12 interesting Onyx facts
- Onyx is a cryptocrystalline form of quartz.
- The only proper use for the term onyx is to describe the opaque chalcedony composed of straight, parallels bands of black and white.
- The colors of its bands range from white to almost every color (save some shades, such as purple or blue).
- Onyx with reddish brown and white bands is known as sardonyx.
- Pure black onyx is common, and perhaps the most famous variety, but not as common as onyx with banded colors.
- Sardonyx was highly valued in Rome, especially for seals, because it was said to never stick to the wax.
- Some onyx is natural but much is produced by the staining of agate.
- Sardonyx alternates with peridot as the birthstone for the month of August.
- Onyx comes through Old French: Oniche and Latin: Onyx from the Greek ὄνυξ onyx meaning 'claw' or 'fingernail'. The story is that one day Cupid cut the divine fingernails of Venus with an arrowhead while she was sleeping. He left the clippings scattered on the sand and the fates turned them into stone so that no part of the heavenly body would ever perish.
- Onyx was used in Egypt as early as the Second Dynasty to make bowls and other pottery items.
- Onyx is also mentioned in the Bible at various points, such as the priests' garments and the foundation of the city of Heaven in Revelation.
- Use of sardonyx appears in the art of Minoan Crete, notably from the archaeological recoveries at Knossos.
