On the Twelve Stones of the High Priest's Breastplate

Contents

The scan interleaves Migne's Latin; staged text keeps the Greek lines recognized as such; translator should compare PG 43:293-304.

1. 0Epiphanius introduces his account of the twelve stones of the high priest's breastpiece and lists them by rows.
2. 1The sardius, a blood-red stone of Babylon, and the related sardonyx, with their medical uses.
3. 2The topaz of India, how it was found and given to a queen, and its milky juice used for eyes and dropsy.
4. 3The emerald, its Neronian and other kinds, its supposed origin in the river Pishon of Genesis, and its powers.
5. 4The anthrax (carbuncle) of Carthage, which glows at night and cannot be hidden, and similar stones.
6. 5The purple sapphire of India and Ethiopia, its kinds and healing use, and its link with God's appearing to Moses.
7. 6The several kinds of jasper, from the Thermodon, Amathus, Mount Ida and elsewhere, and fables about them.
8. 7Epiphanius cannot find the ligure in the ancient writers and suggests it is the hyacinth, whose kinds and fire-resisting properties he describes.
9. 8The agate, its white-rimmed and lion-coloured kinds, and its use against venom.
10. 9The amethyst, fiery at the edge and pale in the middle, found in Libya.
11. 10The golden chrysolite, found in a well by the wall of Babylon.
12. 11The sea-coloured beryl of the Taurus and its other kinds.
13. 12The yellow onyx, its kinds and the origin of its name, and its wearing by the high priest.
14. 13The adamas, worn by the high priest at the three feasts, which revealed the people's sin by changing colour.