Where did the pearls go, or Tears of angels

Of all the jewels given by the sea, pearls are perhaps the most expensive. Actually, it’s not even I think so, but people who have paid huge money for the right to own these small beautiful balls. And if only money. And how many lives were given to extract pearls from the depths of the sea! According to the most ancient scientific data, pearls are hardened tears of persons of divine origin.At the time of Homer, it was said that pearls were the tears of sea goddesses — the Nereid, and when they stopped believing in the Nereids — they claimed that they were the tears of angels. In Senegal, it was believed that these were tears of a simple young man, Ziguinchara, of a Wolof tribe who had fallen into slavery. But, since he has fallen not only into slavery, but also into a legend, it means that this is not just a young man, but a man overshadowed with a certain holiness. That is, and it all fits. The ancient Indians believed that the first drops of rain were becoming pearls, which caught in their open palms shells, pearl oysters, floating from the bottom of the sea especially for this purpose. And what is a drop of rain, if not the tears of the gods? And in ancient Japanese, Egyptian, Armenian, Assyrian, and other sources, it is also claimed that these are tears of the sea, frozen drops of rain, in a word, God’s dew. So the question of the origin of pearls can be considered proven. There are, however, other versions. Some, not afraid of this word, very limited people believe that it is “… organogenic calcareous nodules formed in the body of some bivalve sea and freshwater mollusks,” and they also give for some reason their chemical composition, as if this would make the pearls more beautiful. But we are such, if I may say so, “theories” will not be taken into account. It’s boring. Whether the Russian word “pearl” comes from the Chinese “zhenzhu”, or the Chinese name comes from the original Russian word, it was not possible to find out. In any case, in Russia the word “pearl” appeared in ancient times, under Princess Olga, it already existed. Even for some varieties of pearls there were names in Russia. Large selected pearls were called “Burmitian grain”, and small non-drilled pearls – “seed pearls”. The most valuable pearls from the Persian Gulf were called Oriental or “Oriental”. The Kafim pearl was also famous (from the name of the city Kafa, next to the current Theodosia). But do not think that it was mined there, just imported it through this port. Other nations called it differently. For the British, French and Germans, this is a “pearl”. For the Spaniards, Greeks and Italians – “margarites”. And the Indians call him “maniara” – the flower bud. Already from this alone it is clear that pearls have been known for a long time and everywhere, and the history of pearls originates from the most ancient times. In fact, pearls were mined not only in the Persian Gulf and on the sunny shores of Polynesia, but also in the mountainous rivers of Ireland and even in the Dnieper. About pearl jewelry is mentioned in such authoritative sources as the Bible, the Koran, the Talmud. Everyone knows that collecting pearls is a very difficult and dangerous craft. But gradually he becomes a thing of the past. Fetus pearls are becoming less and less, apparently, the gods now prefer not to cry and have fun. However, as early as the 13th century, the Chinese Ie Jin-Yang (according to other sources, Hou Theon-Fod) found a worthy substitute for God’s tears. He began to put lead and tin plates with the image of Buddha in river shells. And the pearl oysters, appreciating the holiness of the images, began to endeavor to envelop the seed with nacre, forming pearls. True, the legends say that he was not the first, the method was known much earlier. It was just forgotten. Attempts to grow pearls were repeated many times, but only in 1913 the method was put on industrial rails – the Japanese Kokihi Mikimoto extracted the first round pearl grown artificially. Currently, 90% of pearls are produced by cultivation, and Mikimoto supplies the world’s largest, most beautiful and most expensive pearls. This year it is customary to give pearls. Do not miss the moment!