Editing Alabaster (section)

==Etymology==
[[File:MorellaSantaMariaWindow.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|Alabaster windows in the Church of Santa Maria la Mayor of [[Morella, Castellón|Morella]], Spain (built 13th–16th centuries)]]
The English word "alabaster" was borrowed from Old French ''{{Lang|ang|alabastre}}'', in turn derived from [[Latin]] ''{{Lang|la|alabaster}}'', and that from [[Greek language|Greek]] ''{{Lang|grc|ἀλάβαστρος|italic=no}}'' (''{{Lang|grc-latn|alábastros}}'') or ''{{Lang|grc|ἀλάβαστος|italic=no}}'' (''{{Lang|grc-latn|alábastos}}''). The Greek words denoted a vase of alabaster.<ref>[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3D%233809 Alabastos], Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, ''A Greek-English Lexicon'', at Perseus</ref>

The name may be derived further from [[Egyptian language|ancient Egyptian]] ''{{Lang|egy|a-labaste}}'', which refers to vessels of the Egyptian goddess [[Bast (mythology)|Bast]]. She was represented as a lioness and frequently depicted as such in figures placed atop these alabaster vessels.<ref>{{cite web |title=alabaster - definition |url=http://www.yourdictionary.com/alabaster |website=YourDictionary}}</ref><ref>[http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/alabaster "alabaster"], ''Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary''<!-- Bot generated title --></ref> Ancient Roman authors [[Pliny the Elder]] and [[Ptolemy]] wrote that the stone used for ointment jars called ''alabastra'' came from a region of Egypt known as Alabastron or Alabastrites.<ref name="MatInd">{{cite book |title=Ancient Egyptian Materials and Industries |author=[[Alfred Lucas (chemist)|Alfred Lucas]], John Richard Harris |year=2011 |edition=reprint of 4th edition (1962), revised from first (1926) |location=Mineola, NY |publisher=[[Dover Publications]] |page=60 |isbn=9780486404462 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=8dIoAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA60 |access-date=26 July 2016 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Eyma |first1=A. K. |title=Egyptian Loan-Words in English |url=http://www.egyptologyforum.org/AEloans.html |website=Egyptologists' Electronic Forum |date=2007}}</ref>