The History of Diamonds

Throughout history, diamonds have captured the interest of mankind with its brilliant sparkle and its durability and hardness. There are ancient myths and beliefs about diamonds, from it being the tears of gods to pieces of stars fallen from the sky. One legend even tells of a valley of diamonds in Central Asia protected by murderous snakes and birds of prey. The earliest accounting of diamonds date back some 3000 years ago in India, where it was first mined. In the ancient language of Sanskrit, the word diamond is taken from vajra, meaning thunderbolt, and indrayudha, meaning the weapon of Indra, who is warrior god from Vedic scriptures. No diamonds have actually been found in ancient Indian sites, but instead history leaves us with diamond "footprints", cylindrical holes in ancient beads, with noticeable grooves left by a twin-diamond drill. ...

Write comment to this article:

Subject:

Name:

email or site:

Code: