A clear lavender to bluish violet variety of crystal quartz with many degrees of color intensity, when deeply colored, one of the most attractive of gems.
The foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones... the twelfth, an amethyst.
Revelation 21:19, 20, AV
The Deceiver was a name given to amethyst in the early ages of history. Its reputation was gained by a most unusual use given to the gem. On festive occasions, when noblemen had imbibed too much, water-or at least cheap watered-down wine was sometimes substituted for wine in amethyst goblets. The glowing purple of the amethyst created the illusion of good wine. Since the serving of water in amethyst goblets was generally known, it may account for the words of the steward at the wedding at Cana, who exclaimed, late in the feast when serving the wine created by Jesus' first miracle,
...`Every man serves the good wine first; and when men have drunk freely, then the poor wine; but you have kept the good wine until now'
(John 2:10, RSV)
Ancient artists accomplished a seemingly impossible task in carving with simple tools beautiful goblets from amethyst crystals, some of exceptional size and engraved with elaborate designs. Amethyst was also carved into exquisite vases, charms, intaglios, and miniatures by the Egyptians and Romans, and the Babylonians frequently carried amulets of amethyst.
Although the various translations of the Bible disagree on the names of several Biblical gems, every Bible version agrees on the name "amethyst and it continues in use today. Not only has the stone's Biblical use been described in its adornment of the foundation walls of the New Jerusalem, but it is also one of the stones (the ninth) used in decorating the high priest's breastplate.
Widely held beliefs in early days attributed magical properties to the gem. The Hebrews, whose name for amethyst was 'ahlamah "dream," believed it induced pleasant dreams, and the Greeks considered it an antidote for drunkenness. Pliny suggested that the Greek name amethustos, "not drunken," was given to the stone because the color was similar to, though not attaining, the hue of wine.
Amethyst was scarce and greatly prized in ancient civilizations. The most likely source of supply for the inhabitants of Israel was the island of Ceylon, the treasure house of gems. Pliny believed the finest amethysts came from India and a part of Arabia adjoining Syria. In modern times, extensive deposits of good-quality material have been found in Brazil, causing the gem to become relatively plentiful and consequently cheaper in price.
Catherine the Great of Russia, famed for her amethysts, secured her magnificent collection from mines in the Ural Mountains. England's Queen Charlotte wore a lovely necklace of amethyst beads, a historical piece of jewelry, valued in the eighteenth century at $1000, though perhaps of much less value today. The large amethyst which adorns the crown of England known as St. Edward's crown is the oldest of the crown jewels and goes back to at least top, when it was worn by Edward the Confessor.
Amethyst's glowing color made it highly valued for thousands of years, and it was especially popular in Greek and Roman times. It has been a traditional stone in rings of religious leaders. To anyone familiar with the lovely gem, the wide variation of shading is truly amazing, for it ranges from amethystine, with a barely perceptible tinting, to a most intense purple. The deep purple varieties are without peer in nature, making it one of the most valuable of the quartz gems.
Amethyst's color was once thought to be due to the presence of traces of manganese, but exhaustive tests failed to detect this element. Today some authorities believe the internal structure accounts for the color, the crystal being made up of minutely thin layers which alternately bend the penetrating light rays first in one direction and then the opposite. Most experts, however, incline to the radioactivity theory in accounting for the purple hue. Experiments with these emanations produce some amazing and unexplainable changes in quartz. Sometimes clear quartz crystals, bombarded with radioactive rays, turn to amethyst color, and at other times to a smoky hue. Another behavior of this mineral is an intriguing puzzle. Why, when heated, will one amethyst crystal turn a golden color while another becomes light green?
As with other quartz minerals, there are numerous occurrences of amethyst in the United States. Several states have fairly extensive deposits, such as Amherst County, Virginia; Alexander and Lincoln counties in North Carolina; Yellowstone National Park; the Keweenaw Peninsula of Michigan; Jefferson County, Montana; and Oxford County, Maine. Deposits of fine amethyst are found in Uruguay, where it is the national gem, and in Brazil, making this lovely gem available to all.
To quote from a Bible Dictionary:
It is agreed that the common amethyst, properly called amethystine quartz, is meant. This is rock crystal coloured purple by manganese and iron.
The Oriental amethyst is a much rarer gem, composed of violet corundum (oxide of aluminium)-a purple sapphire. The name of the amethyst is derived from i ts supposed property, no doubt associated with its wine-like colour, of acting as a preventive of intoxication.
The English Dictionary says:
A bluish-violet kind of quartz, formerly supposed to prevent intoxication (Gk. a-methustos, not drunken; from methuein, be drunk).
How this might apply to Benjamin as an individual might be difficult to say; but some relationship might be found in the tribe. They were hard and oft-times headstrong in their warlike character. At one time this tribe of 26,700 faced 40,000 in battle after wronging a Levite in abusing and killing his wife. It is a gruesome story in Judges 19 & 20, perhaps summed up in the word intoxication. When Saul, the Benjamite, persecuted the Christians, he was " exceedingly mad " against them and stopped at nothing, traveling far and taking women and children. He was intoxicated with anger. They needed therefore the influence and the power of God to bring them into discipline and self control. Was that the reason why God placed this name indelibly on an Amethyst?
Sources:
Crystals, Gems & Minerals of the Bible, Ruth V. Wright and Robert L. Chadbourne, p9-11
These are the Garments, C.W. Slemming, p120
