When the word gemstone is mentioned, the first thing that comes to mind are the four famous gemstones: ruby, diamond, emerald, and sapphire. These four are what society likes to call ‘precious stones’, and are seen as the rarest and most expensive minerals in the world.
What most people are not aware of, is that gemstones have a much broader spectrum with a variety of over 300 semi-precious stones, that are in some cases even more rare and expensive than the four precious stones.
Carnelian is a semi-precious stone that stems from the mineral chalcedony.
Chalcedony is made from a mixture of cryptocrystalline and silica that has melted together with the minerals quartz and moganite during its creation process. Depending on their composition and attributes, a variety of different semi-precious stones (like carnelian and sard) are created when these minerals are mixed together.
Carnelian has a wide color range that stretches from a dark brown to a bright yellow. The yellow and orange-colored carnelians are the rarest, due to the fact that they are only made when a mixture of iron oxide is added during their creation process. A trick that the ancient Egyptians used to turn a dark red carnelian into a bright red one, was by either baking them under the scorching rays of the sun or by putting them next to urns that were being oven-baked by a flaming hot fire.
At first glance, the carnelian might look a bit dull and boring, but do not let its appearance fool you. To the ancient Egyptians, carnelian was more than just a stone, it was a medium that played a much larger role in their society than one would think!
To the northwest of the city of Assuan, close to the gneiss quarry of Gebel el-Asr, lies the mine known as Stela Ridge. This was one of the largest mines to have held carnelian and other chalcedony-related stones (like sard) during ancient Egypt. Archeological evidence found at the mine has shown that Stela Ridge was used between the Old Kingdom (2686 - 2160 BCE) and the Roman Period (30 BCE - CE 395). Pieces of carnelian that can be found all over the mine’s surface have a color variation that ranges from a bright yellow to a dark red. Since dark red was the most sought-after color by the ancient Egyptians, it is no surprise why Stela Ridge was mined for such a long period.
Multiple stone slabs with engraved hieroglyphs (stelae) have been found in the mines and quarries of Stela Ridge, giving it its name. These stelae mention that the goddess Hathor, Lady of Byblos, was anointed as the protector and overseer of Stela Ridge so that no harm would come to the mineworkers.
Even though there were plenty of carnelian mines the ancient Egyptians could extract from, the mineral itself was only found in low quantities. This caused it to be seen as a luxury gemstone that was worth a lot of money.
The usage of the carnelian varied depending on its color and what dynasty it was. The dark red color was popular during the Old Kingdom while orange and yellow variants were popular during the New Kingdom (1550 - 1069 BCE). They were most commonly used as beads for jewelry or inlays for necklaces, chests, and furniture. However, depending on the stone's color, it was also frequently used as a magic focus during rituals. The red-colored carnelian in particular was often used as a focus due to the fact that it could symbolize both good and evil.
Carnelian was symbolized as blood in medical texts where it was used to ward off hemorrhage. The doctor applied the stone to the behind of a man or a woman while chanting magical spells such as:
“Backwards, you who are on the hand of Horus! Backwards, you who are on the hand of Seth! The blood that comes forth from Wnw was warded off; the red blood that comes forth at the moment (wnw.t) is warded off! Have you ignored the dam? Backwards you, from Thoth!”
Another example, where carnelian was instead symbolized as fire, was in the Mortuary Temple of Neferefre, also known as the Pyramid of Raneferef (a king from the 5th Dynasty, who reigned from 2448 - 2445 BCE). In the middle of one of the rooms were over 2000 red carnelian beads strewn on the floor surrounding the wreckage of two burned sun boats. The beads in this ritual were used to strengthen the fire and to make sure that the gods would punish Raneferef in such a way that the boats would never be able to take him to the afterlife he so longed for!
Text: Christoffer Ek, MENAMArchaeology. Copyright 2022.
Images:
Carnelian Bead Necklace of the Child Myt (ca. 2051–2030 BCE) (Metropolitan Museum of Art).
Map over ancient Egypt and the location of Stela Ridge. (Bloxam 2006)
Stela with a depiction of Hathor (left) from Stela Ridge. (Bloxam 2006)
Carnelian bead-manufacturing scene from tomb of Aba at Deir el-Gebrawi, Egypt, Dynasty 6 (2345-2181 BCE) (Harell 2012)
Further reading: Bianchi, R.S. 1997. ‘Raneferef's carnelian’, In Dijk, Jacobus van (ed.), Essays on ancient Egypt in honour of Herman teVelde, Groningen Bloxam, E. 2006. ‘Miners and Mistresses: Middle Kingdom mining on the margins’, JSA, vol 6 Bloxam, E. 2010. ‘Quarrying and Mining (Stone)’, UCLA Encyclopedia of Egyptology Brill, E.J. 1978. ‘Ancient Egyptian Magical Texts’, vol 9, Belgium Harrel, J. 2012. ‘Gemstones’ UCLA Encyclopedia of Egyptology
Comments