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In The Beginning
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Of all gemstone etymologies Topaz is one of the oldest
and most complicated. The origin of the word 'Topaz'
begins in ancient Egypt, with a gemstone known as 'Topazion.'
However, as we shall discover, this was a word for an
altogether different gemstone: the Topaz
gem type we know today only being identified during the
1700's. The source of this confusion originated from the
translations of some of the oldest texts known to man:
The Old Testament. Through the next pages we shall explore
how Topaz's etymological appropriation and confusion took
place, from its origins till today.
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The
first written references connected to the etymology of
the word Topaz,
appears in the Septuagint's translation of the Old Testament,
which dates from 300 B.C. The Septuagint, a group of seventy-two
rabbis, was commissioned by Pharaoh Ptolemy II to
translate the ancient Hebrew Bible into Greek. The result
of their work was the Old Testament, which was then included
into the library of Alexandria. According to the Septuagint,
the ancient Hebrew gem term: ' Pitdah' in Exodus
chapter 28 was the Greek gem ' Topazion.' However,
before detailing this we must first get an overview of
the translated Exodus passage, its time and its location.
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Around
1444 B.C., Moses and the high priests were delivering
the Hebrew slaves out of Egyptian captivity under Pharaoh
Amunhotep II. One of the high priests called Aaron was
commanded to make an ephod, a type of apron, and to attach
a breastplate to it. Aaron was instructed to mount the
breastplate, containing the mystical Urim and Thummim,
with 12 gems
in sequential order each one representing one of the 12
Israelite tribes. The gems
in Hebrew and their order were: 1). Odem
2). Pitdah 3). Bareketh
4). Nophak 5). Sappir
6). Yahalom 7). Leshem
8). Shebo 9). Ahlamah
10). Tarshish 11). Shoham
12). Yashpheh.
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In 300B.C., 1000 years after the Exodus, the 'Septuagint'
translated the 12 gems
from Hebrew into Greek as these: 1).
Odem = Sardion, 2). Pitdah = Topazion,
3). Bareketh = Smaragdos, 4).
Nophak = Anthrax, 5). Sappir = Sappheiros,
6). Yahalom = Iaspis, 7).
Leshem = Ligurion, 8). Shebo = Achates,
9). Ahlamah = Amethystos, 10).
Tarshish = Chrysolithos, 11). Shoham
= Beryllion and 12). Yashpheh =Onychion.
In 1611 A.D., 2000 years after the 'Septuagint's' Greek
translation, the 12 gems
were translated into English for 'The King James Version.'
Executed at the behest of King James I of England, this
is the modern translation by which we know the gems
in the Old Testament. The 12 gemstones
in Exodus chapter 28 of the 'King James Version' were
translated into English as such: 1).
Sardion = Sardius 2). Topazion = Topaz3).
Smaragdos = Carbuncle 4). Anthrax =
Emerald 5). Sappheiros = Sapphire 6).
Iaspis = Diamond 7). Ligurion = Ligure
8). Achates = Agate 9).
Amethystos = Amethyst 10). Chrysolithos
= Beryl 11). Beryllion = Onyx 12).
Onychion = Jasper.
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"And
thou shalt make the breastplate of judgment.
And thou shalt set in it settings of stones, even four
rows of stones: The first row shall be a ( 1)
sardius, a ( 2*) topaz,
and a ( 3) carbuncle: this shall
be the first row.
And the second row shall be an ( 4)
emerald, a ( 5) sapphire and
a ( 6) diamond.
And the third row a ( 7) ligure,
an ( 8) agate, and an ( 9)
amethyst.
And the fourth row a ( 10) beryl,
and an ( 11) onyx, and ( 12)
jasper: they shall be set in gold in their inclosings."
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The
chart below details each of the 12 gemstones
changing identity through more than 3000 years, from the
time of the Hebrew exodus in 1444B.C., to the
Septuagint translation of 300 B.C., and finally to the time of the
King James translation in 1611 A.D. |
In 300 B.C. the Septuagint had translated gem number
2, the 'Pitdah,' as 'Topazion' which was Greek for Peridot.
This, as we shall see in the next page seems very
unlikely, as Peridot
wasn't known at the time of the Exodus. Then in the
1611 'King James Version,' 'Topazion' itself
was translated as 'Topaz.'
In fact, both subsequent translations of 'Pitdah'
were wrong, but it's the 'King James Version' that
was responsible for the modern confusion of the 'Topazion' of the Old
Testament as 'Topaz.'
Reviewing the 'King James Version' of the Old
Testament: three major flaws become very apparent
in the translation of the 12 gems:
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1. Many of the gemstones
appearing in the King James list were unknown to the
Septuagint in 300B.C. So how could the impoverished
Hebrew slaves of the exodus, 1000 years earlier, have
had access to them?
2. The breastplate measured a span in each direction
(approx 8-9 inches), which meant that the gems
might have measured up to as much as 2 to 2 1/2 inches
each. Where could slaves have found gems
such as these and in such sizes?
3. The ' Topaz'
we know today was only officially recognized in the
17th century, at least 100 hundred years after the 'King James
Version.' In addition, at the time of the translation
Topaz
was used to describe a multitude of yellow to yellow-green
transparent gemstones
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Relative
to points 1 and 2 in the 'King James Version' is the
subject of expense. On this matter, the 16th Century Jesuit
priest and philosopher Cornelis Cornelissen Van Den
Steen, surmised that the price of gems
such as these would have been in excess of 100,000 gold
crowns. Cornelis bids the question: " Whence could
the poor Hebrews have obtained such a sum of money,
and where could they have found such a diamond?"
Cornelis gives another possible reason as to why such
gems
as these did not fit the circumstances: The tribes assigned
such rare gems
as diamond, ruby and sapphire in these sizes would have
been the center of envy of the other tribes assigned
less valuable gems.
This he says may have caused dispute and dissension
among the newly unified tribes.
However, of all the above it's point 3 that is the
clincher to the misnomer of Topaz.
Before the more exacting influences of modern science,
most gemstones
were not classed by specific properties like gravity,
refractive indexes etc., but by their color. Therefore,
the term Topaz
was generic, used at the time to denote many different
colored gems.
In addition to this, there is the fact that the official
Topaz
gem type of today wasn't recognized by that name until
the 1700's. From these points alone, the 'King James'
translation of Topaz
being one of the 12 gems of the breastplate can be
largely refuted as conjecture.
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Having established that our Topaz
and its inclusion in the original breastplate was
very unlikely; there still remains the question of
where the word 'Topaz'
originated.
CONTINUE>
It is important to state that the etymological theories
on these pages are speculative, and should not be
taken as gospel.
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