What was amber called in ancient times?

Since people learned to use amber – and this happened at least 5-6 thousand years ago – attempts have been made repeatedly to unravel the mystery of its origin. Both in scientific works and in works of oral folk art, versions were proposed that were sometimes not inferior to each other in terms of the degree of fantasticality. Nowadays, no one doubts that amber is a mineral of organic origin, belonging to typical resins, but it was not immediately that scientists came to a consensus on this issue. Some researchers were convinced, for example, that amber was solidified oil, others were inclined to consider it fossilized honey from wild bees. It has also been suggested that this is sea foam, frozen under the influence of sunlight, a waste product of forest ants, thickened “solar ether”, mountain oil, earthly fat. And so on. There were many hypotheses, which is not surprising. Amber is not only completely different from other gems, but also itself exhibited such a variety of shapes, textures, structures, sizes, demonstrated such a richness of shades, and had such unusual chemical and physical properties that in former times it often baffled researchers. And in fact, what is it: in the fire it burns like coal, crackling and smoky; melts when heated without air access; becomes electrified by friction; In salt water, certain varieties of amber are suspended – floating. The stone seems warm to the touch. In addition, a variety of insects can be seen inside some pieces of amber. How did they get there? After all, amber is most often found on the seashore, and butterflies and flies, as we know, have never been found in the sea. While science was searching for the truth, painstakingly collecting evidence, the people quickly explained everything in a miraculous, supernatural way. This always happens: where reason and logic are powerless, space for creativity appears and imagination begins to work. The organ responsible for fantasy is especially well developed in children and young people. Therefore, all the legends about amber appeared at the dawn of civilization. First of all, the ancient peoples endowed amber itself with supernatural properties. Some primitive tribes used amber products in magical rituals. Amber amulets were worn to protect against illness and death in battle. People believed that amber “draws out” illness from the body and “attracts” good luck – just as it attracts small objects if it is lightly rubbed. It was believed that amber jewelry warded off trouble, protected from the evil eye, brought success in love affairs, and made a person stronger and smarter. Of course, the possibilities of amber here are greatly exaggerated, but some things are not denied by modern science. Of course, amber has a beneficial effect on the nervous system, its “sunny” color is pleasant to the eye, and touching a warm, smooth surface not only brings pleasure, but also helps to concentrate and gives self-confidence. In addition, they say that constantly wearing amber jewelry improves well-being in case of diseases of the thyroid gland, relieves pain from inflammation of the joints and salt deposits. As for the legends about amber, if you look at them carefully, then among the mass of fantastic circumstances and details you can sometimes find grains of truth. For example, the ancient Greek myth of Phaeton (which came down to us as told by the Roman poet Publius Ovid Naso, born in 43 BC) clearly indicates the plant origin of amber – long before scientists came to the same conclusion. The theme of tears is present in almost all legends about amber. They often talk about tragedies on a cosmic scale.
The idea of ​​dramatic events associated with the birth of amber was obviously suggested by the drop-shaped shape of some pieces of natural stone. Thus, in the tragedy of Sophocles (5th century BC), amber is the tears of the fallen hero Meleager, who became a victim of his mother’s curse. In the Lithuanian legend of Jurata and Kastitis, the sea goddess sheds amber tears mourning her lover. In all legends, amber is news from the past, containing some secret meaning. Many people try to read the “message” – and each nation does it in its own way. In Rus’, amber was called “Alatyr” or “latyr-stone”. “The white-flammable stone Alatyr,” lying “on the Okiyan sea, on the island of Buyan,” is mentioned in folk songs, fairy tales, and ancient conspiracies. At the same time, the “flammability” of amber, that is, the ability to burn, is emphasized as one of its characteristic properties. The Russian people also have a fairy tale-parable about a singing stone, which only a person with a pure heart can hear. And the Baltic legend about the bird Gauja connects the origin of amber with the crime to which the cruel king of an overseas country pushed his faithful servant. The poetic perception of facts and phenomena of life, the mythologization of reality inherent in ancient peoples, preceded the scientific knowledge of the world. In a transformed, mythologized form, oral traditions preserved and carried through the centuries information about real events, brought to us ancient knowledge, which often advanced and anticipated further directions of scientific research.

Origin of Sunstone

The first scientist to prove that amber is fossilized tree resin was Pliny the Elder, Roman writer. This idea was prompted by frozen insects that are found in pieces of amber, as well as the smell of resin that appears when the mineral burns. Later, German scientists repeatedly made attempts to refute this version of the origin of the stone and proposed their own: for example, supposedly amber is formed in the bowels of the Earth, and when flowing to the surface it solidifies, or that it is a product of a combination of oil and mineral acids. Today it has already been scientifically proven that many millions of years ago, due to climate change, there was a strong threshing of trees. The resin, when exposed to air, became dark and hard, then accumulated in the soil. Over the course of thousands of years, rivers and streams have washed hardened resins from the earth and carried them further, depending on the direction of the currents.

Amber is.

Amber is an organic mineral formed from the resin of ancient trees, mainly coniferous trees. There are several varieties of amber, let’s look at their characteristics and the origin of their names. Succinite – there is an opinion that pinus succinifera pine served as the name for this type of mineral. It is found mainly among Baltic amber. Its color can be different: yellow, orange, light brown, white. Gedanite – a name that is interpreted as “rotten amber” – is a stone with a negligible content of oxygen and succinic acid itself. Its usual color is very beautiful – yellow, waxy, but its drawback is excessive fragility. Bekkerit – the opposite of the previous one – white amber. In ancient times, it was considered a panacea for many diseases: tonsillitis, cataracts, myopia, heart ailments. Glessite. This species is fragile, like gedanite. It got its name because of the opacity caused by contamination with the secretions of fossil insects. Stanthienite – this is the name of a variety of amber, which has a natural black color.

Beliefs about the healing properties of amber

There is an ancient belief that amber was once a kind of indicator for detecting poison in the glasses of rulers. According to him, a piece of amber in the poisoned drink began to crackle and flicker with multi-colored reflections. In addition, in ancient times, the mineral was used to treat mental illnesses, and, thanks to its natural warmth, brilliance and radiance, they gained peace and confidence in their own abilities. Using the mineral as an amulet, they protected themselves from evil spirits and the evil eye.

Modern approaches to the beneficial effects of amber on the body

Nowadays, alternative medicine also advises the use of amber and its beneficial properties to improve the health of the human body. It is recommended to be worn by pregnant women, as well as people with thyroid dysfunction and colds. In addition to normal wearing, you can also use amber aromatherapy: heat crushed amber in a linen bag in a water bath and breathe over its fumes for several minutes. This method can be effectively used for bronchial asthma and tuberculosis.

Where did the name come from?

The name “amber” in Ancient Rus’ comes from the ancient Greek word: “ilektrov” and sounded like “ilektr” or “ilektron”. The free encyclopedia Wikipedia says that: “In Germany, amber was called nem. Bernstein – from German. Brennenstein (flammable stone): It ignites easily and burns with a beautiful flame, releasing an aroma as it does so. The Middle Low German name also spread to Poland (Polish bursztyn), from which in turn came the Belarusian and Ukrainian name for amber – burshtyn. The Greeks called amber electron – after the star Electra from the Pleiades family in the Constellation Taurus. The ancient Greeks were especially interested in amber for its ability to electrify. Actually, from the Greek word “amber” (ancient Greek ἤλεκτρον) the word electricity comes from. We read further from the same source: “In Ancient Rus’, amber was called ilektr or ilektron (from ancient Greek ἤλεκτρον, “amber”). In the alphabet books, ilectrum is described as “a very honest stone, one from other stones we call it, golden-like and silver-like.” Perhaps the flammability of ilektra was the reason for the appearance of the mythical “white flammable stone Alatyr”. Under the name “latyr” or “alatyr-stone”, “white-flammable stone” (according to the hypothesis of N.I. Nadezhdin, this is a borrowing from the Greek language) is found in epics. In Ukraine it was called Ukrainian. “goriliykamin” or Ukrainian “burshtin”. Actually, the word “amber” (in the form “entar”), probably borrowed from the Lithuanian language (lit. gintaras), has been known in the Old Russian language since the middle of the 1551th century (first attested in XNUMX). Ukrainian (as a synonym for the word “burshtin”), Czech, Serbo-Croatian and Slovenian names for amber were borrowed from Russian.”