Description:   Agate is a variety of fine-fibre chalcedony that usually has stratified coloring. These strata could have either concentric or linear form. They seem to repeat the contours of underground interstices - geodes, in which the forming of agates frequently occurs. According to one of the versions the name of agate arises from the ancient name of Ahates River in Sicily, where in ancient times this mineral was mined. According to another version, the word agate arises from the Greek word Ahates that means haрру. In any case, the word agate in application to mineral was known in the times of Theofrast (the 4th century BC). At the same time you should note that in ancient times Arabs and Persians called all stripped stones as jazz. The color of agate varies from foam white, yellowish and greenish to almost black. If white colored layers alternate with yellow, red, brown, black or other colored layers, then such variety of agate can have its own name. For example, most b...

 Legends of amazonite:   The legends say that some Scythian women rubbed one of their breasts with the powder made of green stone that delayed the breast's growth. Perhaps, since those times the legends about one-breasted Amazons arise. The decorations of amazonite are frequently found during excavations of Scythian barrows in the places where, according to Herodot, Amazons lived. The ancient Greek legends assert that waistband of Amazons' leader named Ippolita was made out of green stones. Perhaps these were namely Amazons. In any case, according to the evidence of ancient historians, the stone of Amazons' was mined in Rifeyskie Mountains. This is the place where amazonite really exists. Besides, the legends about one-breasted Amazons could be real. According to modern medical data the powder of Amazonite is able to delay the growth of cells. The name of the stone introduced some kind of confusion. The historians assert that in 1783 R.B. Rome de Lil called several green pe...