Pakistani Onyx hand cut bowl of 300mm from Pakistan.

Onyx is a mineral and a variety of quartz, more specifically a variety of chalcedony. Onyxes are two-colored nesosilicates, where the colors are interwoven as layers or bands. Onyx is related to agate, a four-colored quartz variety. There are several types of onyxes, with the basic name onyx normally being used to indicate a mineral with white and black layers. We also know the sardonyx with white and red-brown (the color called sard) layers and carnelian or carnelian onyx (flame red and white layers). Onyx is found in Brazil, Madagascar, Mexico, Uruguay, the United States and Pakistan. In ancient times, carnelian was mined in North Africa as a decorative stone. In imperial times, onyxes were mainly used for the production of gemstones; Rings with such stones were regularly found in the western provinces. In late Roman times we also find churneal pearls in the eastern provinces. Above the Alps, churnings only occurred occasionally, such as in Pfyn and Switzerland. References to the onyx appear in several places in the Old Testament of the Bible, the first in Genesis 2, verse 12 According to Rabbi Bahya ben Asher, the word "shoham" in Exodus 28:20 means onyx. According to him, onyx was also the stone on the ephod that stood for the tribe of Joseph. In addition, the shoulders of the ephod were also provided with two such "shoham" stones. The onyx has an esoteric history almost as long as its secular history. In the Middle Ages, onyx was already seen as a "stone of doom", a symbol of mourning and misery. Other sources say that it was also a healing stone, with a positive effect on the skin, hair and nails. Within the zodiac, onyx is associated with Capricorn and Saturn. Onyx is also said to have a beneficial effect against nausea, hypersensitivity to the weather and stomach and intestinal complaints.