corundum, sapphire, Sri Lanka.12, India.12, chemistry.2, gems

It still appears doubtful that the gemstone known today under the name sapphire is the same as that which the ancients designated by this name; at least, we do not observe upon the stone that we so call the golden points with which it ought to be sprinkled, and which the ancients regarded as its distinctive characteristic, as is very well expressed by the names given to it by Theophrastus in De lapidibus, χρυσόπαστος, and by Epiphanius of Salamis in De duodecim gemmis quae erant in veste Aaronis, χρυσόλιθος. The following passage, taken from Pliny the Elder, Book 37, chapter 9, where he says, Inest ei (cyano) aliquandò et aureus pulvis non qualis in sapphirinis: in sapphiro autem aurei punctis collucent caeruleis; this passage evidently proves that the ancients had not confused the cyanus, or “gold stone,” with the sapphire. The sapphire is distinguished from other gemstones by its beautiful blue colour, by its extreme hardness, and by the brilliance and play that it possesses when cut.