This reminds me of the brand name "Crystal Light". lol
I'm trying to go through the Bible and find things from "A" to "Z" in it. I like doing the research and this is something that interests me. The "A" and "B" can be found on Mt Mitchell UMC's blog to which I also contribute.
Chrysolite
According to my cheat sheet (NIV Compact Nave’s Topical Bible, John R. Kohlenberger III):
A precious stone set in a priest’s breastplate. Ex 28:17; 39:10
A precious stone used in poetic, prophetic and apocalyptic literature. SS 5:14; Eze 1:16; 10:9; 28:13; Da 10:6; Rev 21:20
Chrysolite is mentioned in the Bible several times, obviously from the above information. This is one of the times it is listed:
Exodus 28:15-21 (New International Version)
The Breastpiece
15
"Fashion a breastpiece for making decisions—the work of a skilled craftsman.
Make it like the ephod: of gold, and of blue, purple and scarlet yarn, and of
finely twisted linen. 16 It is to be square—a span
long and a span wide—and folded double. 17 Then mount four rows of precious
stones on it. In the first row there shall be a ruby, a topaz and a beryl; 18 in
the second row a turquoise, a sapphire
and an emerald; 19 in the third row a jacinth, an agate and an amethyst; 20 in
the fourth row a chrysolite, an onyx and a jasper.
Mount them in gold filigree settings. 21 There are to be twelve stones, one for
each of the names of the sons of Israel, each engraved like a seal with the name
of one of the twelve tribes.
(A Span is equal to about 9 inches or 22 centimeters.)
It looks like they were making garments for the priest to wear on certain occasions. Chrysolite means “golden stone” (http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/Chrysolite) so it looks like they were making a garment for the priest to wear on certain occasions. There were more instructions on how to ‘make’ the breastpiece and the other clothing with it but this post is about chrysolite so I’ll leave the other to another day.
It seems like it would be a very beautiful, albeit an expensive in our time period, piece. The chrysolite, according to http://www.merriam-webster.com/, it is also called olivine. Olivine is said to look like peridot, quite greenish in color. Today when we read the different translations of the Bible, we can’t be certain of the exact name of the precious stones that were used [in these types of clothing].
Outside of the Bible, I found that chrysolite is used for healing the heart, whether it was from a physical or psychological problem. There were even instructions on where to wear the stone to connect to your spiritual side for this type of healing. (See http://www.ehow.com/how_2204176_use-chrysolite-energy.html)
Looking at this scientifically, I found that chrysolite is a mineral. It has a little bit of silica (sand), magnesia and iron in it. It is not as hard as a quartz but a little harder than glass. According to this website, http://www.mindat.org/min-9257.html, chrysolite can be found in 2 locations in North America. Both are in the United States. One is at Jacob’s Ruby Mine in Cowee Valley in Macon County, North Carolina. The other location is in Rye, Westchester County, New York. It can also be found in Asia. That location is in China, very near where Mongolia, Russia, China and Kazakhstan meet. Another website listed chrysolite as commonly found in volcanic rock with fine specimens found in Egypt and Brazil. (http://www.probertencyclopaedia.com/cgi-bin/res.pl?keyword=Chrysolite&offset=0) It made me wonder though how they were using it in the breastpieces in the locations in the Bible if the only locations it was found was in North Carolina, New York, and China. There is always ‘trade’ but still, I don’t think the new world was found back that far. (lol!)
Well, I think that does it for my “C” from the Bible. I’m off to find my “D” subject from the Bible now.
Floosyjane
