71 Gems from Faraway India T he beauty, uniqueness, and rarity of ornamental stones have made them a desirable commodity since prehistoric times. As the production of engra- ved gems increased and the art of cutting gemstones developed, so too did the value placed upon these stones. 1 Teir desirability and importance are also refected in the large number of written sources dating back to Antiquity. 2 Te oldest preserved source is the work “On Stones” (Περὶ λίθων) by Teophrastus (371–287 BC). In Book 37 of his work “Natural History” (Naturalis Historia), Pliny the Elder (Gaius Secundus Plinius Maior, 23–79 AD) wrote exclusively about precious stones. 3 1 Nesterović, 2005, p. 10. 2 Eichholz, 1962, p. xiii. 3 Te following authors have written about precious stones: Teophrastus, Sotacus, Zoroaster, Demigeron, Pliny the Elder, Xenocrates of Ephesus and Dionysius Periegetes. In addition, the following authors have also written about minerals and metals: Agatharchides of Cnidus, Diodorus of Agidion, Lucretius Carus, Strabo, Seneca, Pedanius Dioscorides, Socrates and Dionysius; Kostov 2008, p. 109. An overview of ancient authors writ- ing on stones is given in the introductory chapter to Eichholz’s translation of Pliny the Elder’s Naturalis Historia; Eichholz, 1962, pp. ix–xviii. Gems from Faraway India Daša Pavlovič Pliny the Elder attributes the frst use of gems to the incorrect interpretation given to the story of Prometheus’ fetters. According to the myth, Prometheus helped people by stealing fre from the gods and giving it to people, for which he was punished by Zeus and chained to a rock in the Caucasus, where each day an eagle was sent to feed on his liver. Heracles killed the eagle and saved Prometheus, but in order to honour the punishment imposed by the supreme god, Prometheus always had to wear an iron ring set with a stone chip from the rock in the Caucasus. Tis was the frst ring and the stone the frst gemstone. 4 Te importance of ornamental stones is best described in two ancient epic poems. Te frst is Lithika, written in hexameter, attributed to Pseudo-Orpheus and most probably composed in the 4 th century AD. 5 Te other is known as the Milan Papyrus (P. Mil. Volg. VIII. 309) and is, in fact, a collection of epigrams, of which 20 are dedicated 4 Pliny, HN, XXXVII, 2 (trans. Eichholz, 1962, p. 165); Schwab, 2005, pp. 59–63. 5 Kostov, 2008; Kołakowska, 2011, p. 104.