In New Jersey, a 2,670 feet deep mine contains the world's largest collection of fluorescent rocks. If only the Egyptian miners could set foot in the Sterling Hill Mine today, which actually contains fluorescent rocks! The Fluorescent Mine Up until the 18th century, people confused topaz and peridot.
This helped peridot gain recognition since people hadn't seen it before. It's likely that Egyptian merchants told astounding stories like this to enhance the value of their gems. Olivine is not luminescent, although true Topaz is. Mines on this island (now called Zabargad Island) still contain many igneous rocks and gems, including peridot. The "Topzaion" gems that the miners extracted were actually peridot. They would mark the locations of the gems, and then extract them the following day. The gems blended in with their surroundings in the day, but at night, the miners could see its illuminating sparkle. According to Greek historians Strabo and Diodorus Siculus, the snakes on the island made mining dangerous. Miners extracted what they called "Topazion", which were beautiful green gemstones. The forbidden island of Ophiodes (also called Topazios) contained King Ptolemy II Philadelphus's famous mine. Many fluorite specimens have a strong enough fluorescence that you could hold them in the sunlight, then move them into the shade and notice a color change. The term "fluorescence" derives from "fluorite," specimens of which can be highly fluorescent. It could be that some of these stories were inspired by fluorite. According to Pliny, the gem is called lychnis (Greek for lamp light) because the light of a lamp enhances the gem's glow, revealing its beautiful hues.
An ancient statue of the Syrian goddess Atargatis had the gem on her forehead, which is said to have shone at night like a bright fire. The Roman natural philosopher, Pliny the Elder, describes a gem called the chrysolampis, or 'golden gleam,' as a pale gold that turns fiery by night. (Geologist Stanley Hobart Ball guesses that the priests there probably put a candle inside the glowing column to mislead the gullible.) The Greek historian Herodotus wrote that The temple of Heracles at Tyre had a column made of green gems that shined brightly at night. Greece and Rome - Gems That Brighten the Night Another important Hindu gem, Diamonds, can phosphoresce, and there is evidence the Indian king Bhoja (r. Under UV light, they can appear to glow radiantly. Rubies, the most revered gem in ancient India, have both luminescence and fluorescence. The Hindu classic Mahabharata describes the raja Babruvahana's palace as dazzling it contains precious stones that "shine like lamps." The Vishnu Purana states that Vishnu, in his avatar form as Shesha, the multi-headed snake, has a jewel on each head that gives off light. India was the earliest country to recognize fine gemstones, which hold symbolic value in Hindu texts. Some of the glowing gems in legend do have fluorescent properties. While many of these stories were exaggerations to engage audiences, there's sometimes a scientific link to them. Throughout history, people have told stories about various kinds of glowing gems. Some emeralds can fluoresce purple! Let's take a look at which gemstones fluoresce and what it means. Different minerals can make them fluoresce in a stunning array of colors. This means that only some gemstones that contain these minerals show fluorescence under UV light. Only 15% of all mineral species fluoresce, and not every specimen that can fluoresce does so. What gemstones show fluorescence under UV light? Banana spots, olive oil, certain flowers, and scorpions all fluoresce under UV light as well. What would happen if you put rocks or gemstones under a blacklight? Would they fluoresce? If you've been in a room lit by a blacklight, you might recall seeing things like paper, plastic, and teeth appear to glow.
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