{"id":6133,"date":"2024-02-12T13:15:54","date_gmt":"2024-02-12T11:15:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/efirgems.com\/the-valley-of-diamonds-talismans-of-strength-symbols-of-masculinity\/"},"modified":"2025-03-06T11:26:23","modified_gmt":"2025-03-06T11:26:23","slug":"the-valley-of-diamonds-talismans-of-strength-symbols-of-masculinity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/efirgems.com\/en\/the-valley-of-diamonds-talismans-of-strength-symbols-of-masculinity\/","title":{"rendered":"The Valley of Diamonds. Talismans of strength, symbols of masculinity!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>In the valley of the Scythians was hidden a deep chasm surrounded by steep mountains. Its bottom was covered with sparkling diamonds, beyond the reach of human hands. They were guarded by cursed serpents whose gaze was deadly to all invaders. This is the legend of the Valley of Diamonds.<\/em><\/p>\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Illustration from a 16th century Turkish manuscript commissioned by Sultan Murad III.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Bewitched by the beauty of diamonds, Alexander the Great decided that he must have them. He placed a huge mirror in their lair. Thus, catching a glimpse of their reflection, the beasts were subdued by sudden death. Alexander asked his men to descend and collect the crystals, but no one would undertake the descent. Then the elders gave the idea of slaughtering a sheep and hurling the pieces of meat into the valley. The diamonds would stick, and the hungry eagles circling over the valley would swoop down and retrieve them. The plan worked, and Alexander the Great ordered his warriors to hunt the eagles and collect the diamonds.<\/em><\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The diamonds were discovered around 800 BC in India, and until their depletion in the 18th century, this deposit remained the only one. As luck would have it, the first deposits were discovered in Brazil, and then in Africa, during the depletion. However, it was supposedly Alexander of Macedon that brought the diamonds to Europe.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In ancient Egypt, the diamond was a symbol of the sun and was placed in the middle of the cross of life. In India, due to its resilience, it was used as a talisman capable of warding off danger. It is believed to give warriors the strength needed to win in battle.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So long before it was &#8220;Girls best friend&#8221;, the diamond epitomized masculinity and was reserved for men. It wasn&#8217;t until the 15th century that diamond jewelry was first mentioned as being worn by women.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Wishing you a brilliant day!<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Kristina G.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In the valley of the Scythians was hidden a deep chasm surrounded by steep mountains. Its bottom was covered with sparkling diamonds, beyond the reach&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5121,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[155],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6133","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-stories"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/efirgems.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6133","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/efirgems.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/efirgems.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/efirgems.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/efirgems.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6133"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/efirgems.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6133\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6134,"href":"https:\/\/efirgems.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6133\/revisions\/6134"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/efirgems.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5121"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/efirgems.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6133"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/efirgems.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6133"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/efirgems.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6133"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}