יט וְהַטּוּר, הַשְּׁלִישִׁי--לֶשֶׁם שְׁבוֹ, וְאַחְלָמָה. | 19 and the third row a jacinth, an agate, and an amethyst; |
Amethyst (SiO2) is a violet or purple variety of quartz...Here are two pictures included in the Wikipedia article. The first is a bed of amethyst on base rock,
![](http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/4161/206/400/250px-Amethyst.bed.750pix.jpg)
and the second is a cut amethyst gem
![](http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/4161/206/400/250px-Amethyst_cut.jpg)
In antiquity, amethyst was quite costly, but nowadays has lost much value when large deposits were found in places such as Brazil.
Meanwhile, Midrash Rabba states regarding אַחְלָמָה:
גד פימיסיון - that the stone of Gad was pimisyon.
Alas, I cannot find any entry for pimisyon in Jastrow - perhaps a reader will have better luck.
If I were forced to guess, I would put forth "pumice," which is a stone. The etymology, via American Heritage Dictionary, via dictionary.com:
[Middle English, from Anglo-Norman pomis, from Late Latin p
![](http://cache.lexico.com/dictionary/graphics/AHD4/GIF/omacr.gif)
![](http://cache.lexico.com/dictionary/graphics/AHD4/GIF/umacr.gif)
![](http://cache.lexico.com/dictionary/graphics/AHD4/GIF/umacr.gif)
Here is the Wikipedia article on pumice:
![](http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/4161/206/400/Teidepumice.jpg)
"Pumice is a light, porous type of pyroclastic igneous rock. It is formed during explosive volcanic eruptions when liquid lava is ejected into the air as a froth containing masses of gas bubbles. As the lava solidifies, the bubbles are frozen into the rock. Any type of igneous rock — andesite, basalt, dacite or rhyolite — can form pumice given suitable eruptive conditions."
But perhaps it is something entirely different. Suggestions welcome.
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