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One of the most ancient gems known to man, the oldest malachite decoration on record is estimated to be 10,500 years old. It was uncovered by archeologists in the Shanidar Valley, Iraq, a site of early Neanderthal culture. Malachite beads believed to be more than 9,000 years old have been found near the ancient city of Jericho in Israel. Malachite was a symbol of joy in ancient Egypt, while in a larger reference, the phrase "field of malachite" was used when speaking of the land of the blessed dead. The alleged cholera protection powers of malachite may have been due, in part, to copper's antibacterial properties. Much later in history, it was reported that during the cholera epidemics in Paris of 1832, 1849 and 1852, copper workers appeared to be immune to the disease. Ruins of the old mines, the miners' huts and inscriptions to the Goddess Hathor can still be found in the Sinai. Said to be the eye or daughter of Re, the sun god, Hathor's image took the form of a cow, a woman with a cow's head, or a woman wearing the horns of a cow. As a motherly cow, she gave the king her divine milk and protected him as a cow protects her calf. She was also the goddess of love, music, singing and dance. The "Great One," Taweret (also known as Toeris ), the Egyptian hippo goddess of childbirth, was often depicted wearing a necklace of many large beads, some of which were malachite. Found in tombs of the pre-dynastic period, eye makeup equipment (palettes, grinders and applicators) seems to have also been essential for the afterlife. Kohl was powdered on a palette and then mixed with something to make it adhere to the eye -- usually ointments derived from animal fat.	hathor's dominion The first culture to make extensive use of malachite was that of Egypt, a country whose history with malachite goes back at least as far as 4,000 BC when it was heavily mined in the Sinai -- near what is now the Suez Canal -- and in the famous King Solomon's copper mines on the Red Sea. hathor;temple wall, memphis, egypt A copper carbonate, malachite was prized because it was the easiest copper mineral to reduce to copper metal. The scale of copper mining in the Sinai reached a size that made it the first real industry of the ancient world. The Sinai area and its mines were considered under the spiritual dominion of Hathor, the Egyptian goddess of beauty, joy, love and women, who was also known as the "Lady of Greenstone," and "Lady of Malachite." kohl tube; ca. 1549-1298 bc photo: rosicrucian museum Reputed to have strong therapeutic properties, Egyptians believed that wearing malachite in bands around the head and arms protected the wearer from the frequent cholera epidemics that ravaged Egypt -- since slaves who mined malachite (a form of copper carbonate) were often unaffected by the plagues. The Egyptians used malachite primarily for amulets, jewelry and cosmetics: powdered malachite was made into kohl, an Egyptian eye shadow. Typically, two kinds of kohl were used: mesdemet, a dark gray ore derived from either stibnite (antimony sulphide), lapis lazuli (lazurite), or more typically, galena (lead sulphide); and udju made from malachite. killer kohl For Egyptian women, enhancing one's beauty for aesthetic and seductive purposes was a goal, but intertwined with that goal was a complicated mixture of spiritual, magical and therapeutic intent. While eye makeup conferred beauty and style on the wearer, it also had other more practical uses. kohl pot; ca. 1403-1365 bc photo: the louvre For instance, we now know that galena, a base material in some kohls, possesses disinfectant and fly-deterrent properties and is believed to have protected eyes from the intense Egyptian sun. The application of kohl was believed to provide psychic protection as well. The Egyptian word for eye-palette is derived from their word for "protect." An unadorned, and therefore unprotected eye was believed vulnerable to the Evil Eye. Outlining the eyes thus gained significance beyond beautification -- the act itself created a personal protective amulet drawn directly on the skin; an amulet that once applied could not be broken, lost, or stolen. Some archeologists believe that the wearing of malachite-based kohl may have placed women directly under Hathor's protection: applying powdered malachite was to partake in the essence of Hathor herself.
Since the sun was the enemy of all creatures from the "dark side," an image of the sun was engraved on malachite to protect the wearer from enchantments, evil spirits and attacks of venomous creatures. As the twin sister of Apollo and the daughter of Zeus, Artemis (Diana) was known variously as the moon goddess, the goddess of hunting and the patroness of young girls. In some translations of the New Testament, malachite is one of the foundation stones of the New Jerusalem: "The foundations of the city wall were faced with all kinds of precious stone; the first with diamond, the second lapis lazuli...the eighth malachite..." Pliny the Elder (23-79 AD), Roman historian, naturalist and author of the world's first encyclopedia, wrote about malachite, imported from Arabia: "...its green color is deeper than that of an emerald." Malachite was perhaps one of the green minerals described by Theophrastus (372-287BC) under the general name of *ojthpa'ybor* and was probably the *smaragdus medicus* of Pliny.	a women's mineral Following in the Egyptians' footsteps, Greeks also made jewelry and talismans from malachite to ward off evil spells and thoughts. The Greeks also used malachite architecturally: according to Pliny, built in 560 BC, the famous Temple of Diana (Artemis) in Ephesus -- one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World (four times as large as Athen's Parthenon) -- was decorated with malachite. Thought in many cultures to alleviate menstrual cramps and aid labor, malachite has also been called "the midwife's stone" since medieval times. In fact, author Michael Gienger, in Crystal Power, Crystal Healing, says: "Malachite was always a women's mineral and was always dedicated to a goddess in whatever culture: in Egypt to Hathor, in classical times to Aphrodite/Venus, in northern Europe to Freya. Malachite represented seduction, sensuality, beauty, curiosity, aesthetics and the arts of the Muses. It was considered to be the stone of Paradise, which later was represented as meaning we mortals aught to avoid it. [And] it still has the scent of Lucifer about it to this day." malachite's 'eye of the peacock' With its swirling concentric eye-like rings patterned after a "peacock eye," malachite was popular as protection against the "evil eye," fighting sorcery and black magic in the Middle Ages. Considered an important charm stone for children, popular belief held that a piece of malachite would break if danger loomed, warning the child. Often times, a piece of malachite was attached to the side of an infant's cradle so that evil spirits would be kept at bay, allowing babies to sleep more soundly.
The first decorative use of malachite in Russia known to the West was as buttons for court-dresses. Ekaterinburg, the capital of the Central Urals, later gained notoriety as the scene of the assassination of the Romanov Royal Family in 1918. Russia's malachite quarries were reportedly able to extricate and deliver blocks of malachite well over 20 tons, with relative ease. Russian craftsmen evolved a method called "Russian mosaics": valuable materials, such as lapis lazuli or malachite, which usually occur as huge boulders, when cut into thin slabs could be used to cover large surfaces with an impression of a solid stone. This method was used to decorate many mantel-pieces, the Malachite Room, large columns and a great number of excellent malachite vases now in the Hermitage. Malachite was the best of gifts presented by Alexander I to Napoleon after the conclusion of the Treaty of Tilsit. A vase, two tabletops and columns, made at the Peterhof Lapidary Factory, were given as presents to France. The items are still part of the interior furnishings of the Trianon Palace. The Winter Palace in St. Petersburg, besides housing the Malachite Room, is also home to spectacular malachite ornaments: candelabra, a large bowl, and vases. In 1917, after the overthrow of the Romanovs, the Malachite Room served as a meeting hall for Alexander Kerensky and his Provisional Government. Soon to be overthrown by the Bolsheviks, members of the Provisional Government were arrested in the small dining room leading from the Malachite Room. Some believe St. Isaac's marks both the peak of malachite's popularity and Russian craftsmanship in working with it. Construction of the Grand Kremlin Palace, an ode to the greatness of Russia's Romonov dynasty -- at least as measured by the immense size of the building -- began in 1839 and lasted eleven years. It is approximately 410 feet long with a total floor area of some 264,000 square feet. It contains several royal suites, the Terem Palace, the Golden Chamber of the Czarina, nine churches dating from the fifteenth, sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, and over 700 separate rooms. The palace was designed by Russian architect Konstantin Ton, Nicholas I's favorite architect, who also designed Moscow's Church of Christ Our Savior, Russia's largest cathedral. Following in the footsteps of Russian royalty and aristocrats, malachite, as a very visible symbol of wealth, began being sought out by "petty bourgeoisie, functionaries and unprivileged citizens." Nineteenth century Russian mine owners worked their miners mercilessly to meet the growing demand for malachite, leading to such a glut on the world market in the late nineteenth century that large batches were ground up to be used in paint.	russian riches But it was Russia's Romanov dynasty who made malachite synonymous with grandiose opulence. Discovered in the foothills of the Urals near Ekaterinburg in 1635, by 1820, high quality malachite -- still considered relatively scarce -- had become very fashionable for jewelry, frequently mounted in gold and adorned with diamonds. However, just a short time later the output of malachite had increased so much that it began to be thought of as an industrial and even a facing stone rather than just for jewelry. malachite tazza The nineteenth century proved to be the golden age of Russian malachite. The sumptuous stone became a sign of prestige and a token of wealth -- so much so that Russian papers of the time wrote: "To afford having a big piece wrought in malachite is synonymous to owning diamonds." Due to malachite's relatively close proximity, Russian tsars could easily obtain the malachite they needed to decorate their lavish palaces, paneling walls and commissioning beautiful inlaid works of art. Year after year the Russian (Romanov) treasury paid increasingly unreasonable prices to hoard the best malachite, much of which went into Romanov palaces and extravagant objects d'art (the Hermitage Museum possesses a collection of over two hundred examples of 'palatial' malachite). one big boulder In 1835, miners working the "Nadezhnaya" pit of the Mednorudyansky malachite deposit in the Urals exposed a malachite boulder of the highest quality that would eventually be found to weigh over 260 tons. one end of the malachite room It took nine years to free the gigantic pocket from the body of rock without breaking it, and almost twelve years to bring it to the surface. Slabs from this find were used in the interior of the Anichkov Palace, as well as the Winter Palace where it was used to face eight columns and eight pilasters in the Malachite Room -- created by the architect brilliant "master of the interior" Alexander Bryullov in 1837 as a drawing room for Empress Alexandra Fyodorovna (Fredericka Louise Charlotte Wilhelmine, Princess of Prussia) (1798-1860), the wife of Emperor Nicholas I (1796-1855). This same boulder also supplied enough malachite to face eight of the ten huge Corinthian columns that support the three-tier two-hundred foot gilded iconostasis (the icon wall that separates the altar from the rest of the church) of St. Isaac's Cathedral in St. Petersburg. (The other two columns are faced with lapis.) Malachite also adorns the Grand Kremlin Palace with its stunning, yellow-and-white Russo-Byzantine facade, built in the southern part of the Kremlin complex overlooking the Moscow River. In the Private Chambers -- the imperial family's private apartments -- is the Catherine Hall with malachite-faced pilasters. Also among it's malachite furnishing is a fireplace created in the Russian mosaic style -- faced with small pieces of malachite matched so skillfully in color and pattern that the fireplace seems to be made from one huge stone. the malachite casket The Ural tale-writer P.P. Bazov (1879-1950) lyrically said of malachite: "It is like spring grass under the sun when it is swayed by the wind. The waves on the green color are moving." scene from "tales of the malachite casket sunbirds A favorite with many Russians, P.P. Bazov's book The Malachite Casket: Tales from the Urals", is a fairytale collection of interlinking stories about fantastic occurrences among the stoneworkers of the Ural Mountains. Bazov (1879-1950) learned the unwritten history of the Urals while working as a boy in the mines. In the story "The Stone Flower," a craftsman, Danilo, embarks on an artistic quest to find the secrets in carving the perfect stone flower. His quest takes him through many lands to the Copper Mountain in which lives a woman known as the "Mistress of Copper Mountain" who is especially revered for her magic and great beauty. Also known as the "Malachite Lady," her underground kingdom is filled with jewels and shining flowers made of stone. No doubt the opulence of the Romanovs did much to hasten malachite's depletion in the Urals. By 1870, malachite mining had been almost entirely stopped. Not many years later -- by 1918 -- as if in revenge for the Romanov's cavalier use of Russia's natural resources, the seemingly inexhaustible supply of malachite in the Urals dried up completely.