Editing Jasper (section)

==Etymology and history==
[[File:Egyptian - Finger Ring with a Representation of Ptah - Walters 42387 - Side A.jpg|upright|thumb|Movable Egyptian ring in green jasper and gold, from 664 to 322&nbsp;BC or later (Late Period),<ref>{{cite web |title= Finger ring with a representation of Ptah |publisher=[[The Walters Art Museum]] |url=http://art.thewalters.org/detail/15717 }}</ref> the [[Walters Art Museum]]]]
[[File:Red jasper amulet HARGM7392.JPG|thumb|upright|left|[[Amulet]] of scarlet jasper, provenance unknown, [[Royal Pump Room, Harrogate]]]]
[[File:Necklace And Pendant (possibly France), ca. 1870 (CH 18423329).jpg|thumb|upright|left|[[Relief|Low-relief]] sphinx pendant, red jasper, pearl and enamel, French, circa 1870]]
The name means "spotted or speckled stone," and is derived via [[Old French]] {{Lang|fro|jaspre}} (variant of [[Anglo-Norman language|Anglo-Norman]] ''jaspe'') and [[Latin]] {{Lang|la|iaspidem}} (nom. {{Lang|la|iaspis}}) from [[Greek language|Greek]] {{math|ἴασπις}} ''iaspis'' (feminine noun),<ref>{{cite web |title=iaspis |id=Strong's G2393 |department=Lexicon |website=Blue Letter Bible |url=http://cf.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=G2393&t=KJV |url-status=dead |archive-url=http://arquivo.pt/wayback/20160522180056/http://cf.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=G2393&t=KJV |archive-date=22 May 2016}}</ref> from an [[Afroasiatic languages|Afroasiatic language]] (cf. [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] ''{{Lang|he|ישפה}}'' {{Transliteration|he|yashpeh}}, [[Akkadian language|Akkadian]] ''yashupu'').<ref>{{cite web |title=Jasper |website=etymonline.com  |url=http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=jasper}}</ref> This Semitic etymology is believed to be unrelated to that of the English given name [[Jasper (given name)|Jasper]], which is of [[Persian language|Persian]] origin,<ref name=OxfordJasper>{{cite book |last1=Hanks |first1=Patrick |last2=Hardcastle |first2=Kate |last3=Hodges |first3=Flavia |date=2006 |title=A Dictionary of First Names |edition=2 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0198610601 |page=138}}</ref>{{efn|
"Jasper: The usual English form of the name assigned in Christian folklore to one of [[Biblical Magi|the three magi or 'wise men']], who brought gifts to the infant Christ at his birth (Matthew 2:1). The name {{grey|[Jasper]}} does not appear in the Bible, and is first found in medieval tradition. It seems to be ultimately of Persian origin, from a word meaning 'treasurer'. There is probably no connection with the English vocabulary word ''jasper'' denoting a gemstone, which is of {{nobr|Semitic origin." — Hanks, Hardcastle, & Hodges (2006)<ref name=OxfordJasper/>}}
}} though the Persian word for the mineral jasper is also ''yashum'' ([[:fa:یشم|یَشم]]).

Green jasper was used to make [[bow drill]]s in [[Mehrgarh]] between 4th and {{nobr|5th millennium BC.}}<ref name=Kulke&R.>{{cite book |first1=Hermann |last1=Kulke |author1-link=Hermann Kulke |first2=Dietmar |last2=Rothermund |author2-link=Dietmar Rothermund |year=2004 |title=A History of India |publisher=Routledge |page=22 |isbn=0-415-32920-5}}</ref> Jasper is known to have been a favorite gem in the ancient world; its name can be traced back in [[Arabic language|Arabic]], Persian, Hebrew, Assyrian, Greek and [[Latin]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.gemstone.org/gem-by-gem/english/jasper.html |publisher=International Colored Gemstone Association |series=Gem by Gem |title=Jasper}}</ref> On [[Minoan civilization|Minoan]] [[Crete]], jasper was carved to produce seals circa 1800&nbsp;BC, as evidenced by archaeological recoveries at the palace of [[Knossos]].<ref>{{cite journal |first=C. Michael |last=Hogan |date=14 April 2008 |title=Knossos fieldnotes |journal=The Modern Antiquarian |url=http://www.themodernantiquarian.com/site/10854/knossos.html#fieldnotes}}</ref>

Although the term jasper is now restricted to opaque quartz, the ancient ''iaspis'' was a stone of considerable translucency including [[nephrite]].<ref name=Kostov/> The jasper of antiquity was in many cases distinctly green, for it is often compared to [[emerald]] and other green objects. Jasper is referred to in the ''[[Nibelungenlied]]'' as being clear and green. The jasper of the ancients probably included stones which would now be classed as [[chalcedony]], and the emerald-like jasper may have been akin to the modern [[chrysoprase]]. The Hebrew word may have designated a green jasper.<ref name=Rudler-1911-EB>{{EB1911 |wstitle=Jasper |author=Rudler, Frederick William |inline=1}}</ref> [[Flinders Petrie]] suggested that the ''odem'' – the first stone on the [[Priestly breastplate|High Priest's breastplate]] – was a red jasper, whilst ''tarshish'', the tenth stone, may have been a yellow jasper.{{refn|{{cite book |title=Hastings's Dict. Bible |year=1902 |postscript=,}} cited in ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' (1911).<ref name=Rudler-1911-EB/>.}}
[[File:Harappa red jasper male torso.jpg|thumb|upright|Male torso carved from red jasper, [[Bronze Age]], [[Harappa]], [[Indus Valley civilisation]], Pakistan]]