The Shoham Stone – the Red Stone.
M. Glikman,
Israel
“It
all starts with a road”
In our particular case it had all started from receiving the
Torah. It is in the Torah that the
Shoham stone is mentioned for the first time.
The Land of Havilah was famous for it.
After the Flood it also came to be known in Mesopotamia and ancient
Egypt. What kind of stone is it then?
The first attempts to identify the stone date back to the third century BC,
the time of Ptolemy II Philadelphus of Egypt. Due to the king’s curiosity,
a translation of the Holy Scriptures was executed. However, the Almighty played a joke on the
translators by slightly confusing them in the area of mineralogy. In the Septuagint translation we find five
different translations for “the Shoham stone”.
In the first book of Torah (Bereshit 2:12) the stone is called
“prasinos” (a microcrystalline quartz of leek color if the name comes from the
word prason, or a strip-colored stone with prasia (“stripe,
ridge”) base) from the Land of Havilah.
In the second book (Shemot 28:9;
28:20;
35:27; 36:13 ;36:20 ) and in the
book of the Prophet Yehezkel [Ezekiel] ( 28:13) it is the Shoham stone from the
beryllium mineral group (according to the modern gem nomenclature): berullion
and smaragdos (in the color range of green).
But in the book of Shemot 25:7 and 35:8 the Shoham stone is translated
as sardion. In the book of the
Prophet Job (28:16) it is called onuchion.
And, finally, in Diveri Hayamim I [First Chronicles 29:2] the word shoham
is simply given in its Greek transcription – soam.
During the following years and centuries the search for the
stone in the world of precious and semiprecious stones continued. The list of potential “contenders” became wider
and wider. In Antiquities of the Jews, Josephus
calls the Shoham stone on the shoulders of High priests sardonyx, but
when located on the Hoshen it is called onyx, and in the Jewish Wars it
becomes beryl. A hundred years
later, Aquila, Symmachus and Teodotion decide in favor of onyx. In the Vulgate (IV century AD) the Shoham
stone is called onyx, from where this interpretation entered the church
books of the Catholic Church. In the Aramaic Targum Onkelos (II century
AD), as well as in Saadia Gaon’s Tafsir (X century AD) the word “shoham” gets a
new meaning – crystal . Epiphanius
of Salamis (IV century AD) wrote: “The Beryl stone of a color that is blue like
a sea or like a hyacinth of a paler color”.
The Academy of the Hebrew Language ruled that the Shoham stone is an
aquamarine (a variety of beryl). Some believe
that the name shoham refers to lapis lazuli (see Scripture Illustrated, 1814,
p.15), malachite, green feldspar (W.M.F. Petrie, 1902), turquoise (G.G.
Lemmlein, 1963), carneol, etc.
Using the site http://studybible.info/compare the
following calculation was made: 86.25% of the existing
Torah translations in various languages translate the word shoham as onyx,
4.1% as beryl, 3.3% as emerald, 2.9% as sardonyx, 1.7% as prase,
1.3% as carnelian (sard), and 0.5% simply use shoham. The sampling was based on three verses: Genesis 2:12,
Exodus 28:9, and Exodus 28:20. The Hindi translation of the first book of the
Torah uses the word “gomeda”, which usually means hessonite (a
variety of garnet). In the Indonesian translation
we find a collocation “batu delima” meaning ruby, even though the word “batu”
means a stone and “delima” means garnet. Another interesting detail, in Russian
translations of the 12th line of the above-mentioned book the word shoham
is either translated as onyx or transliterated as shoam (Torah
MiTzion) or shogam (L. Mandelshtam).
Regarding the connection between the words onyx and sardonyx, A. Furtwangler
wrote in his book "Die Antiken Gemmen" (1900) that in the ancient
times there was no real distinction between onyx and sardonyx, as both were
considered ribbon stones. Even when Ktesius
reports about finding onyx in the mountains of India, he probably means sardonyx
(p. 398). This theory is supported by H.
Luschen in "Die Namen der Steine "(1968, 1979). B.F. Kulikov and V.V. Bukanov (1988) write: “The
name (sardonyx, M.G.) is a combination of two terms sard
and onyx (Словарь камней самоцветов,1968, p. 81), then on page 68 we find
that sardonyx is a type of onyx (ribbon agate), which can be differentiated by
the coloring of its ribbons – “the proper onyx has white and black (ribbons),
while the ribbons of sardonyx are reddish brown and white”. And
then later: “Sardius (sard) is a yellowish brown, brown, or reddish brown
chalcedony. The stone derives its name
from the city of Sardis, the capital of Lydia.” (ibid, p. 81)
However, it is possible to suggest another origin of the word sard. The linguists claim that one of the roots of
the Latvian language is Sanskrit. For example,
in Latvian the word “sarts” means scarlet and “sarkans” means red. In Sanskrit the words “sarudhira” and
“sarakta” mean bloody, while “sarka” means the sun (it’s hard not
to be reminded that in ancient Russia a ruler was often called “the Red Sun”). The word red in Hindi is “surkh” and
in Persian it is “sorx”. The Greek word “sardion”
meaning sard (A.D. Veisman "Греческо –русский словарь", p.1122) fits this list perfectly. In the professional literature in English, sard
is sometimes called carnelian. In
Greek, the word “sarkidion” means a piece of meat (from “sarx, sarkos”
meaning meat, flesh, ibid, pp.1122-1123). In Latin meat is “caro, carnis”, while
“carneus” is fleshly (I.H. Dvoretzky, p.123). There is a Hebrew
word “sarok” - שרק (reddish-brown,
sorrel), it was used only once in the Tanach (Zechariah 1:8, translated by D.
Yosifson as red). E. Klein (1987)
believes that this word has Akkadian roots: “sharqu” – blood. It seems that everything revolves around the concepts
of bloody, meat and flesh.
It is this color that became the quintessential red for the ancient
people. However, there is also another explanation:
"Carnelian or sard… The name of the mineral relates to the color of the stone
(from the Latin cornus – a dogwood berry), while “serdolyk” (the Russian
name for carnelian) means in ancient Russian “like a heart in appearance”
(Wikipedia in Russian). However, the heart
muscle is similar in color to meat.
The first stone of the breastplate of High Priests was called “odem”, nobody doubts
that it was red in color: blood is “dam”, red is “adom”, beef is “basar adom” (red
meat), and earth or soil – “adama” (it does has a reddish hue). But we are looking for the eleventh stone of Hoshen.
According to the Jewish tradition, the color of shoham
is black, because “the banner of Joseph was black” (see Bamidbar Rabbah). Until today most of the scholars believe that
shoham is black onyx. The Israel Postal Company
issued a series of postage stamps dedicated to the Hoshen stones. Joseph Charrach, a geologist and philatelist,
who was the scientific advisor for the series wrote: “shoham – onyx
(black)…” We see how in different
translations the color of the Shoham stone had been changed from green, red,
blue, azure and black and white to black.
However, some authors are adamant that
shoham is carnelian. For example, F. Huber
et al (1973) "Hebrew and Aramaic Dictionary of the Old Testament",
Fr. Andersen, D. Forbes (1989)" The Vocabulary of the Old Testament"
(published by the Vatican), "Die Heilige Schrift" (Stuttgart,
1981), etc.
The aim of our study was to test the hypothesis that the word שהם (shoham) means red,
and the collocation אבן שהם
(even shoham) means red stone, as well as to find information in the
professional literature confirming its connection with the Land of Havilah. The lexicographical analysis and the published
conclusions of the archeological excavations of ancient cities in Mesopotamia
and in the area of Indus Valley Civilization contributed to our endeavor.
One of the existing Russian transcriptions of the word
“shoham” is shoam similar to soam from the Greek record from LXX
(the letter ה is often “swallowed” in spoken Hebrew). Written like this the word shoam is
very similar (based on consonants, the rest is only vowel markings) in writing
to the Akkadian word “samu” meaning red or brown (in the Akkadian
dictionaries there is a dash over the letter “a” indicating a long vowel like
in Lativan “garum zlme”, in such case
the word is written as “sa-a-mu”, AHw, 1019).
In Mari texts we find simum, in Ugaritic texts – shamu,
and in Neo Babylonian period – sandu, all these words meaning "red,
brown"(J. Back at al. "A Concise Dictionary of Akkadian", 1999, p.315).
The Samaritan translation of the Torah
introduced the word shoham – sham – שאם,
while red in Aramean is sumka and red stone is samkan. Another spelling in Ugaritic – shmt,
meaning red color and red stone can also be found in the
professional literature (W. Dietrich, S. Arnet, 2013).
The Akkadian noun “samtu” (from the root “samu”) and its synonyms
“sand/tu” have the connotation of red color.
This word is an Akkadian synonym of the Sumerian word NA4GUG, which is
translated by most of the scholars as carnelian (see Fr. Delitzsch, 1881,
AHw, 1019, Reallexikon der Assyriologie by G. Boson ( Edelsteine), p.268, A.Schuster
– Brandis, 2008, etc.). However, the
story of the identification had not been easy.
First, it was declared to be a green stone – malachite, following which
the shomam also was considered to be either malachite (Jensen actually combined
the two words) or green feldspar (see W.M.F. Petrie, 1902). Perhaps, this was due to the influence of the
LXX translation and various Egyptologists as the word “shsm.t” in ancient
Egyptian means malachite (J. Harris, 1961). Then Fr. Delitzsch saw the connection between
samtu stone and the first stone on the Hoshen – odem but not with the shoham
stone. R.C. Thomposon (1936) believed
that the word “samtu” can be translated in three different ways: as cinnabar,
vermillion or carnelian (DACG 123/5).
H. Quiring (1954) was sure that shoham and samtu were synonymous and
meant carnelian.
Records
on the clay tablets from the times of Sargon (2373 – 2247 BC), Ur III (2168 –
2062 BC) and Gudea of Lagash (2142 – 2116 BC) inform us about the arrival of
the NA4GUG (or gug-gi-rin) stone from the Land of Meluhha (CAD. S p.
121-122, W. F. Leemans, 1960, H. P. Ray, 2003, Massimo Vidale, 2004, etc.).
( urud)a an-na lagab-za-gin-na ku-NE
gug-gi-rin-me-luh-ha-da
This is line 13 from the text Gudea E3/1. 1.7 Cyl.B b, quoted from the
book "Gudea and His Dynasty" by D.O. Edzard, 1997, p.96. In his translation the author of the
publication states that copper, tin, columns of lapis-lazuli, shiny metal and
cornelian (come from – M. G.) Meluhha.
In the poem “Enki and Ninhursag” (NIN.URSAG) found in Ur and translated
by S. N. Kramer we find the following verse: "May the Land of Meluhha load
precious desirable cornelian…” In the texts
in Russian the synonymous word sardius often appears instead of cornelian.
Other examples: “Meluhha – is the land (NA4GUG) of cornelian” (CAD S, p. 122)
and “Me-luh-ha lipshur shad samdu" (the word shadu means
“mountain”) (quoted from "Wo lag das Paradies?" by Fr. Delitzsch,
1881, p. 102).
А. and S.Parpola (1975 ) wrote that the
Sumerian word Meluhha and the Sanskrit word mleccha have the same
meaning “people or land”, while the Proto-Dravidian mel-akam means
“highland” (Parpola, 1974, S. Kalvanaraman, 2012). At the same time, the word mleccha in
ancient Indian means “copper or its alloy bronze or dark skinned people” (A. G.
Cherednichenko, 2006).
If there is a connection between the word Meluhha and Sanskrit, we should
assume that the words samu, shamu, sandu, soam, shoam
and possibly shoham (all in the meaning of “red”) are also
linked to Sanskrit. In the Sanskrit –
English Dictionary by M. Monier – Williams (2005, page 1091) the word shoNa
is translated as “red, crimson, purple, redness, blood, red lead, red
sugar cane and al.”, while the word shoNopala is translated as “red stone,
ruby” (this word is composed of two Sanskrit words: shoNa meaning “red”
and upala meaning “a stone”, M. G.). Thus, concluding
our lexicographical study of the Shoham stone we can presume that it means
“red” (see also the article “Colors of the Hoshen stones are hidden in their
names”).
While
searching for the words similar to the word shoham in Sanskrit, we found
the word sahama meaning “good or evil luck arising from the influence
of the stars” and were reminded of the Indian talisman Navaratna, which
protected from the influence of the planets.
The position of the Shoham stone on the amulet of King Tyrus was
identical to the position of the ruby on the Navaratna talisman and that of the
Samtu stone on the adornment of the Assyrian King (see also the article
“Navaratna – the key to the Hoshen stones”).
However, in those ancient times in the Land of Havilah rubies were not
considered particularly valuable, while its carnelian stones (sardius) were
famous far beyond its borders. The
carnelian beads manufactured in the Land of Meluhha were either really large
(up to 15 cm in diameter, J. M. Kenoyer, 1986) or had some etched
patterns.
“We know that Ur had relations with India already during the high
antiquities. Cornelian beads with
geometrical patterns etched through exactly the same chemical process as the
objects from Mohenjo - Daro had been found out at the royal cemetery” (from Ur
of the Chaldees by L. Wooley, 1961, p. 119).
Such a remark in passing, without any admiration for the knowledge of the
ancient jewelers who knew how to engrave a pattern on cornelian some four and a
half millennia ago.
Cornelians with patterns have been found not
only in Mesopotamia but also in Iran and Arabia (B.K. Thapar, 1992, J.M.Rajaratnam; An De Waele, Ernie
Haerinck, 2006). The Land of Havilah and
the Land of Meluhha became a thing of the past, and in the 11th
century Al-Biruni wrote about cornelians (akik) with engraved
inscriptions. In his “Mineralogy” (1963)
everything is described very succinctly: “… they inscribe on the cornelian
stones for rings … by using the potash and ammonia solution; then they place
the stones closer to fire. And the inscription
turns white… Such mines do not exist anywhere except Yemen and India.” (pp.
160-161). E. Mackay (1933) was the first
to describe the technique of the decoration of cornelian beads in the Western literature
after personally observing an Indian master (see “Man” London magazine, pp.
143-146). Baking soda mixed with the sap
of the Kirar (Capparis aphylla) plant is applied to the stone, which is then
placed on the burning coals. M.G.
Dikshit (1949) wrote a book on this topic called “The Etched Beads of
India”. The ancient cities Chanhu-Daro
and Lothal are considered the main centers for manufacturing etched cornelian
beads in the Land of Meluhha.
Dzi stones
The unique technique had spread throughout Hindustan and beyond. Today one can buy the beads made according to
the ancient formula in Myanmar, Nepal, Thailand, Chana and Tibet. The Tibetans value such stones very much and
call them “Dzi stones”. They believe
that these stones bring health and prosperity to their owners.
The carnelian deposits in India are in the area of Cambay (J.Conder,1830),
on Deccan Plateau, at Ratanpur Rajpipla (An De Waele et al.), and in the
state of Gujarat (Wikipedia).
The main conclusion: THE SHOHAM STONE IS RED IN COLOR, CARNELIAN.
It
is this stone and not any other that had been used three times for the garments
of High Priests: twice for the Ephod and once for the Hoshen.
The Land of Havilah located between the rivers Indus and Tigris was rich in gold
of good quality, orpiment and carnelian stone.
Maybe there
were other valuable things there but the TORAH does not say anything about
them.
