DIAMOND
782
DIANA
shows tbst upon such steps as appear to have been used for exhibiting the sun's meridional altitude, any very large partial eclipse on the northern limb of the sun, occurring about ten dajs from the winter sol- stice, near the hour of noon, would produce the effect described in the instance under consideration ; and he calculates that such an eclipse actually took place Jan. 11, B.C. 689, which he accordingly fixes upon as the date of the Scriptural incident (Jour, Sac, LU, Oct. 1854, p. 217, 218). This, however, does not ta^y with the Hebrew chronology, nor is it sufficiently confirm- ed by other savans to be entitled to reception. See Chronoloot.
See Galmet, La rkrogradation du soldi a Vhordoge SA chaz pn his Distertations [in CommegUcare]^ ii, 796) ; Martini, Von den Sonnenukren der Alten (Lips. 1777), p. 36 ; Goguet, Untenuckungen. iii, 85 ; Vclthuysen, BeytrSffe (ed. Cramer, Kilon, 1777), p. 16 sq. ; Sahm, Ve regresm solis tempore ffislda (1689, 1696) ; G«ret, De sole tempore Hiddm retrogrado (1673) ; Heisse, Sd- atericwn Achae ^Jena, 1680) ; Hopkins, Pbmb-Une Par pers (Auburn, 1862), ch. iL See Hezekiah.
Diamond occurs in the Auth. Vers, as the trans- lation of two Heb. words. See Gem.
1. D'^rP (jfohalom^, so called from beating, with allusion to its hardness), a precious gem, placed sixth in the breastplate of the high-priest, with the name of Naphtali carved on it (Exod. xxviii, 18 ; xxxix, 11), and mentioned by Ezekiel (xxviii, 18) among £he pre- cious stones of the king of Tyre. The Sept. and Y ulg. understand by it the jasper; several of the ancient versions render it by onyx, which is not improbable ; still others by adamant, which is less likely. There is much reason to doubt whether the- diamond was known in the time of Moses (see below). Our translation ** diamond" is derived from Aben Ezra, and is defend- ed by Brann (Vest, Sacerd, ii, 18). KsJisch (on Eaood, p. 586) says "perhaps emerald." See Ontx.
2. *n*^pd (shamir', a sharp |X)wrf; hence often a bri- er), a precious stone, named in Jer. xvii, 1 ; Ezek. iii, 9 ; Zech. vii, 12. The Sept. in Jeremiah, and the Yulg. in all the passages, take it for the diamond. The sig- nification of the word (from *np^, to pierce) countenan- ces this interpretation, the diamond being, for its hard- ness, used in perforating and cutting other minerals. Indeed, this use of the shamir is distinctly alluded to in the passage in Jeremiah, where the stylus pointed with it is distinguished from one of iron (comp. Pliny, Hist, Nat, xxxvii, 15). The two other passages also £Eivor this view by using it figuratively to express the hardness and obduracy of the Israelites. Our version has " diamond** in Jer. xvii, 1, and ** adamant*' in the other texts. Bociiart, however (ffieroK. iii, 848 sq.), rejects the usual explanation, and, comparing the word skamir with the Greek ofiXpic or fffivpic, conceives it to mean '* emery." This is a calcined iron mixed with siliceous earth, occurring in livid scales of such hard- ness that in ancient times, as at present, it was used for polishing and engraving precious stones, diamonds ex- cepted (Hoffmann, Mineral, i, 561 sq.). Bohlen sug- gests an Indian origin of the word, and compares as- mtra, stone which eats, spoken of gems, iron, etc. from their hardness. Rosenmtdler is in favor of the dia- mond in his Scholia, but in his Alterthmmkunde he takes up Bochart's notion, and urges that if the He- brews had been acquainted with the diamond, and the manner of working it, we should doubtless have found it among the stones of the high-priest's breastplate ; and that, as the shamir was not one of the stones thus employed, therefore it was not the diamond. But to this it may be replied that it was perhaps not used be- cause it could not be engraved on, or was possibly not introduced until a later period. The argument drawn iVom the rarity of the word in the Old Testament is of
>le weight, and there is no necessity for seeking an
tMental origin of the word vpatpt^t <Mr gronodfer sidering it identical with Aamsr^ as it may enir traced from the Greek itself (see PftMOW, a. v.; horn, De Gemsais Sculpt, Hebr,), For ma aeesi the diamond of the ancienta, see Moon's Andm eralogy, p. 143-145. See Adamajtt.
The diamond is the hardest and most TduUetf the precious stones, and for many ages was coosidaa indestructible by fire or any otfa^ moans; nsiea chemistry, however, has proved that at a best vda below that required to melt silver it is gndnaDjr fi» pated or burned. It i?, in fact, notfaing but pan m- bon, but in a more highly crystallized state tlixa In former times, all the diamonds that were kmvi were brought frt>m different parts of India, ps&ido> ly from the fi&mous mine of Golconda, near Ej^ abad, the present capital of the Deccan, in H^kka; the islands of Molucca and Borneo have also pnini many valuable stones. The diamond miDes if G^ conda are now so fitr exhausted as to be ww'i^tiH not worth the expense of working, and tbc diaseii which are brought to Europe come chiefly frtm Baii. They are always found in an alluvial soil, gesen^ gravel, resting on granite, and not imbedded in fsf other substance, but appear like small pebfaks, vtk the surface flattened in many parts. 8^ Pmm§ (> dopcBdia, s. v.