Editing Alabaster (section)

===Calcite alabaster===
[[File:Calcite dish. From Royal Tomb "U", Semerkhet, at Abydos, Egypt. 1st Dynasty. The Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology, London.jpg|thumb|Calcite dish from the Ancient Egyptian tomb of "U", [[Semerkhet]]]]

Calcite alabaster, harder than the gypsum variety, was used in ancient Egypt and the wider Middle East (except [[Assyrian palace reliefs]]), and also in modern times. It is found as either a [[stalagmite|stalagmitic]] deposit from the floor and walls of [[limestone]] [[cavern]]s, or as a kind of [[travertine]], similarly deposited in springs of calcareous water. Its deposition in successive layers gives rise to the banded appearance that the marble often shows on cross-section, from which its name is derived: onyx-marble or alabaster-onyx, or sometimes simply (and wrongly) as [[onyx]].<ref name="EB1911"/>

====Egypt and the Middle East====
Egyptian alabaster has been worked extensively near [[Suez]]<ref name="MatInd"/> and [[Assiut]].<ref name="MatInd"/>

This stone variety is the "alabaster" of the [[ancient Egypt]]ians and [[Bible]] and is often termed ''Oriental alabaster'', since the early examples came from the [[Far East]]. The [[Greek language|Greek]] name ''alabastrites'' is said to be derived from the town of Alabastron in [[Egypt]], where the stone was quarried. The locality may owe its name to the mineral;{{dubious|Circular argumentation...|date=July 2016}} though the origin of the mineral name is obscure<ref name="EB1911"/>

The "Oriental" alabaster was highly esteemed for making small perfume bottles or ointment vases called [[alabastron|alabastra]]; the vessel name has been suggested as a possible source of the mineral name. In Egypt, craftsmen used alabaster for [[canopic jar]]s and various other sacred and sepulchral objects. The [[sarcophagus of Seti I]], found in [[Tomb of Seti I|his tomb]] near [[Thebes, Egypt|Thebes]], is on display in [[Sir John Soane's Museum]], [[London]]; it is carved in a single block of translucent calcite alabaster from Alabastron.<ref name="EB1911"/>

[[Algeria]]n onyx-marble has been quarried largely in the province of [[Oran]].{{citation needed|date=May 2022}}

Calcite alabaster was quarried in ancient [[Israel]] in the cave known as the Twins Cave near [[Beit Shemesh]]. [[Herod the Great|Herod]] used this alabaster for baths in his palaces.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Amir |first1=Ayala |last2=Frumkin |first2=Amos |last3=Zissu |first3=Boaz |last4=Maeir |first4=Aren M. |last5=Goobes |first5=Gil |last6=Albeck |first6=Amnon |title=Sourcing Herod the Great's calcite-alabaster bathtubs by a multi-analytic approach |journal=Scientific Reports |date=7 May 2022 |volume=12 |issue=1 |page=7524 |doi=10.1038/s41598-022-11651-5|pmid=35525885 |pmc=9079073 |bibcode=2022NatSR..12.7524A |doi-access=free }}</ref>

====North America====
In [[Mexico]], there are famous deposits of a delicate green variety at [[La Pedrara]], in the district of [[Tecali]], near [[Puebla, Puebla|Puebla]]. Onyx-marble occurs also in the district of [[Tehuacán Municipality|Tehuacán]] and at several localities in the US including [[California]], [[Arizona]], [[Utah]], [[Colorado]] and [[Virginia]].<ref name="EB1911"/>