Diamonds: Tears of the Gods

(scientificamerican.com) - Humans have been captivated by diamonds, the planet’s hardest natural material, for nearly five thousand years. In Egypt, they were incorporated into the ankh, symbolizing the sun. People in ancient India thought they must be created by lightning, and attracted it; they also expected the stones could stave off danger (a belief somewhat at odds with the lightning-attractor thing). Greeks and Romans found the stones much more sacred, seeing them as tears of the gods. Rather poetically, they also thought the gems might be shards of fallen stars. At various times, people have thought diamonds to be capable of conferring invincibility, of healing, and of sealing the deal on romantic love. The truth of diamonds is almost as extraordinary as all of those beliefs.