Sard
1198035
212649027
2008-05-15T17:50:01Z
Penguinwithin
2551112
tag for ref pile. Good info. Let's tie it in with cites.
{{otheruses}}
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'''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]].
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==References==
*{{1911}}
*http://www.mindat.org/min-7607.html
{{Silica minerals}}
[[nl:Sardonyx]]
[[pl:Sard]]
[[pt:Sárdio]]