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Carnelian

 
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Carnelian (also spelled cornelian) is a reddish-brown mineral
Mineral

A mineral is a naturally occurring solid formed through Geology processes that has a characteristic chemical composition, a highly ordered atomic structure, and specific physical properties....
 which is commonly used as a semi-precious gemstone
Gemstone

A gemstone or gem, also called a precious or semi-precious stone, is a piece of attractive mineral, which — when cut and polished — is used to make jewellery or other adornments....
. Similar to carnelian is sard, which is generally harder and darker. (The difference is not rigidly defined, and the two names are often used interchangeably.) Both carnelian and sard are varieties of the silica mineral chalcedony
Chalcedony

Chalcedony is a cryptocrystalline form of silica, composed of very fine intergrowths of the minerals quartz and moganite. These are both silica minerals, but they differ in that quartz has a trigonal crystal structure, whilst moganite is monoclinic....
 colored by impurities of iron oxide
Iron(III) oxide

Iron oxide?also known as ferric oxide, Hematite, red iron oxide, synthetic maghemite, colcothar, or simply rust?is one of the several oxide Chemical compounds of iron, and has Paramagnetism properties....
. The color can vary greatly, ranging from pale orange to an intense almost-black coloration.

elian was recovered from Bronze Age
Bronze Age

The Bronze Age is, with respect to a given prehistory, the period in that society when the most advanced metalworking included smelting copper and tin from naturally-occurring outcroppings of copper and tin ores, creating a bronze alloy by melting those metals together, and casting them into bronze artifact s....
 Minoan
Minoan

Minoan may refer to the following:*The Minoan civilization**The Eteocretan language**The script known as Linear A**Minoan eruption**Minoan pottery...
 layers at Knossos
Knossos

Knossos , also known as the Knossos Palace is the largest Bronze Age archaeological site on Crete and probably the ceremonial and political center of the Minoan civilization and culture....
 on Crete
Crete

Crete is the largest of the Greek islands and the List of islands in the Mediterranean largest island in the Mediterranean Sea at 8,336 km? ....
 in a form that demonstrated its use in decorative arts; this use dates to approximately 1800 BC.






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Carnelian (also spelled cornelian) is a reddish-brown mineral
Mineral

A mineral is a naturally occurring solid formed through Geology processes that has a characteristic chemical composition, a highly ordered atomic structure, and specific physical properties....
 which is commonly used as a semi-precious gemstone
Gemstone

A gemstone or gem, also called a precious or semi-precious stone, is a piece of attractive mineral, which — when cut and polished — is used to make jewellery or other adornments....
. Similar to carnelian is sard, which is generally harder and darker. (The difference is not rigidly defined, and the two names are often used interchangeably.) Both carnelian and sard are varieties of the silica mineral chalcedony
Chalcedony

Chalcedony is a cryptocrystalline form of silica, composed of very fine intergrowths of the minerals quartz and moganite. These are both silica minerals, but they differ in that quartz has a trigonal crystal structure, whilst moganite is monoclinic....
 colored by impurities of iron oxide
Iron(III) oxide

Iron oxide?also known as ferric oxide, Hematite, red iron oxide, synthetic maghemite, colcothar, or simply rust?is one of the several oxide Chemical compounds of iron, and has Paramagnetism properties....
. The color can vary greatly, ranging from pale orange to an intense almost-black coloration.

History

Carnelian was recovered from Bronze Age
Bronze Age

The Bronze Age is, with respect to a given prehistory, the period in that society when the most advanced metalworking included smelting copper and tin from naturally-occurring outcroppings of copper and tin ores, creating a bronze alloy by melting those metals together, and casting them into bronze artifact s....
 Minoan
Minoan

Minoan may refer to the following:*The Minoan civilization**The Eteocretan language**The script known as Linear A**Minoan eruption**Minoan pottery...
 layers at Knossos
Knossos

Knossos , also known as the Knossos Palace is the largest Bronze Age archaeological site on Crete and probably the ceremonial and political center of the Minoan civilization and culture....
 on Crete
Crete

Crete is the largest of the Greek islands and the List of islands in the Mediterranean largest island in the Mediterranean Sea at 8,336 km? ....
 in a form that demonstrated its use in decorative arts; this use dates to approximately 1800 BC. Carnelian was used widely during Roman times 2000 years before the present era to make signet or seal rings for imprinting a seal with wax on correspondence or other important documents. Hot wax does not stick to Carnelian. Sard was used for Assyria
Assyria

Assyria was a political state centered on the Upper Tigris river, in Mesopotamia , that came to rule regional empires a number of times in history....
n cylinder seal
Cylinder seal

A cylinder seal is a cylinder engraved with a 'picture story', used in ancient times to roll an impression onto a two-dimensional surface, generally wet clay....
s, Egyptian
Ancient Egypt

Ancient Egypt was an Ancient history civilization in eastern North Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile in what is now the modern nation of Egypt....
 and Phoenicia
Phoenicia

Phoenicia was an ancient civilization centered in the north of ancient Canaan, with its heartland along the coastal regions of modern day Lebanon, extending to parts of Israel, Syria and the Palestinian territories....
n scarab
Scarab

Scarab beetle may refer to: *A beetle of the family Scarabaeidae*A dung beetle, especially the Scarabaeus sacer worshipped by the ancient Egyptians as an embodiment of the god Khepri ...
s, and early Greek
Ancient Greece

The term Ancient Greece refers to the period of History of Greece lasting from the Greek Dark Ages ca. 1100 BC and the Dorian invasion, to 146 BC and the Roman Republic conquest of Greece after the Battle of Corinth ....
 and Etruscan gems. The Hebrew
Hebrew language

Hebrew is a Semitic languages of the Afro-Asiatic languages. Modern Hebrew is spoken by more than seven million people in Israel and Classical Hebrew is used for prayer or study in Jews communities around the world....
 odem (translated sardius), the first stone in the High Priest's breastplate, was a red stone, probably sard but perhaps red jasper
Jasper

Jasper is an Opacity , impure variety of silica, usually red, yellow or brown in color. This mineral breaks with a smooth surface, and is used for ornamentation or as a gemstone....
.

Etymology

The word carnelian is derived from the Latin
Latin

Latin is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Through the Military history of the Roman Empire, Latin spread throughout the Mediterranean and a large part of Europe....
 word caro, carnis meaning flesh, in reference to the flesh color sometimes exhibited. According to Pliny the Elder
Pliny the Elder

Gaius Plinius Secundus , better known as Pliny the Elder, was an ancient author, naturalist or natural philosopher and naval and military commander of some importance who wrote Natural History ....
, sard derives its name from the city of Sardis
Sardis

Sardis, also Sardes , modern Sart in the Manisa province of Turkey, was the capital of the ancient kingdom of Lydia, one of the important cities of the Persian Empire, the seat of a proconsul under the Roman Empire, and the metropolis of the province Lydia in later Roman and Byzantine Empire times....
 in Lydia
Lydia

Lydia was an Iron Age kingdom of western Asia Minor located generally east of ancient Ionia in the modern Turkey provinces of Manisa Province and inland Izmir Province....
, but it more likely comes from the Persian
Persian language

name=Persian|nativename=|pronunciation=[f??r'si]|image=|caption=Farsi in Perso-Arabic script |states= Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Bahrain....
 word sered, meaning yellowish-red.

Distinction between carnelian and sard

The names carnelian and sard are often used interchangeably, but they can also be used to describe distinct subvarieties. The general differences are as follows:





 CarnelianSard
ColorLighter, with shades ranging from orange to reddish-brown.Darker, with shades ranging from a deep reddish-brown to almost black.
HardnessSofterHarder and tougher.
FractureUneven, splintery and conchoidalLike carnelian, but duller and more hackley.
It should be noted that all of these properties vary across a continuum, and so the boundary between carnelian and sard is inevitably blurred.

See also

  • Carnelian beads
    Carnelian beads

    Carnelian beads are a gemstone jewelry made of carnelian quartz. The mineral is found worldwide, but India is reputed for developing the best gemstones....
  • Carnelian (color)
    Carnelian (color)

    Carnelian is a color named after the carnelian variety of the mineral chalcedony. This semi-precious gemstone is noted for its rich shade of red-brown....
  • List of minerals
    List of minerals

    This is a List of minerals for which there are Wikipedia articles. Mineral variety names and mineraloids are to be listed after the valid minerals for each letter....
  • Sardonyx


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