Category:Onyx

O"nyx, n. Etym: [l., fr. Gr. Nail, and cf. Onycha.] (min.)

Defn: chalcedony in parallel layers of different shades of color. It Is used for making cameos, the figure being cut in one layer with the Next as a ground. Onyx marble, a banded variety of marble or calcium Carbonate resembling onyx. It is obtained from mexico.

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---excerpt from the Illustrated Bible Dictionary

Onyx - A hail; claw; hoof, (Heb. shoham ), a precious stone adorning the breast-plate of the high priest and the shoulders of the ephod (Exodus 28:9, Exodus 28:20; Exodus 35:27; Job 28:16; Ezekiel 28:13). It was found in the land of Havilah (Genesis 2:12). The LXX. translates the Hebrew word by smaragdos, an emerald. Some think that the sardonyx is meant. But the onyx differs from the sardonyx in this, that while the latter has two layers (black and white) the former has three (black, white, and red).