Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1891-09-26
METALS or THE AxcIENrS
What They Knew About Thsa ~ Usss
They Put Them ta.

What They Knew About rhsa ~ Usss
They Put Them tn
oarAr AccrnrLArroSs OF GOLD nov TINT
CANT TO III NADE--ruE rkLLow INITIAL oxLy
fxPLorrp foR oRSAakyr-suvrR UTILIZED
voa NoSrr-PREcious METALS IN rHE sIBLk-
CIT SEEMS PROBABLE THAT THE DiA-
- mond was not known in the time Of
Moses, said Mineralogist IL. l. Preston Of
hochester TO . srAa reporter. The word
translated diamond or sadanant In various
parts Of the Bible signifies simplya very hard
stone and would be equally applicable to many
other gems. Diamonds were certainly known st
q later period among the ancients however. and
possessed high value chiefly because Of their
rarity and extreme hardness For il il n stone
OF no extraordinary brilliancy OF beauty until
1t has been cut. aud the art Of cutting and pol
ishing diamonds was no. discovered until lass.
A. ID. The cut diamonds credited 10 Hindoo
and Chinese artists at a very early epoch are
believed by the best authorities TO have been
sapphires. Polished and engraved gems Of
other kinds we're known in the time Of the ex-
odus
THE alabasler of the ancients was not the
compact variety of gypsum from which Nascs
and other ornaments are carved nowadays, but
stalagmitic carbonate OF lime. IL was mostly
OF receptacles for Containing ungueuts and
perfumes. The nitre repeatedly mentioned in
the bible was not saltpetre, but an impure
carbonate of soda obtained from certain lakes
In Egypt called the lakes Of natron. Satron
was used for making soap and also in the
mummifying process.
GOLD KNOWN TO THE AxcrESrs.
LA n. A.
probably gold was the first discovered. IL
Aoounded in the sands of many rivers Of an
tiquity which have long since ceased 70 be
auriferous. From the readiness with which il
was 10 be got in those early times one NAV
imagine how such prodigious Quantities of gold
were collected as are spoken OF by authors
who describe the wealth of solomon, the stat
ues, tablets and vessels Of gold dedicated by
Semifamis and the riches Of Cresns. Roman
conquerors fetched the precious metal home
with them literally by wagon loads These
great accumulations were usually the results
OF. conquests- So il was with the enormous
treasures gathered at Babylon under Semira-
mis-, at Jerusalem under solomon, at Sardis
under Crpsus, again at Babylon under Darius,
at Alexandria under Alexander and sfterwsrd
1t Rome while she was at the summit of her
power. 1nasmuch as gold in those DAYS was
used solely for the purpose Of ornament IL was
Less likely to be widely scattered through n
multitude of hands.
The first mention of gold and silver il where
Abraham is described as very rich in cattle,
silver and gold Gold seems to be referred 20
In the Bible and generally in ancient books as
conspicuously associated with lordly wealth.
Funniiy enough, the metal is ascertained to
have been used at Rome 800 years before Christ
for securing artificial teeth in their places.
Cloth was also made of it, Pliny speaks of
having seen Agrippina, wife of the Emperor
Claudius, seated at her husbands side during a
naval sham battle clothed in a robe OF gold,
woven without admixtnre Of other material.
Though the auriferous sauds of rivers and allu-
vial plains furnished most of the gold anciently.
mines were worked also. The Pharaohs of
Egypt drew great quantities of the yellow
metal from mines in that country.
SILVER USED AS MONEY.
''Many references in the Bible render it GER
tain that silver was used for money very an
ciently. The first mention of it's employment
in this way is in the passage where Ephron
values his field at 400 shekels of silver. which
are weighed out to him by Abraham. Joseph 8
brothers said to have sold him for 20 pieces
OF silver, and they took silver with them on
both occasions when they went into Egypt to
buy corn. Mirrors in Phny's time were CON-
monty OF silver, although previously they had
been made of a mixture of IN and copper.
Iron has been known from period ante
dating history. A wedge of IT has been found
in the Great Pyramid. and therefore the metal
must have been known In the time of Moses,
1900 b. C. In the fourth chapter of Genesis il
Is mentioned that Tubal-Cain was the in
structor OF every artifcer in brass and iron.
Brass was a very indefinite term among the
ancients. Where 1t IL spoken OF in the Scrip
lures ii is seldom TO be understood TO signify
the alloy Of copper and zinc now called by that
name The brass tempered for edged tools or
weapons OF war in early times Was usually a
compound Of copper and tin. now known as
hrnp AM lxStl IA Ill.