods of the
lapidaries were looked upon as the discoverers and teachers of the
art of cutting precious stones and of piercing and polishing them, as
well as of the making of labrets and earflaps of obsidian, rock-
crystal, or amber. They also were the inventors of necklaces and
bracelets.385
The stones worn by Chinese mandarins as a designation of their
rank were undoubtedly determined originally by religious or
ceremonial considerations. They are as follows; it will be noticed that
red stones are given the preference:

Red or pink tourmaline, ruby (and rubellite)1st rank.

Coral or an inferior red stone (garnet) 2d rank.
Blue stone (beryl or lapis-lazuli) 3d rank.
Rock-crystal 4th rank.
 Other white stones 5th rank.

The knowledge of classical mythology was so slight among the

ecclesiastics of the Middle Ages that some very queer attributions of
the subjects engraved on Greek and Roman gems were made during
this period. A reliquary containing a tooth of the Apostle Peter,
preserved in the Cathedral of Troyes, was set with antique gems
which had been plundered by French and Venetian crusaders from
the treasure-house of the Greek Emperor in Constantinople, when
that city was sacked in 1204 during the Fourth Crusade. Among
these gems was one representing Leda and the Swan—certainly a
curious subject for the adornment of a Christian reliquary. Another
Greek or Roman gem, long preserved in a church, was furnished by
its Christian owners with an inscription indicating that the figure
engraved upon it was that of St. Michael, while in reality it was a
representation of the god Mercury. Still another gem was provided
with an inscription signifying that the subject was the temptation of
Mother Eve in the Garden of Eden, but the Greek gem engraver’s
intent had been to carve the figures of Zeus and Athena, standing
before an olive tree, a design which appears on some Athenian
coins; at the feet of the divinities appears a serpent. In a similar way
the grain-measure crowning the head of Jupiter-Serapis led to the
attribution of a gem so engraved to the patriarch Joseph.386
An engraved amethyst bearing the figure of a little Cupid is said to
have been worn in a ring by St. Valentine. While this may be
somewhat doubtful, it is by no means impossible, for many pagan
gems were worn by pious Christians, who reconciled their
consciences to the use of these beautiful but scarcely religious
ornaments by giving to the pagan symbols a Christian meaning.
Certainly, in view of the time-honored customs connected with St.
Valentine’s Day, there seems something peculiarly appropriate in the
design of the ring supposed to have been worn by St. Valentine.
That precious stones had sense and feeling was quite generally
believed in medieval times, and a legend told of St. Martial illustrates