Haematite

An opaque black gem with a metallic sheen. From the Predynastic period of Ancient Egypt it was shaped into beads and later commonly in funerary Amulets, traditionally in forms such as the head rest – to raise the head of the deceased in resurrection and the architects plummet – to grant perpetual equilibrium. Considered a healing stone in Ancient Greece it is said to have been crushed and applied to the bodies of soldiers before entering battle.