- Samarian spinel
The Samarian Spinel is a 500 carat
spinel gemstone that is the largest of its kind in the world. It is part of theIranian Crown Jewels .Origins
It, together with a smaller 270 carat Spinnel, were captured by the Persian King
Nader Shah during his 18th century conquest of India. The smaller of the two Spinel bears a 350-year-old inscription attributing its ownership toJehangir , a Mogul Emperor of India. Legend states that in response to court criticism for having inscribed his own name on the stone, the Emperor proclaimed "This stone shall make my name more famous than the entire dynasty of Tamerlane!" His prediction proved somewhat correct as the Tamerlane dynasty died out after 150 years, while Jehangir's name lives on inscribed on a number of gemstones found in the Iranian treasury.The Samarian Spinel uniquely has a hole in it. According to a diary entry of the court physician to the Iranian Shah Nasser al-Din Shah Qajar, the King told the physician that the stone once adorned the neck of the
biblical golden calf, which theIsraelites are said to have made whileMoses was receivingthe Ten Commandments . The diamond was added later to conceal the hole. [http://famousdiamonds.tripod.com/samarianspinel.html]There is, however, no way to confirm the King's fanciful description and the diamond cover has since been lost.
References
*Meen & Tushingham, 1968:
Bank Markazi Iran , 1971External links
* [http://famousdiamonds.tripod.com/samarianspinel.html Feature on Samarian Spinel]
* [http://www.ruby-sapphire.com/r-s-bk-quality5.htm A gemstone account]
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