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carnelian - venerable stone of antiquity
An important gem in nearly every great civilization that has existed, carnelian has even been found in Iron Age burial mounds in Japan.
Long carnelian beads, sometimes more than 12 centimeters long, were aspecialty of the Indus Civilization (present day Punjab, Pakistan). A collection of these beads has been found from ca.1800 BC, some created even earlier.
Considered valuable thousands of years ago, by 1700 BC, the Minoans, who had established trade routes from Knossos to Turkey, Cyprus, Egypt, Afghanistan, and Scandinavia, were trading goods such as carnelian, amethyst, lapis, gold, and other important commodities.
 earthquakes and intaglios

carnelian seal with a man driving a chariot, minoan, about 1450-1300 bc
photo: the british museum

From the royalty of Ur, 3000 BC, to the present, carnelian has been revered for its healing, spiritual and creative qualities.
When the tomb of Pu-Abi, Sumerian Queen of Ur (the Mesopotamian capital of pre-biblical times in present day Iraq) from the third millennium BC was opened in 1932, her robe contained gold, carnelian and lapis. Another treasure found was a headdress with leaves of beaten gold, lapis lazuli, carnelian, and shell.
In earthquake-prone lands such as Babylon and Greece, carnelian served as a talisman of good luck. An ancient saying went: "no man who wore a carnelian was ever found in a collapsed house or beneath a fallen wall."

babylonian carnelian cylinder seal, ca. 1800-1600 bc

The ancients also believed that carnelian, as a red stone (along with ruby, garnet, and spinel) were good for bleeding and inflammation, as well as "stilling the blood and calming the temper."
Another common use for carnelian, because its smooth grain separates easily from wax or clay, was to carve it into the intaglio seals used by dignitaries and merchants to authenticate documents with their own unique personal 'signature.'
As with amber, ancient Romans believed that the darker carnelian represented males and the lighter carnelian, females.
The Egyptian thet was consecrated by steeping it overnight in flower-water, after which it was empowered by reciting the appropriate spell from the Book of the Dead over it.
Called the "Mecca stone" in Muslim countries, legend has it that Mohammad's seal was an engraved carnelian set in a silver ring -- very possible since carnelian was often used for signatory seals.
Hildegarde von Bingen, the 12th century healer, recommended carnelian for headaches and as a birthing aid.
 sacred stone of isis
Egyptians so revered the power of carnelian that it was one of the three most often used stones in their jewelry, along with turquoise and lapis lazuli.
Sacred to many cultures, in ancient Egypt carnelian amulets called thets (also known as the Isis knot or buckle of Isis, and blood of Isis), were considered sacred to the Egyptian goddess of the dead, Isis. Placed on the body of the deceased, Isis was believed to protect the soul (Ka) on its journey through the afterlife.

carnelian seal stone, sasanian, 5th century ad
photo: the british museum

Commonly believed to be the 'agate' listed as one of the twelve stones in the breastplate of the Jewish High Priest (each of which each represented a tribe of Israel), the Bible says: "...in the third row, an jacinth, an agate, and an amethyst...." Carnelian is also noted in many Biblical translations as one of the foundations stones of the New Jerusalem.
(However, some Biblical scholars disagree with these translations: Rabbi Dr. Michael Samuel, in his article "Breastplate stones and tribal affiliation" believes the word 'agate' actually referred to a variegated black and white stone common to Egypt, not carnelian at all.)
India has some of the oldest carnelian deposits known. Ratanpur, in particular, in the state of Madhya Pradesh, has been a center of international carnelian trade for more than 2000 years.
Napoleon is said to have carried a carnelian amulet he found in Egypt, as a talisman, possibly sharing a common belief that "the wearing of carnelian insures victory in all contests -- save those of love."
Tibetan Buddhists, for whom seven is a most auspicious number, believe the seven treasures of material wealth are gold, silver, lapis lazuli, seashell, agate, pearl, and carnelian.
In Prague, the chapel of St. Wenceslas, built in the 1400's and considered to be one of the most important monuments of Czech art, has walls of large paintings interspersed with large stones of carnelian, amethyst, chalcedony and chrysoprase.
 middle east and eastern magic

roman carnelian intaglio, 300 ad; helios, the sun god
photo: ancient touch

At one time, some in the Muslim world believed that engraving the name of Allah on carnelian boosted courage and that Allah would grant wearers of the stone all their desires.
In many countries of the Middle East even today, there is a widespread belief that a person looked upon with an ill-meaning or envious glance will lose his fortune unless wearing a carnelian engraved with an appropriate prayer, said to "remove the evil from covetous looks and render them harmless."

antique tibetan carnelian seal

Moving further east, Buddhists in China, India and Tibet still utilize the protective powers of carnelian, often following the Egyptian practice of setting the venerable stone with the equally venerable stones of turquoise and lapis to enhance the power of amulets made from it.
Like earlier civilizations, seventeenth century Europe believed carnelian -- the redder the better -- to be a powerful healer, using it as a remedy for bleeding wounds. Dr. Johann Schroeder in his Pharmacopoeia Augustana (1649) said about carnelian:

"The powder of them is good to drink against all fluxes. Carried about, it makes cheerful minds, expels fear, makes courage, destroys and prevents fascinations and defends the body against all poisons. It stops blood by a peculiar property; and bound to the belly keeps up the birth."