The Egyptian worship of Serapis who is frequently symbolized by the head of a bull surmounted by a uræus and disc, and whose colour was of a blood red, may be noted. The worship of this god was introduced into Egypt by the Ptolemies, but his name is derived from Ausar-Hapi (Osiris-Apis) and he represents a blending of the older worship of Osiris with the Bull Apis which, says Herodotus, is a fair and sublime reflection of the soul of Osiris. In this connection Diodorus says that the soul of Osiris migrated into Apis and thus revealed himself to men through the ages. Attention is drawn to this worship to show that in Egypt a bull god was associated with the colour red, and the “holding a red rag to a bull” may have its origin in the bull-fights of old, in which case however it is clear that the Martial Red is the colour of irritation.
We can see in the placing of Taurus, the Bull—or the tribal name Reuben—in the first section of the Breastplate a desire to harmonize it as far as possible with an older one, whilst the gem and its colour represented the sign Aries—the sign of the Ram—symbolically the tribe of Benjamin, engraved as of old in the last division of the Plate.
The Hebrew word ODEM, signifying redness, is connected with the Hebrew word DOM, blood, and the stone to meet these requirements is the Red Hæmatite, the true bloodstone of antiquity, which is further described in the section of this book dealing more generally with the scientific and romantic aspects of precious stones.
The Hæmatite is a true iron stone and in old astrology Iron is a metal placed directly under the rulership of the planet Mars and the sign Aries. We have direct evidence of the use of this stone by the ancient Babylonians, who wore it as an engraved signet cut in cylinder form. We therefore identify the first stone of the Breastplate as the Red Hæmatite on which was engraved the name of the first tribe, Reuben.
The Second Stone of the Breastplate
The second stone of the Breastplate is given as PITDAH, variously interpreted as a Topaz, Peridot, Yellowish-green Serpentine, Diamond and Chrysolite. The Targums agree that a green stone is implied and some authorities seek to clear the mystery by advancing that the stone was of a yellowish-green.
The topaz of the ancients is not the topaz of today, but is identified with the stone known to us as the chrysolite or peridot. Traditionally the emerald is associated with the second sign of the zodiac, and Apion who wrote much concerning ancient Egypt and whose story of Androclus and the Lion echoes through the ages, tells of a gigantic figure of Serapis seen at Alexandra; this figure, the height of which was about fifteen feet, was probably composed of glass resembling emerald. The emerald was sacred to Serapis who—as indicated in the previous chapter—was a Bull god associated naturally with the zodiacal Taurus. This sign and the colour green blend truly for green is the symbol of life, of agriculture and of abundant nature, and amongst nations of antiquity holy festivals heralded the return of Spring whose praises are sung by the poets in the magical language of mythology. The many references to “green trees” in the Bible need only be noticed in passing.
The Veneralia of old was held once a year amidst budding plants and flowers, in gardens and on green lawns in honour of Venus to welcome Adonis returning in radiant beauty from the under-world. The ceremony took place towards the end of April, when the Sun had entered the Earth sign of Venus, Taurus, and it survives in the later May Day rejoicings.
The gem needed is therefore a green one, and this is traditionally the correct one for the sign Shor or Taurus in which Nogah or Venus delights and in which Lavanah or the Moon exalts. The emerald was sacred to this period of the year. This gem was well-known amongst ancient nations, especially those of Egypt and Ethiopia where the chief emerald mines were. The children of Israel must certainly have known of the existence of the emerald which is mentioned in the Wisdom of Ptah-Hotep who lived ages before the time of Solomon and more than 1000 years before Hammurabi, the Wise, of Babylon. “Courtesy in Speech,” says this sage, “is rarer than the emeralds which slave girls find in the stones.”
It is recorded that the Egyptians employed many women at the emerald mines on account of the keenness of their vision, and it is highly probable that Israelitish women were selected for this work with captives of other nations. Specimens of emeralds collected by Sir G. Wilkinson from Mount Zabarah in Upper Egypt now lie in the British Museum. Evidence is not wanting to prove that the ancients knew well how to engrave on an emerald, Pliny states that Ptolemy offered Lucullus at Alexandra an emerald with his portrait engraved on it.