The history, writings, and translations related to the tarshish stone and its possible modern day
equivalent, the topaz
X. Tarshish. The Septuagint renders this word "chrysolite," where it is used in the description of the breastplate, as does Josephus also. In
the Authorized Version, "beryl" is the rendering. We have already stated that the topaz of the ancients was usually our chrysolite, or peridot,
and the name "chrysolite" appears to have been used to designate our topaz. This is indeed indicated by the literal meaning of the word,
"goldenstone." The arshish received its name from Tartessus, in Spain, an important commercial station of the Phoenicians. The stone derived
from this source was not, of course, our Oriental topaz, a variety of corundum, nor was it the true topaz; neither is it all likely that the name
tarshish signified, at least originally, the genuine topaz; most probably it denoted a variety of quartz which occurs in Spain. This is originally
black, but is decolorized by heating to a deep brown, and if the heating be prolonged the stone becomes paler and eventually entirely
transparent. The ancients were familiar with this property. In ancient Egyptian records a stone called thehen is frequently mentioned as a
material from which amulets were made. This Egyptian name signified primarily a "yellow stone," and might designate either the topaz or the
yellow jasper, known and used in Egypt at a very early date; the topaz was probably not known there earlier than 500 or 600 B.C. Hence, in
spite of the unquestionable difficulty offered by the geographical name tarshish, which might seem to confine us to a Spanish origin for the
stone, the probabilities favor the selection of the yellow jasper as the tenth gem in Aaron's breastplate. For that made with pious zeal by those
who labored to renew the glories of the Old Jerusalem, we choose the topaz,-possibly, indeed, a fine specimen of the genuine topaz,-for
whatever the quality of the yellow stone originally brought from Tartessus, the name may well have been applied to the genuine topaz when
that stone became known to the Jews, either in Babylonia, or after their return to Palestine. The tarshish was engraved with the name Naphtali.
Guaranteed Natural Gemstones
Ezekiel 1: 15-16
15 Now as I looked at the living creatures, behold, a wheel was on the earth beside each living creature with its four faces.
16 The appearance of the wheels and their workings was like the color of beryl, and all four had the same likeness. The
appearance of their workings was, as it were, a wheel in the middle of a wheel. 17 When they moved, they went toward any
one of four directions; they did not turn aside when they went.
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Type: Beryl
Pieces: 1
Weight: 0.59 ct.
Calibrated: 5 mm
Exact Size: 5 x 4.96 x 3.22 mm
Color: Yellow Golden
Shape: Square Facet
Clarity: VVS
Treatment: None
Origin: Brazil
Gem ID: 233715
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Dreams and Visions
Wheel Color
October 24, 2009
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