twisted cord (Chotam and Phetil), usually rendered “ring,” "signet," or "bracelet." Again, Pharaoh takes the signet off his own hand and puts it upon that of Joseph. "The signet upon my right hand" (Jer. xxii. 24); and “Zorobabel, even he was as a signet on the right hand" (Eccus. xlix. 11), with many other similar allusions, all go to prove the same thing. Thus (2 Kings i. 10) the young Amalekite brings to David, as the ensigns of royalty, the diadem and the bracelet taken from the corpse of Saul, apparently because the latter contained the royal signet, the only mode of authenticating the edicts of the sovereign. In the list of the articles contained in the treasury of the Acropolis, engraved on marble about the time of the Peloponnesian War, and published in Chandler (Part II., No. iv., 2), are enumerated "two glass signets of various colours, set in gold, and having gold chains to them." Pliny also expressly asserts (xxxiii. 4) that “the use of finger-rings was of no very great antiquity;" although we find signets mentioned in the most ancient of all historical records. On a painted vase, figured by Visconti (Opere Varie, ii. 1), Jupiter appears seated in the heavens, holding his eagle-topped sceptre, and wearing on his wrist a large oval gem, apparently intended for a scarabeus, threaded upon a very fine line; a manner of wearing a stone of so convex a form much more convenient than the later fashion of setting it in a swivel-ring, and where, by having the engraved face next to the skin of the arm, it was much less exposed to injury than when borne upon the finger. The very large relative diameter of the perforation through the axis of the Babylonian cylinders, proves conclusively that they were intended for the reception of a thick cord, such as might be fastened round the arm without inconvenience, and which, if dyed of a bright colour, might also serve as an ornamental bracelet. Thus we find that the

Amethyst Lynx of the sorceress Nico (which I strongly suspect was an Oriental cylinder), is strung upon a fleece of purple lamb's wool, when dedicated to Venus. That the Babylonian cylinders were rarely mounted in metal is evident from the extreme rarity of any that retain traces of such mounting amongst the hundreds continually brought to this country. I have noticed the almost unique instances that have come under my notice, as being mounted in gold-swivels in the Egyptian manner; and one of Herz's still retained the bronze pin or axis rusted away into the perforation. Had the custom of having them thus mounted been prevalent in Assyria, they would be discovered retaining their swivels, at least those made of the baser metals, quite as frequently as the Egyptian scarabei. Again, all such gems, either Egyptian or Etruscan, originally intended to revolve on a metal wire, are bored with a very fine hole; whereas the cylinders, even when of the smallest size and less than one inch in length, have so large a perforation as to reduce them almost to the form of the section of a tube; so that, unless the substance passed through this cavity were of a soft and yielding nature, they would have been extremely liable to split when used. The later Persian conical seals were probably worn in the same manner. Their flat and broad bases were adapted to sit firmly upon the wrist, and the convex part would form an ornament after the manner of the embossed disk, invariably appearing as the centre of the bracelets worn by the ancient Assyrian kings. The later Persians adopted the shape of the signet-stones of their Macedonian rulers; but even here retained their preference for the conical form, for these Sassanian ring-stones are almost invariably cut en cabochon, and with a degree of convexity rarely met with in those of European origin.

HIGH PRIEST'S BREAST-PLATE.

Here some notice may be taken of the breast-plate, or Rationale, worn by the Jewish High Priest; the earliest instance on record of the art of the gem-engraver. The first idea of it was doubtless taken from the vitrified tablets worn on their breasts by the Egyptian priests when engaged in their sacred functions, and which represent a deity in a shrine, surrounded by various emblems. We are also told by Ælian (xiv. 34), that the chief-priest of the Egyptians, who was also the supreme judge, wore round his neck an image of truth, made of Lapis-lazuli (Sapphirus); and it is a curious coincidence, that the above-named tablets are formed of a vitrified composition of a bright blue colour.

The ancient tradition of the Greeks, as to the origin of the Jewish nation, recorded by Diodorus Siculus, is, that they were a colony despatched from Egypt into Syria, at the same time that Danaus set out for Greece; and the striking analogy of their customs and laws with those of Egypt, as given by this author, strongly supports this tradition. The Jews themselves appear, from their own chronicles, always to have retained a strong attachment to the parent state. In all their political distresses, when menaced by their Syrian neighbours, the idea of a return to Egypt continually suggests itself to their minds, although strongly opposed by the sacerdotal caste. The famous letter of Areius, king of the Lacedæmonians, to the High Priest Onias (Josephus, xii. 5), in which he speaks of the common descent of both nations from Abraham! though probably a Jewish forgery, yet sufficiently proves the general belief, at that early period, of the original unity of the races, as colonists from the same mother country. Diodorus (i. 24) speaks of the Egyptian Hercules travelling all over the world, before erecting the

celebrated Pillars. Again, the Grecian Hercules, the progenitor of the Spartan royal house, was a native of Argos, the first Egyptian colony planted in Europe. From the same tradition of their common origin, the Spartans style the Jews "their brethren," in their letter of congratulation to Simon Maccabæus. Intimate relations seem to have been kept up, until a late period, between Jerusalem and Sparta; it was a noble Spartan, Eurycles, who became the minister of Herod the Great, and by his pernicious counsels brought about the ruin of his family.

The gems set in the breast-plate were engraved with the names of the tribes, probably in hieroglyphics, and arranged thus, if we follow the Vulgate (which also coincides with Josephus), an authority to be respected in this point, the version having been made at a time-the 5th century—when the knowledge of precious stones, and of their ancient names, still flourished.

1st Row.-Sardius, red. Topazion, yellowish green. Smaragdus, bright green.

2nd Row.—Carbunculus, dark red. Sapphirus, dark blue. Jaspis,

dark green.

3rd Row.-Ligurius, or Lyncurium, orange. Achates (perhaps), black and white. Amethyst, purple.

4th Row.-Chrysolithus, bright yellow. Onyx, blue and black. Beryl, light green.

Our version gives the same stones in different order, but substitutes a Diamond for the Chrysolite, a most absurd exchange, as it would baffle all engravers, both of ancient and modern times, to cut an inscription upon this invincible gem ; add to which, one of a size to match the rest of the stones in the breast-plate, would have been equal in magnitude to the Koh-i-Noor. Josephus says, that the stones were conspicuous for their largeness and beauty, and of incomparable value. The

names of the tribes were engraved in the "national character,” but the breast-plate seen by him must have been only a copy by tradition of the first one made by order of Moses. Being a square of a span, i. e., of 8 inches each side, and having the gems arranged in four rows of three each, it follows that each gem, with its setting, occupied a space of 23 inches long by 2 deep; and that, therefore, they were cut in the form of long ovals, or rather ellipses, like the cartouches containing the proper names in hieroglyphic inscriptions. It will sound incredible to the ear of the uninitiated, but every one conversant with the nature of gems will admit, that these most venerable productions of the glyptic art must still be in existence. No lapse of time produces any sensible effect upon these monuments, as is testified by the numerous seals, even in a softer material, vitrified clay, bearing the name of Thothmes III., the contemporary of Moses himself. Their intrinsic value also, as the finest gems that could be procured by the zeal of a race trafficking all over the world, must have rendered them objects of care to all the conquerors into whose hands they fell; and though removed from their original arrangement, and re-set in various ornaments, they must always have ranked amongst the most precious statejewels of the captor of the Holy City. This doubtless was the cause that the breast-plate belonging to the first Temple is not mentioned in the list of the sacred articles sent back by Cyrus to Jerusalem; the rest of the consecrated vessels and ornaments appear to have been easily identified as having been deposited, as trophies, at the time of their capture, in the various temples of Babylon. The breast-plate in use after the Captivity, when worn by the High Priest, shot forth, according to Josephus, brilliant rays of fire, that manifested the immediate presence of the Deity. of the Deity. He, however, prudently adds, that this miraculous property had become