Carnelian
Carnelian is an opaque to slightly translucent variety of chalcedony, banded in two colors, red-white to orange-white . It consists of quartz in fibrous form, the finely crystalline structure of which is only visible under the microscope .
Carnelian is used exclusively for the manufacture of gemstones .
colour
All brown hues up to light, almost pink, occur. There are monochrome, striped and spotted specimens. Most valued are carnelians, which appear fiery red when looking through, but blackish red when looking at the surface.
The carnelian owes their color to the element iron , which occurs in various amounts in carnelian in the form of iron oxide or iron hydroxide . The color turns out accordingly: The oxide of trivalent iron (Fe 2 O 3 ) colors the stone red, its hydroxide (Fe (OH) 3 ) colors it brown. With carnelians from India, the heat of the sun, to which the rough stones were exposed, converted the iron hydroxide into iron oxide and thus contributed to the coveted red color. What nature cannot do alone, humans can help: Carnelians can be permanently changed in color to red through heat, a complicated art that requires all sorts of caution, but has been known since ancient times among others among the Etruscans and Phrygians. Reddish or flesh-colored varieties were also called sarders or sardis .
Its hardness 7 enables the processing of carnelian for jewelry purposes , often as a ring stone , for chains , as well as for artificial figures .
etymology
The origin of the name carnelian is not clear. The Latin name in the Middle Ages was corneolus , which was generally used from 1078 onwards. Later the stone was also called cornelius . In the 13th century, Albertus Magnus said: "corneolus, quem quidam cornelium dicunt" (= corneolus, also called cornelius).
In Physica , the medical work of St. Hildegard von Bingen (1098–1179) written in Latin, the stone is called cornelius or similar. In the so-called Paris manuscript of the Physica from the years 1425–1450, chapters 4–23 on carnelian are headed with De Cornelione . As it is said there, the stone was named "because of its color after the cornel cherry ". In other languages the name for carnelian usually begins with corn , i.e. an o as the second letter. According to the New English Dictionary by Murray, Oxford 1893, which deals in detail with the origin of the word, today's English word cornelian for carnelian goes back to the Middle English (1000–1500) name corneline , which in turn derives from the old French corneline . In part it is traced back to the Latin word cornu = horn, because the color of the stone is sometimes the same as that of the fingernail, but partly also to the red color of the cornel, which in Latin is cornum (adjective: corneus ). In the late 15th century the word corneolus was falsified to carneolus , namely after the Latin word carneus = flesh-colored. Although there is also the term carnelian for the gemstone in English (as in German a instead of o). The English-language Chambers's Encyclopaedia , edition 1970, makes it unmistakably clear that it has to be cornelian : "Cornelian, a gemstone, often incorrectly called carnelian, is ...".
The French word for carnelian is cornaline . According to Großem Larousse , 1982 edition, the name comes from corne = horn. The Spanish name is very similar, namely cornalina . In Italian, the gemstone is called corniolo and is spelled exactly like the Italian word for cornel cherry . However, the emphasis is different: in the sense of Cornelian cherry, corniolo is emphasized on the third syllable, in the sense of carnelian on the penultimate (= corniólo) syllable.
According to Hans Lüschen: Die Namen der Steine , Basel 1979, is the most common form of this Middle Latin name corneolus , along with cornelius and corniol . The derivation from the Latin corneus = horns (the diminutive of it is corneolus) is not as obvious as that from the Latin cornus = cornel cherry tree (of which the diminutive form is also corneolus ) and cornum = cornel cherry. Descriptions in old books about stones would have compared the color of carnelian to that of meat or the water used for rinsing meat. It could be based on this that in the 15th century the forms with a, namely carniol , carneolus etc. prevailed. Carneolus was understood as the flesh- colored .
The spelling Karniol was common in the 18th and 19th centuries.
history
Carnelian was already valued as a gem stone in ancient times and is particularly found on rings. Well-known examples are:
- The Ring of Tello , Iran , ca.2500 BC. BC, today in the Louvre
- Phoenician signet ring with scarab depiction , 6th century BC BC, now in the British Museum
- Etruscan signet ring with a Poseidon motif, 6th century BC BC, today in the French National Library in Paris.
In ancient Egypt , carnelian was considered a "stone of life" due to its blood-like color. Therefore it played a role in burial rituals and is also mentioned in the Egyptian Book of the Dead . Numerous carnelians have also been found in the tomb of Tutankhamun ( KV62 ) in the Valley of the Kings .
The Meluḫḫa region had the Sumerian nickname "Land of Carnelian".
The Cyprus Museum in Nicosia has two necklaces made of carnelian pearls and tooth-shaped shells, which were found on the skeletons of women buried there in the excavation site of Khirokitia in the south of the island. The necklaces are dated from 3,500 to 3,000 BC. Dated. The carnelian used must be imported from the mainland, as it does not exist on the island. Carnelian jewelry was also found during excavations in the 5,000-year-old Troy . In the Roman Empire (0–375) carnelian was the most common material used to make gems, along with glass . Often they were part of a ring that was also used for sealing. In the gems mostly lucky and protective symbols or protective deities were cut. For ordinary soldiers the ring was made of iron, for officers from the knight class of gold. The main source of carnelian was India. At Kalkriese near Osnabrück, the likely location of the Varus Battle (9 AD), an iron ring with a gem made of carnelian has been found, which shows a double horn of plenty with the herald's staff of Mercury.
In the late Roman period, carnelian pearls were found mainly in the eastern provinces. In the northern Alpine region they only occur sporadically, also in Pfyn ( Ad Fines ) and Kaiseraugst (Switzerland). 2005 were near Großschwabhausen in the Weimarer Land district in a children's grave from the 11th / 12th. In the 19th century, 13 pearls were discovered, which were probably part of a chain. Four of the pearls are made of carnelian.
Since the carnelian is easy to work with, it was often used as a signet ring. Martin Luther wore a gold signet ring with a carnelian into which the so-called Luther rose, Luther's coat of arms, was cut. The ring was made around 1530, probably in Augsburg, and is exhibited in the Green Vault of Dresden Castle.
The earlier high rank of carnelian as a gemstone is impressively demonstrated by the so-called "jewelery sets" August the Strong (1670–1733) and his son, which are also exhibited in the Green Vault of the Dresden Palace and form a main part of the Saxon crown treasure. Of the nine sets there, the most extensive with 123 individual parts is the "carnelian set". It was completed in 1719 and is largely the work of the Augsburg goldsmiths brothers Johann Melchior , Georg Friedrich and Georg Christoph Dinglinger .
In the Middle Ages, dolls were also made from carnelian, as the color of the stone comes closest to the color of human skin.
In modern times, carnelian experienced a renaissance as a gemstone. The grinding shops in Idar-Oberstein are among the most important processing plants . The stone was also the subject of literary processing several times:
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Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Blessing Pledges (from the West-Eastern Divan ) |
Peter Paul Althaus If I finally knew (from the dream city cycle) |
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In 1964, Professor Rupprecht bred a new variety of roses on behalf of the "Institute for Ornamental Plants" in East Berlin and named it after the mineral carnelian rose . The "Institute for Fruit Breeding" in Dresden - Pillnitz developed a sour cherry variety that was recognized in 1990 under the name of carnelian cherry .
Education and Locations
Carnelian occurs in nature either as a sinter-like coating of rocks or as a filling of cavities. In some agates it also forms more or less thick layers within their characteristic banding. Often carnelians are also detached from their original rock and can be found in the rubble of the river deposits.
So far, carnelian has been found in around 120 sites (as of 2009), including Hobart on Tasmania (Australia); at Foz do Iguaçu in Brazil; in the French regions of Alsace , Franche-Comté and Lorraine ; Baden-Württemberg (Black Forest), Bavaria (Fichtelgebirge), Hesse (Odenwald), Rhineland-Palatinate ( Bad Bergzabern ), Saarland , Saxony (Glauchau) and Thuringia (Saalfeld) in Germany; England and Scotland in Great Britain; Gujarat in India; in the Karawanken and near Leutschach in Austria; Lower Silesia in Poland; Karelia in Russia; in the Swiss canton of Jura ; Banská Bystrica in Slovakia; Sabaragamuwa in Sri Lanka; in some regions of South Africa ; in Czech Bohemia ; on the Crimean peninsula in Ukraine; in Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén county of Hungary; as well as in many regions of the United States .
Use as a gem stone
As a gemstone , carnelian is still mostly offered in a smooth cut in the form of cabochons or gems .
Esoteric
In the Middle Ages, the carnelian was sometimes worn in amulets that were supposed to protect against enchantment. Hildegard von Bingen counts it among the most important healing stones; he supposedly helps u. a. against bleeding, headache, cough and colds.
In Marbod von Rennes (1035–1123), bishop of this city in Brittany, and in Albertus Magnus (1193–1280), the stone had the effect of calming anger in addition to stopping blood. Carnelian was praised as a panacea for character in a work from 1354, the Oeconomia by Konrad von Megenberg:
- Who is weak but wants to be firm
- who is lukewarm, but wants to burn,
- who is cowardly but wants to be bold,
- who is a servant but wants to be master,
- he always carries a carnelian.
Even in later centuries, carnelian was believed to have a special effect on women. The sincere Jubilee writer from 1773: "The carnelian, worn by men, makes women strangely attractive."
Esotericists assign carnelian to the zodiac signs Aries , Taurus and Scorpio . In addition, according to Raphaell, it stands for the planet Mars (planet) and according to Uyldert for the planet Jupiter . The writer and poet Theodor Körner assigned the carnelian in his poem The Stones of the Month to the month of July.
As a healing stone , carnelian is said to be able to heal arthritis, depression, neuralgia and rheumatism, as well as to alleviate fever and infections. In addition, it should promote vitality. There is no scientific evidence of this.
See also
literature
- Walter Schumann: Precious stones and gemstones. All precious and semi-precious stones in the world. 1500 unique pieces. 6th revised edition. BLV Verlags-gmbH, Munich et al. 1989, ISBN 3-405-12488-3 ( BLV regulation book ).
- Hans Lüschen: The names of the stones. The mineral kingdom in the mirror of the stones. 2nd revised and expanded edition. Ott, Thun 1979, ISBN 3-7225-6265-1 .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ J. u. W. Grimm: German Dictionary , Woerterbuchnetz.de
- ↑ Hermann Johann Gräber: Attempt to provide a historical explanation of the Revelation of John , University bookshop by Karl Winter, Heidelberg 1857, p. 79
- ^ Samuel Hahnemann: Apothekerlexikon. 1st department, 2nd part, Leipzig 1795, p. 472.
- ↑ James Fenimore Cooper: The Spy , Chapter 15 in the translation by Carl Kolb, in an 1841 edition
- ↑ M. Martin: The late Roman-early medieval burial ground of Kaiseraugst , Canton Aargau, Derendingen 1991, pages 32–33: flat square pearl with faceted corners in a woman's grave around 400 or the early 5th century
- ^ Helmut Hundsbichler, Gerhard Jaritz, Harry Kühnel, Elisabeth Vavra : Everyday life in the late Middle Ages . Ed .: Harry Kühnel. 2nd Edition. Styria Verlag, Graz, Vienna, Cologne 1996, ISBN 3-222-12451-5 .
- ↑ - A stone full of wonderful effects
- ↑ Mindat - Localities for Carnelian