Magnetite and haematite (1)

Text
The Sumerian words for magnetite (ka.gi.na.dib.ba) and haematite (ka.gi.na), when broken into their component elements, could be interpreted in Akkadian to mean “(possessed) truthful speech” (ka = “mouth/speech,” gi.na “truthful,” dib.ba “captured, possessed”). Accordingly, haematite is referred to in an Akkadian medical text (BAM 396 iii 21) as “the beloved of Šamaš, the judge,” and listed in an astral-magical text (Weidner 1967: 30) under the constellation Libra, while magnetite is given (in BAM 194 vii 4) the aitiology “the stone of truthfulness, he who wears it shall speak the truth, only a pious man may wear it.” The Mesopotamian function of haematite and magnetite as the “stone of truthfulness” evokes Pliny the Elder’s statement that possession of the haematite reveals treacherous designs on the part of the barbarians.

Sources (list of abbreviations) (source links will open in a new browser window)
BAM 194 vii 4
BAM 396 iii 21
Pliny the Elder, Naturalia Historia 37.60

Bibliography

Simo Parpola

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