|
|
Rendition of the "Breastplate of Judgement" containing 12 precious stones engraved with the Hebrew tribes. Onyx, misinterpreted as diamond, was the stone for Joseph. click to zoom in
|
The Breastplate of Judgment: In Exodus of the Hebrew bible, the "Breastplate of the High Priest" contains a white or colorless stone labeled µwlhy -- "yahalom." In the 3rd century BCE this word, which means "the smiter" in Hebrew, was translated to "adamas," "indomitable," in Greek, indicating that the stone was thought to be a diamond. But this interpretation is problematic: The size of the Breastplate would require a diamond
measuring in inches -- extraordinarily large; the stones were engraved using emery -- impossible on diamond; and the text precedes knowledge of diamond outside of India. "Yahalom" is now interpreted as engraved onyx for pressing into clay seals.
The Valley of the Diamonds: This Hellenistic legend was allegedly brought west after Alexander the Great (356--323 BCE) conquered Persia and invaded what is now northern India; it roughly coincides with early trade contact. The following is a blending of Aristotle and al-Kazwini:
Aristotle says that no one except Alexander ever reached the place where the diamond is produced. This is a valley, connected with the land Hind. The glance cannot penetrate to its greatest depths and serpents are found there, the like of which no man hath seen, and upon which no man can gaze without dying. However, this power endures only as long as the serpents live, for when they die the power leaves them . . . Now, Alexander ordered that an iron mirror should be brought and placed at the spot where the serpents dwelt. When the serpents approached, their glance fell upon their own image in the mirror, and this caused their death. Hereupon, Alexander wished to bring out the diamonds from the valley, but no one was willing to undertake the descent. Alexander therefore sought counsel of the wise men, and they told him to throw down a piece of flesh into the valley. This he did, the diamonds became attached to the flesh, and the birds of the air seized the flesh and bore it up out of the valley. Then Alexander ordered his people to pursue the birds and to pick up what fell from the flesh.
Other versions of this tale come from the Arabian "Tales of a Thousand and One Nights," and from Marco Polo's (1254? -- 1324?) "Book of Marvels" (1298). It has been described as a deterrent to treasure seekers. The adherence of diamonds to flesh has been linked to diamond's property of sticking to fat or grease, and suggests that diamonds were the true subject.
 |
 |
St. Epiphanius was the Bishop of Cyprus at Salamina in the 4th century and wrote an early Greek treatise on the 12 stones of the Breastplate of the High Priest and their Christian symbolic interpretation; first translated by Conrad Gesner, Zurich, in 1565. This frontispiece is from a 1743 edition. |
Chinese writings on diamond refer to "kun wu" and "kin-kang" as jade-cutting knives. The image at lower right represents diamond, "the hard clear stone." From "The Great Materia Medica," by Li Shih Chen (Ming Dynasty, printed in 1784). |
Breastplate: Photo: Craig Chesek, courtesy George F. Kunz Collection, U. S. Geological Survey Library, Reston, VA. Frontispiece of "The Precious Stones of the Bible" by Rev. Charles W. Cooper, 1846.
St. Epiphanius: Photo: Craig Chesek, courtesy George F. Kunz Collection, U. S. Geological Survey Library, Reston, VA.
Chinese writings: Photo: Jackie Beckett, courtesy Laufer Collection, Rare
Book Collection, Departmeny of Library Services, American Museum of Natural History
|
