The real identity behind the green 'Topazion' is Peridot. Peridot received its 'Topazion' alias at the start of the Hellenistic period in ancient Egypt circa 300B.C. Some 400 years later, in the first century A.D Pliny, author of the world's first encyclopedia, wrote: "Juba says that there is an island in the Red Sea called 'Topazion,' at a distance of three hundred stadia from the main land; that it is surrounded by fogs, and is often sought by navigators in consequence; and that, owing to this, it received its present name, the word 'Topazin' meaning 'To seek'." Today, Pliny's island of 'Topazin' is known as Zabargad meaning Peridot in Egyptian Arabic. Zabargad is the largest of a group of islands in Foul Bay off the southeastern coast of Egypt in the Red Sea.

The captured slaves were forced to dig for the green 'Topazion' gems, which were then delivered to, and cut by the royal gem cutters. Mining was done by day, but also by night, as it was apparently difficult to distinguish the lustrous green gems by daylight. The workers would go out at dusk, mark the location of the gemstones, and return the next day to work the area. It is perhaps from this nocturnal brilliance that 'Topazion', or Peridot, received its pseudonym: 'The Evening Emerald'.

Pliny also mentions the softness of 'Topazion' stating, ." it can be filed and polished.by the aid of stone of Naxos.' The stone of Naxos is what we refer to today as emery, derived at Pliny's time from corundum stones on the Greek Island of Naxos in the Aegean Sea. Corundum is the base mineral of Ruby and Sapphire, and possesses a hardness of 9 out of 10 on the Moh's hardness scale. Therefore, the 'Topazion' of Pliny must have been softer, he also states, "It admits, too, of being worn by use." This would make 'Topazion' considerably softer than most gems, and as Peridot possesses a hardness of 6.5, between soft microline and quartz, on the Moh's scale it fits the description. If all this corroborative evidence wasn't enough to identify Peridot as the ancient 'Topazion' gemstone, there still remains one last piece in the puzzle.

Zabargad, like Hawaii, was once an oceanic volcano, forming sometime within the two million yearlong quaternary period, which also witnessed the appearance of mankind. Zabargad became visible above sea level, as a result of Africa and Asia's tectonic plates colliding. The convergence caused rocks in the lower crust to be lifted up to the surface clearing the way for magnesium rich magma flows from below the Earth's surface forming the Island. Olivine often crystallizes from mafic, magnesium rich and low in silica, volcanic magma. As a result the Island of Zabargad is rich in Olivine, and possesses deposits of the gem Forsterite-Olivine: Peridot.