Sard 1198035 212649027 2008-05-15T17:50:01Z Penguinwithin 2551112 tag for ref pile. Good info. Let's tie it in with cites. {{otheruses}} {{no footnotes}} '''Sard''' is a reddish-brown [[chalcedony]], SiO<sub>2</sub>, much used by the ancients as a [[gemstone]]. [[Pliny the Elder]] states that it was named from [[Sardis]], in [[Lydia]], where it was first discovered; but the name probably came with the stone from [[Persian_Empire|Persia]] (Pers. sered, yellowish-red). Sard was used for [[Assyria]]n [[cylinder-seal]]s, [[Egypt]]ian and [[Phoenicia]]n [[scarab]]s, and early [[Ancient Greece|Greek]] and Etruscan gems. The [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] odem (translated sardius), the first stone in the High Priest's breastplate, was a red stone, probably sard but perhaps [[carnelian]] or red [[jasper]]. Some kinds of sard closely resemble carnelian, but are usually rather harder and tougher, with a duller and more hackly fracture. [[Mineralogy|Mineralogically]] the two stones pass into each other, and indeed they have often been regarded as identical, both being chalcedonic [[silica]] colored with [[iron oxide]]. The range of colors in sard is very great, some stones being orange-red, or hyacinthine, and others even golden, while some present so dark a brown color as to appear almost black by reflected light. The hyacinthine sard, resembling certain [[garnet]]s, was the most valued variety among the ancients for cameos and intaglios. Dark-brown sard is sometimes called sardoine, or sardine, while certain sards of yellowish color were at one time known to collectors of engraved gems as [[beryl]]. {{mineral-stub}} ==References== *{{1911}} *http://www.mindat.org/min-7607.html {{Silica minerals}} [[nl:Sardonyx]] [[pl:Sard]] [[pt:Sárdio]]