خاتم الفضة بالعقيق اليماني

Yemeni Agates Information

written by : Ahmed Rawdhan

 

Yemeni Agates
Yemeni Agate is part of the international agates as a precious stone consisting of chalcedony and quartz as its primary components, consisting of a wide variety of colors. Yemeni Agates are primarily formed within volcanic and metamorphic rocks. The name Yamani is given to any agate mined for in Yemen

what makes Yemeni Agates different
Yemeni Agate were famous since thousands of years for its highest quality and its variety of colors and types and also for its relation to the religious believes

In this page we re going to talk about some types of the Yemeni Agates available in the Yemeni, Arabic and international markets

Types of Yemeni Agates

Pictorial Yemeni Agates
Ice-color white Yemeni Agates
Cerasus-color Yemeni Agates
Liver-color Yemeni Agates
Yemeni Carnelian, Red Agates
Pomegranate-color Yemeni Agates
Orange-color Yemeni agates
Golden Yemeni Agates
Honey-color Yemeni Agates
Apricot-color Yemeni Agates
Dates-color Yemeni Agates
Yellow Yemeni Agates
Sharaf Ashams Yemeni Agates
Black Yemeni Agates
Shafat Al-abd Yemeni Agates
Sulaimani Yemeni Agates
Jaza Yemeni Agates
Yemeni Eyes Agate
Dawoody Yemeni Agates
Dendritic - mushajjar- Yemeni Agates
Moss Yemeni Agates
Needle Yemeni Agates
Sky-color Yemeni Agates
Yellow Yemeni Agates
Green Yemeni Agates
saffron-color Yemeni Agates
Yemeni Bloodstones
Baqrani Yemeni Agates
Murad Yemeni Agates
Ismael Yemeni Agates
Yemeni Jade
 

Beautiful Rough Yemeni Agate stone

Provinces of Yemen in which Yemeni Agates are mined for

Dhamar Province
Sana'a Province
Ibb Province
Taiz Province
Shabwah Province
Some other provinces

جبل ضوران

Yemeni Agates are mostly mined for in a lot of areas in Anes mountains in Dhamar Province, like Alhan mountain in Hemiar , Bani khaled, Dhuran mountain, And also in Almanar and Asharq mountain. Also Yemeni Agates are mined for in some other places in Dhamar like Ans,....
Also Yemeni agates are mined for in other provinces like Sana'a, khawlan area, Ibb, Taiz and Shabwah

Forms of Yemeni Rough Agates

Yemeni Agates can be found in volcanic and metamorphic rocks after digging to different depths. They comes in a form of rocks in different shapes containing other impurities

حجر خام من العقيق اليماني

Processes of preparing Yemeni Agate stones

Mining
Classification and selection of the suitable ones
Sawing and removing other impurities
Grinding and making the required shape
Polishing
Faceting
Heat treatment for Yemeni Carnelian
 

 

قطع العقيق اليماني

How to identify the original Yemeni Agates
 
we may be able to some degree identify the Yemeni Agates origin depending on some tips, like lab test to check color distribution in a stone, also colors of veins in stone.
Also, we can check the style of Yemeni grinding and Finally compare color to the famous Yemeni agate colors
 

عقيق يماني بعد القطع

Some tools and machines used for making Yemeni Agates

Sawing Machine : used for sawing Yemeni Agates using teethless sawing blade
Grinding machine: used for grinding Yemeni agates to make the desired shape like oval, round ,square and any other shape. It is used sometimes for polishing with sanding papers. This machine uses silicon or diamond grinding wheels with different grits
Tumbling machine: After grinding, stones with similar hardness are put wet inside tumbling machine with certain powders for sometime
Polishing powder: different types of powders in different grits are added to the tumbling machine for polishing Yemeni agates
Sanding powders: are used for polishing Yemeni agates instead of tumbling machine or as a part of tumbling processes
Forming and drilling machines for beads
Faceting machines used for making nice facets
Some required safety tools: it is important to put on face mask ,glasses and finger caps

Stores for selling lapidary tools in Yemen

Diamond World lapidary tools, sells tools and machines for Yemeni agates workshops

عالم الماس Diamod World

Yemeni Agates as mentioned in historical references

Yemeni Agates were mentioned in old Arabic books which talks about gemstones.They mentioned Yemeni agates types,uses and benefits.It was famous internationally for its beauty and high quality. It was used to make rings,pendants,bracelets,rosary beads,handles of swords and daggers,embroidering crowns and valuable masterpieces. Also some Ayats ,epics and drawings were engraved on Yemeni Agates
Abu Muhammad al-Hasan al-Hamdani, who died 893 AD, mentioned the Yemeni Agate in his book (The Description of the Arabian Peninsula)
(Yemen has buqran stones(banded Yemeni agates) which worth to much money. It has red layer, on white layer, on black layer, buqran has variery, and its mineral exists in Anes mountain which refers to Anes son of Alhan son of Malek. Sawani Agates from Sawan, valley near to Sana'a, it is black stone with white vein. Also in Shaharah. Ayshan from Hashed close to Hanoom and Dhulaimah and Aljamash from Hamdan. Also Aleshari, it is the sky-color from Ashar close to Sana'a, it has also crystals and Almusanna Agates which is used for making knives handles. Carnelian, red agates , yellow agates , muwasha and banded agates from Alhan. Another type of Yemeni agates Al-nuqumi which is Fahl Al orf, has Sawani and dhasri. Khawlani Agates, jerti agates from Authaiqah and Al Shazab used to make plates, stands and handles of knives and swrods, also Madahin and Qahfah ... etc

Abu Rayhan Al-Biruni who died in 1048 AD , mentioned in his book (Al-jamahir fi Marifat Al-jawahir) A geology manual of minerals and gems, he said in the section of Agates (its colors rate from whitish, to yellowish ,and reddish , then to blackish. Its mineral is in Sindh and Yemen).
He also motioned about agate ( It exists only in India and Yemen). He added (Some of agates come in reddish yellow color , polish and humidity, are called Rumi) My personal believe is that the writer mixed between Rumi and Romani which means pomegranate color because they have similarity in Arabic pronunciation and spelling but then he mentioned the Yemeni pomegranate color agates at following sections of his book.
He also mentioned some names of Yemeni agates to 6 types; Golden color, Pomegranate color, Red color, Apricot color, Rotab dates color and Tamar dates color
Ahmed al-Tifashi who died in 1253 AD mentioned in his book Al Ahjar Almoloukiyah (Agates are obtained from minerals in Aden and Sana'a and then brought to Sana'a city )
He mentioned that( Yemeni agates are of five types Red, dates color which is yellowish red, blue, black and white)
He said also that ( Onyx exists in minerals in Yemen)

Tifashi also mentioned in another book for him that Agates are found in Sana'a city of Yemen, and then exported to all countries) He named the five types of agates mentioned in his above book


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