A Short Summary On Onyx

Onyx: The Practical and Metaphysical Story Onyx is a specific variety of the mineral known as chalcedony. It is a banded mineral, which means that the layering of the rock that formed it has caused “bands” of different colors to appear. Many people mistake onyx for a type of agate, which is another type of chalcedony, but where agate has curved bands onyx has parallel bands instead. Onyx is found in nearly every color, though bands of black and white are the most common. When onyx is banded with red it is called sardonyx. While onyx is a fairly common mineral in that it appears in many parts of the world, most onyx sold is either not actually onyx at all or is artificially treated to gain a more solid color. Fake onyx is much softer and even easier to find. The name is also sometimes applied to other banded minerals such as calcite. …show more content…
The name ‘onyx’ is a Latin term that comes from the Greek word ὄνυξ (pronounced exactly like its Latin counterpart), which means ‘claw’ or ‘fingernail’. The similarities of the stone’s colors in black, white, and shades of grey in brown to that of fingernails and claws might have inspired the name. Pliny the Elder wrote about the different types of onyx and techniques for altering it in Naturalis Historia, which he was still working on when he died in the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD. Roman soldiers would carry sardonyx carved with an image of the god Mars into battle to bring themselves