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One Word, Two Different Stones
Jasper — Yashfeh, the twelfth and last of the twelve ancient stones We end with the only name in the list we can follow all the way. Eleven of these…
by Roddy CarloSep 20 No comments -
Named for a Port at the Edge of the Map
Tarshish — the tenth of the twelve ancient stones Eleven of these stones are named for how they look, what they do, or nothing we can recover. One is named…
by Roddy CarloSep 20 No comments -
The Colour That Was Reserved
Amethyst — Achlamah, the ninth of the twelve ancient stones For most of recorded history, amethyst was a precious stone. It sat with emerald, ruby and sapphire, in the short…
by Roddy CarloSep 20 No comments -
No Two Alike
Agate — Shevo, the eighth of the twelve ancient stones Split an agate nodule and you are looking at a record. The bands are not decoration. Each one is a…
by Roddy CarloSep 20 No comments -
The Stone Nobody Can Name
Leshem — the seventh of the twelve ancient stones Every collection of this kind reaches a point where the honest answer is that we do not know. This is that…
by Roddy CarloSep 20 No comments -
The Stone Named for a Blow
Yahalom — the sixth of the twelve ancient stones Ten of these twelve names describe how a stone looks. One describes where it came from. This one appears to describe…
by Roddy CarloSep 20 No comments -
The Blue That Was Never a Sapphire
Lapis lazuli — Sappir, the fifth of the twelve ancient stones Hold a good piece of lapis under a lamp and the metallic specks scattered through it catch the light…
by Roddy CarloSep 20 No comments -
The Stone Two Traditions Cannot Agree On
Nofekh — the fourth of the twelve ancient stones Ten of the twelve stones are arguments about degree. Scholars disagree about which green, which red, which variety. This one is…
by Roddy CarloSep 20 No comments -
A Word That Means Lightning
Bareqet — the third of the twelve ancient stones Most gem names describe a colour, a place, or an owner. This one describes an event. בָּרֶקֶת — Bareqet is built…
by Roddy CarloSep 20 No comments -
The Stone Named After a Search
Peridot — Pitdah, the second of the twelve ancient stones There is a stone whose name means, more or less, keep looking. Pliny the Elder explains why. The gem came…
by Roddy CarloSep 20 No comments
