Tuesday, July 12, 2011

New Treasury: August Birthstone - Peridot and the Bible



Peridot Necklace by RaesSpirit
I made this treasury entitled August Birthstone - Peridot and the Bible for a number of reasons. First, I wanted to highlight the beautiful art from all of the etsy teams that I am a member. Peridot is August's birthstone and it won't be long until August now. Peridot is likely one of the gems of the Bible (see below) although there's some controversy to that. Regardless, it has been mined for thousands of years and is said to be Cleopatra's favorite stone. I am trying to research more about the gemstones of the Bible so that I can focus on these gems, in particular, when I make my rosaries. I loved the jewelry, especially the religious jewelry, made by etsy artists that used real peridot gemstones.

Peridot Rosary Bracelet
by ABABeadsKC
Periodot has been mined as a gemstone for four thousand years and is mentioned in the Bible under the name of Chrysolite, although there is some controversy to this name. Periodot is also mentioned in the Bible under the Hebrew name of pitdah. Peridot gems along with other gems were probably used in the fabled Breastplates of the Jewish High Priest, artifacts that have never been found. The Greeks and Romans referred to peridot as topazion and topazius respectively and this name was later given to topaz, to end the confusion with the two gems. In the Bible, the names topaz and chrysolite are used interchangeably causing even more confusion.




Sterling and Peridot Pendant
by bddesigns
This green gemstone is the birthstone for August and since it will soon be that month, I decided to make a treasury on this beautiful gemstone. I used all of my teams to find peridot containing items for this treasury, including the Catholic Etsy Artists Guild (teamcatholic), the Team Christian Artists and Craftsmen (teamcac), the Christian Artists Promoting Shops (capteam), the Prayers on a Wire Etsy Team (prayersonawireteam), and the Christian Artists Street Team (castteam). The beautiful work done by these etsy team artists inspired me to do this lovely treasury.





1 comment:

  1. Thanks Anna,
    Interesting reading about Peridot and the Bible.

    ReplyDelete