This article is about the mineral. For other uses see Jasper (disambiguation)

Polished jasper pebble, one inch (2. 5 cm) long.

Jasper that has not been polished.

Green Jasper.

Yellow Jasper. Can also be brighter and less brown.

Jasper is an opaque,^[1] impure variety of silica, usually red, yellow or brown in color. Opacity is the measure of impenetrability to electromagnetic or other kinds of radiation especially visible Light. The Chemical compound silicon dioxide, also known as silica or silox (from the Latin " Silex " is an Oxide Red is any of a number of similar Colors evoked by light consisting predominantly of the longest wavelengths of Light discernible by the human eye in the wavelength Yellow is the Color evoked by light that stimulates both the L and M (long and medium wavelength Cone cells of the Retina about equally Black, when used as a general term is a color that is a Very dark Black, black, or Black, of low Luminance relative to This mineral breaks with a smooth surface, and is used for ornamentation or as a gemstone. A mineral is a naturally occurring substance formed through geological processes that has a characteristic chemical composition a highly ordered atomic structure and specific A gemstone or gem, also called a precious or semi-precious stone, is a piece of attractive Mineral, which &mdash when cut and polished &mdash It can be highly polished and is used for vases, seals, and at one time for snuff boxes. Tobacco is an Agricultural product recognized as an addictive drug processed from the fresh Leaves of plants in the genus Nicotiana. When the colors are in stripes or bands, it is called striped or banded jasper. Jaspilite is a banded iron formation rock that often has distinctive bands of jasper. Banded iron formations (also known as banded ironstone formations or BIF s are a distinctive type of rock often found in primordial ( Precambrian) Sedimentary Jasper is basically chert which owes its red color to iron(III) inclusions. Chert (ˈtʃɝt is a fine-grained Silica -rich Microcrystalline, Cryptocrystalline or Microfibrous Sedimentary rock that may contain The specific gravity of jasper is typically 2. Specific gravity is defined as the ratio of the Density of a given solid or liquid substance to the density of water at a specific temperature and pressure typically 5 to 2. 9. ^[2]

Etymology and history

The name means "spotted stone", and is derived from Anglo-French jaspre, from Old French jaspe, from Latin iaspidem, the accusative of iaspis, from Greek iaspis, via a Semitic language (cf. Old French was the Romance Dialect continuum spoken in territories which span roughly the northern half of modern France and parts of modern Belgium Latin ( lingua Latīna, laˈtiːna is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Greek (el ελληνική γλώσσα or simply el ελληνικά — "Hellenic" is an Indo-European language, spoken today by 15-22 million people mainly In Linguistics and Ethnology, Semitic (from the Biblical " Shem " Hebrew שם translated as "name" Arabic: ساميّ Hebrew yashepheh, Akkadian yashupu), ultimately from Persian yashp.

Jasper is known to have been a favourite gem in the ancient world; its name can be traced back in Hebrew, Assyrian, Persian, Greek and Latin. Early history The most Neolithic site in Assyria is at Tell Hassuna, the center of the Hassuna culture The Persian Empire was a series of Iranian empires that ruled over the Iranian plateau, the original Persian homeland and beyond in Western Asia ^[3] On Minoan Crete within present day Greece jasper was carved to produce seals circa 1800 BC based upon archaoelogical recoveries at the palace of Knossos. Crete ( Greek: Κρήτη transliteration: Krētē, modern transliteration Kriti) is the largest of the Greek islands and the Greece (Ελλάδα transliterated: Elláda, historically, Ellás,) officially the Hellenic Republic (Ελληνική Δημοκρατία A palace is a grand residence especially the home of a Head of state or some other high-ranking Public figure. Knossos (alternative spellings Knossus, Cnossus, Greek Κνωσός kno̞ˈso̞s also known as the Knossos Palace is the largest ^[4]

The word yashepheh in the Masoretic text of Exodus 28:20, referring to a stone in the Hoshen, is thus reflected in the Septuagint by the word Iaspis, and usually translated into English as Jasper. The Masoretic Text ( MT) is the Hebrew text of the Jewish Bible ( Tanakh) Exodus ( Greek: έξοδος eksodos = "departure" is the second book of the Jewish Torah and of the Christian Old Testament. Hoshen / Choshen is a Hebrew word usually translated as breastplate; in English language contexts it refers to a specific Breastplate The Septuagint (ˈsɛptuədʒɪnt or simply " LXX " is the Koine Greek version of the Hebrew Bible, translated in stages between the Despite the most common form of Jasper being red, scholars think that the yashepheh here actually refers to a green form of Jasper - which was very rare, and so highly prized; the Greeks used Iaspis to refer to the green form, while the red form simply fell under the term Sard - which just means red. Rebbenu Bachya argues that this stone represents the tribe of Benjamin, but there is actually a wide range of views among traditional sources about which tribe the stone refers to. Bahye ben Asher ( Hebrew: בחיי בן אשר) or Bahye ben Asher ben Halawa also known as the Rabbeinu Behaye, born about the middle of the Benjamin ( in the Book of Genesis, is a son of Jacob, the second (and last son of Rachel, and the founder of the Israelite Tribe of Benjamin

It is described in the Book of Revelation (21:11) as follows: "It shone with the glory of God, and its brilliance was like that of a very precious jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. The Book of Revelation, also called Revelation to John, Apocalypse of John ( pronounced, from the Ἀποκάλυψις Ἰωάννου "

Types of jasper

Jasper can appear as an opaque rock of shades of red due to mineral impurities. Patterns can arise from the formation process and from flow patterns in the sediment or volcanic ash that was saturated with silica to form jasper, yielding bands or swirls in the rock. Sediment is any particulate matter that can be transported by fluid flow and which eventually is deposited as a layer of solid particles on the bed or bottom of a body of Volcanic ash consists of small Tephra, which are bits of pulverized rock and glass created by volcanic eruptions less than in diameter

Jasper may be permeated by dendritic minerals providing the appearance of vegetative growths. A crystal dendrite is a crystal that develops with a typical multi-branching tree-like form The jasper may have been fractured and/or distorted after formation, later rebonding into discontinuous patterns or filling with another material. Heat or environmental factors may have created surface rinds (such as varnish) or interior stresses leading to fracturing.

A brown jasper that occurs as nodules in the Libyan desert and in the Nile valley is known as Egyptian jasper or Egyptian pebble.

Picture jaspers simultaneously exhibit several of these variations (such as banding, flow patterns, dendrites or color variations) resulting in what appear to be scenes or images in a cut section. Spherical flow patterns produce a distinctive orbicular appearance. Complex mixes of impurities produce color variations. Healed fractures produce brecciated jasper. Breccia (ˈbrɛtʃiə ˈbrɛʃiə breach is a rock composed of angular fragments of several Minerals or rocks in a matrix, that is a cementing material Examples of this can be seen at Llanddwyn Island. Ynys Llanddwyn or Llanddwyn Island is a small Tidal island off the west coast of Anglesey, North Wales.

Another type of Jasper is Leopard Jasper, also known as Orbicular Jasper. It is composed primarily of silicon dioxide (SiO2) and is a variety of Chalcedony, a type of quartz. Leopard jasper is usually an opaque combination of tan, gray, black or reddish-brown circles or 'spots' of color, hence its name.

See also

• List of minerals
• Carnelian
• Sard

References