In the pages describing its etymology and history, we
have learned that
Peridot through time received the erroneous name of
topaz.
Today,
topaz is often referred to as ‘Gem Of The Sun’, a moniker
attached to a scintillating
gemstone sourced in ancient Egypt. However, the
topaz that we
know today was unknown till the 17th Century A.D., making it impossible
for our
topaz to be the suitor of this description.
Unlike
topaz,
Peridot was known to the Egyptians, and was sourced from the
island of ‘
Topazin.’ This island, located in
Foul Bay off the southern coast of Egypt in the Red
Sea, is now known as Zabargad