The Religious Use of Various Stones
The Religious Use of Various Stones
THE precious stone mentioned in the earliest biblical reference, Gen. ii, 12, and there translated onyx, is rendered chrysoprase in the…
The Religious Use of Various Stones: Cheops
It is interesting to note the statements of Arab historians that the mummy of Cheops, the Pharaoh of the Great Pyramid, was decorated with…
The Religious Use of Various Stones: Reuben
The name Reuben signifies "Behold a Son," and this has been given a Messianic meaning by some commentators. In Jacob's enigmatic blessing…
The Religious Use of Various Stones: Judah
For the tribe of Judah we have the ruby, and here the meaning of the name, "praised," fits in well with the dignity of the rare and glowing…
The Religious Use of Various Stones: Joseph
Of the tribe Joseph, we are told that it was to be increased, and this meaning is contained in the name itself, which is rendered: "May God…
The Religious Use of Various Stones: Virgin
In a tractate "Of the Crown of the Virgin," ascribed to Saint Ildefonso (607-669), the writer describes this wondrous gold crown as adorned…
The Religious Use of Various Stones: Wittekind
The reliquarium of Wittekind, now in the Kunstgewerbe Museum at Berlin, is considered to be probably the most important specimen of early…
The Religious Use of Various Stones: Brunswick
One of the most notable and valuable objects in the famous Guelph treasure that has recently been brought back to the city of Brunswick as…
The Religious Use of Various Stones: Crown
While nothing definite is known as to the goldsmith who executed this work, its style and general character suggest the conjecture that it…
The Religious Use of Various Stones: Cross
An ecclesiastical jewel of great beauty and remarkable historic interest is known as the Cross of Zaccaria. It was secured in 1308 by…
The Religious Use of Various Stones: Charles
A splendid ecclesiastical ornament is described in the inventory of the royal treasures in the Chateau de Fontaine-bleau made in 1560, on…
The Religious Use of Various Stones: Spain
The wife of Marshal Junot, the celebrated Duchesse d'Abrantes, seeks to exonerate her husband and to refute the many charges of spoliation…
The Religious Use of Various Stones: Buddha
Among the Buddhist legends current in India in the seventh century A.D. is one referring to the vases offered by the "four kings of heaven"…
The Religious Use of Various Stones: Portuguese
Some of the most valuable temple treasures in the Island of Ceylon were preserved in a pagoda near the frontiers of the realm of Saula. The…
The Religious Use of Various Stones: Indian
Recent excavations made by Dr. J. H. Marshall in the Punjab, India, on the site of the ancient city of Taxila, captured by Alexander the…
The Religious Use of Various Stones: Shah
The English ambassador, Sir Thomas Roe, sent to the court of Shah Jehangir by King James I, saw the Shah on the day of his great birthday…
The Religious Use of Various Stones: Lamas
Turquoises, usually in connection with gold, belong to the most ancient propitiatory offerings to the gods and demons; in the enumeration…
The Religious Use of Various Stones: Mexico
In the native languages of Mexico and Central America the name chalchihuitl most frequently designates jadeite, but it appears sometimes to…
The Religious Use of Various Stones: Brantome
The story of the emeralds brought from the New World by Hernan Cortes must have been quite familiar to sixteenth century writers, for we…
The Religious Use of Various Stones: Aztec
The Aztec art-workers of the period immediately antedating the Spanish Conquest had attained a high order of skill in the difficult work of…
The Religious Use of Various Stones: Domingo
While Major Hyde was exploring this neighborhood in 1880, he was visited by several Pueblo Indians from San Domingo, who stated that the…
The Religious Use of Various Stones: Guatavita
The mystic lake of Guatavita, high up on the Andean plateau of Colombia, South America, was the chief holy place of the native Indians of…