Ancient Greeks believed amethyst had the power to prevent drunkenness. Of course, the (usually) empirical Greeks had a charming myth explain the origin of their belief:

Ancient and abundant enough to have been found with the remains of Late Neolithic man (ca. 5,000-3,000 BC) throughout Europe, amethyst's beautiful range of purple shades as well as its scarcity until relatively recent times has ensured its use among royalty throughout the ages.

In 1901, at Abydos -- a southern Egyptian city that served as the religious center of ancient Egypt's principal funerary god, Osiris -- and site of Egypt's first royal cemetery, British Egyptologist W. M. Flinders Petrie made an amazing discovery.

Workmen clearing the tomb of the Egyptian Pharaoh, Djer, exposed a hole in an inner brickwork wall into which had been stuffed an arm, wrapped in linen. Beneath the wrappings the arm still wore four bracelets of gold, lapis lazuli, turquoise, and amethyst. These bracelets -- believed to be from about 3000 BC -- are now in the Cairo Museum.

Other ancient Egyptian amethyst artifacts include items such as a necklace of emerald crystals and amethyst beads found in the tomb of Tutankhamen (r.1333-23 BC -- a period fifteen hundred years after creation of the Abydos tomb); an amethyst and gold 'heart' scarab, from the tomb of Amenemhet II (1929-1892 BC; and a "gold girdle of Mereret," from the tomb of Queen Mereret in the funerary complex of Senusret III (1878-1841 BC).

Quality amethysts with their "royal purple" color have frequently been considered the prerogative of royalty, at times valued more than diamonds.

England's royal love affair with the amethyst spans nearly a thousand years. The oldest known stone in the Crown Jewels of England is an amethyst first worn in the 11th century by Edward the Confessor (r. 1042-1066). Some five-hundred years later, it is said that an amethyst necklace was among the most highly treasured possessions of Great Britain's Queen Elizabeth I (r. 1558-1603). And, nearly four-hundred years after her reign, the coronet (known as a "chaplet") of the Prince of Wales which was made for Edward VIII (r. 1936) -- later Duke of Windsor -- for his investiture as Prince of Wales at Caernarvon Castle in Wales in 1911, also contains amethysts.

Appearing on the European market for the first time in 1727, Brazilian amethysts took the Continent by storm, becoming tres' fashionable -- and therefore, tres' expensive for three-quarters of a century. King George III (1760-1820) -- he of Revolutionary War fame -- is said to have purchased a necklace of amethysts "at a very high price" for his wife, Queen Charlotte (1744-1818). Shortly after, prices declined when sizable amethyst deposits were discovered in Russia's Ural Mountains in 1799.

Expiring shortly before the discovery of these Russian deposits, Catherine the Great (1729-1796) was said to be so fond of the gem that she sent thousands of workers in search of it in "her" gem-laden Ural Mountains of Russia -- so as not to have to pay the inflated prices for Brazilian amethysts. Before the discovery of major amethyst deposits in the Urals (which brought the price down drastically), according to a popular saying "you had to be Catherine the Great to own one."

Amethysts have graced more than royals. The Pala d'Oro, high altar of the Byzantine-styled St Mark's Cathedral in Venice, is one of the most magnificent specimens of goldsmiths' and jewelers' work in existence.

Similar in style to Hungary's Crown of St. Stephen (see almandine garnet), the alter is composed of figures of Christ, angels, prophets and saints in Byzantine enamel (cloisonne) run into gold plates.

Among its more than 4,000 jewels (before being partially plundered by Napoleon) were 1,300 'great' pearls, 400 garnets, 90 amethysts, 300 sapphires, 300 emeralds, 5 rubies, 75 balas rubies (spinels), and 4 topazes, most cut 'en cabochon.' There are still left 2,000 pearls, sapphires, emerald, amethyst and other precious stones in the alter.

The great gold alter screen was originally ordered by the Doge Pietro Orseolo from Constantinople in 976. In 1105, a subsequent Doge of Venice, with the palindromic name, Ordelafo Faledro (r. 1102-1118) -- more commonly known by the Venetian form of his name, Ordelafo Falier -- ordered it enlarged and enriched with gems.

Enhanced again in 1209 by Doge Pietro Ziani (r. 1205-1229), the gem-studded scenes added were very possibly looted from the Monastery of Christ Pantokrator (Greek for "Lord of All") in Constantinople during the Fourth Crusade when Venice, in a burst of expansionary zeal, attacked Christian Constantinople.

(When Napoleon conquered Venice in 1797, pouring the full storm of his wrath on the Venetians as punishment for supporting the Austrians, he ordered that many of Venice's art works be taken back to France -- including many of the precious stones decorating the Pala d'Oro. Altogether, workmen removed 1,300 pearls, 300 sapphires, 400 garnets and 90 amethysts -- as well as many enamels.)

Representing "the royalty of Christ," the amethyst has a long association with Roman Catholic bishops, hence its name "stone of bishops."

First mentioned as an official part of the bishop's insignia in the early seventh century, the ring -- usually made of gold with an amethyst -- was originally a symbol of Episcopal authority. Later, the ring came to symbolize a bishop's fidelity to and nuptial bond with the church, his spouse.

Today, bishops frequently wear an oval shaped amethyst, usually very large, with the diocesan seal engraved directly into the flat surface of the gem.

From the late Middle Ages through the Renaissance, amethyst's reputed power served a wide range of personal needs. Medieval European soldiers wore amethyst amulets as protection in battle.

During the Renaissance, amethysts engraved with the image of a bear were utilized as protective amulets or talismans. As such, people wore them for a variety of reasons: to keep the wearer awake, preserve them against harm in battle, protect them against contagious diseases, sharpen their wits, and serve as an antidote against poison.

Even Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) � scientist (e.g., hydrological studies), inventor (e.g., the bicycle) and artist (e.g., The Last Supper, Mona Lisa) -- believed that amethyst had the ability to "dissipate evil thoughts and quicken the intelligence."

Discovered by Lewis Sigmon on November 4, 1972, in the Reel Mine in Iron Station, North Carolina, the largest amethyst cluster ever found in North America is two feet long, two feet wide and one foot high; it weighs a massive 165 pounds.

The intense purple pigment of the gem (which has been compared a glass of grape juice held up to sunlight) is as remarkable a feature as its size and is a result of manganese dust -- a characteristic of the mine from which the amethyst came. The cluster currently resides in the Grandfather Mountain Nature Museum in Linville, North Carolina.