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The Egyptians believed that the different kinds of precious stones were endowed with certain special talismanic properties, and these stones were combined in their necklaces in a way supposed to afford protection from all manner of malign influences. The beads were of various forms, sometimes round or oval, and at others, rectangular or oblong; besides the stones in general use, such as the emerald, carnelian, agate, lapis lazuli, amethyst, rock-crystal, beryl, jasper and garnet, beads of gold, silver, glass, faience, and even of clay and straw, were employed. To complete the efficacy of the necklace, small images of the gods and of the sacred animals were added as pendants. Even on the mummies and mummy cases such ornaments are painted in imitation of necklaces or collars of precious stones, with flowers, etc., as pendants.
One of the most artistic and beautiful specimens of ancient Egyptian goldsmiths' work was recently sent by Dr. Flinders Petrie, on behalf of the Egyptian Research Account Society, to the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. It is adorned with amethysts set in gold, the stones with their symbolic settings constituting a charm of powerful amulets for the protection of the wearer, who is believed to have been the Princess Sat-Hathor-Ant, of the Twelfth Dynasty, the wife of the heir to the throne. Dr. Petrie pronounces this to be one of the finest ancient Egyptian necklaces he has ever seen.
This splendid ornament came from tomb No. 154 at Haragh. It measures 26.3 inches in length and is composed of 88 amethyst beads varying in length from nearly a quarter-inch to about four-tenths of an inch (0.6 cm. to 1 cm.) and in diameter from a little over a quarter-inch to over four-tenths of an inch (0.7 cm. to 1.1 cm.). The beads are slightly flattened and the borings were made from both ends, meeting accurately in the centre in the majority of cases. In spite of small surface scars, they are generally of very clear and even color.
Special chapters from the great Egyptian collection of hymns and invocations known as the "Book of the Dead" were inscribed on certain particular stones, as in the following instances:
Chapter XXVI of the Book of the Dead to be inscribed on, or recited over, a figure in lapis lazuli.
Chapter whereby the Heart is given to a person in the Netherworld.
He saith: Heart mine to me, in the place of Hearts! Whole Heart mine to me, in the place of Whole Hearts!
Let me have my Heart that it may rest within me; but I shall feed upon the food of Osiris, on the eastern side of the mead of amaranthine flowers.
Be mine a bark for descending the stream and another for ascending.
I go down into the bark where thou art.
Be there given to me my mouth wherewith to speak, and my feet for walking; and let me have my arms wherewith to overthrow my adversaries.
Let two hands from the Earth open my mouth: Let Seb, the Erpa of the gods, part my two jaws; let him open my two eyes which are closed, and give motion to my two hands which are powerless; and let Anubis give vigor to my legs that I may raise myself upon them.
And may Sechit the divine one lift me up, so that I may arise in Heaven and issue my behest in Memphis.
I am in possession of my Heart, I am in possession of my Whole Heart, I am in possession of my arms and I have possession of my legs.
[I do whatsoever my Genius willeth, and my Soul is not bound to my body at the gates of Amenta.]
Chapter XXVII of the Book of the Dead to be inscribed on, or recited over, a figure in green feldspar.
Chapter whereby the Heart of a person is not taken from him in the Netherworld.
O ye gods who seize upon Hearts, and who pluck out the Whole Heart; and whose hands fashion anew the Heart of a person according to what he hath done; lo now, let that be forgiven to him by you.
Hail to you, O ye Lords of Everlasting Time and Eternity! Let not my Heart be torn from me by your fingers. Let not my Heart be fashioned anew according to all the evil things said against me.
For this Heart of mine is the Heart of the god of mighty names [Thoth], of the great god whose words are in his members, and who giveth free course to his Heart which is within him.
And most keen of insight is his heart among the gods. Ho to me! Heart of mine: I am in possession of thee, I am thy master, and thou art by me; fall not away from me; I am the dictator to whom thou shalt obey in the Netherworld.
Were there sufficient evidence as to the use of jade by the ancient Egyptians, we might be justified in finding an allusion to this substance in the 160th chapter of the Book of the Dead. This chapter was to be inscribed upon a small column made of a green stone (Renouf translates "green feldspar"), as appears in the text, which reads, in part, as follows:
I am the column of green feldspar which cannot be crushed, and which is raised by the hand of Thoth.
Injury is an abomination for it. If it is safe, I am safe; if it is not injured, I am not injured; if it receives no cut, I receive no cut.
Said by Thoth: arise, come in peace, lord of Heliopolis, lord who resides at Pu.
The text is accompanied by a vignette in which Thoth is represented bringing the column enclosed in a box or casket. This is one of the forms of the neshem-stone, a name used in Egyptian as widely and vaguely as was smaragdus in Latin. One thing is, however, quite evident, the material designated here must have been of exceptional hardness and toughness, for the special virtue of the column-amulet was to make the body as hard and indestructible as itself. Incidentally we may recall that the hermetic work of Thoth, named by the later Greeks Trismegistos, the Thrice Mighty One, which was said to have been unearthed in a tomb, was inscribed upon smaragdus. |
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Precious Stones Guide Vol 8
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