Porphyry Stone

 Durable

Porphyry Stone

 Durable

Porphyry Stone

 Durable

The history of Porphyry Stone

Cyrus the great, was the first to order the engraving of the first Human Rights Code on a stone slate and heralded the magnificence of the Arian Civilization throughout history of mankind and lodged it high on the stone columns of the TakhteJamshid ( Persepolis ). Aye, Stone is the most ancient company of man. The first hunting tools were of stone. It was with the kissing of two flint stones that warmth was gifted to man. In Our culture, stone is of such importance and place that we use it as a metaphor for someone in whom we can confide our secrets and put our trust. A stone is again a symbol of strength, patience and grandeur. In the land of patience and perseverance attributed to stones, it is the porphyry stone that knows no limits. It is the most durable of all.    This beautiful and durable stone has been valued as a construction material for well over 3000 years. It was used by the Minoan civilization in Crete 1850 BC, in the palace of King Minos at Knossos. The Babylonians, Egyptians, Greeks and Romans used Porphyry for pavements, buildings and monuments. Some relics of these remain today a testament to the durability of this beautiful stone. Centuries ago, Egyptians extracted a type of stone from ‘JIBAL DOKHAN’ , the Dokhan Mountain, which was named as porphyry. The porphyry stone, due to its very strong characteristics and durability was taken to be a symbol of prowess and invincibility. The Egyptian emperors thus used it to decorate their castles. They ordered special delivery rooms to be made of porphyry for their pregnant wives. Red porphyry was so favoured by the members of the emperor that they named it the Red Emperor’s Porphyry. Green porphyry was called Serpentine Green. The term "porphyry" has roots in Greek meaning "purple". Purple was the color of royalty, and the "Imperial Porphyry" was a deep purple igneous rock with large crystals of plagioclase. The rock was the hardest known in antiquity and was prized for monuments and building projects in Imperial Rome and later. In the early years of the 1960s, Italian Council in Terintino, Italy convened. They had realized the importance of porphyry stone in the boosting of Italian economy and therefore with the help of investing companies developed the extraction and introduction of this product to the market. The 1970s bore witness to the expansion of this industry beyond the Italian border into Europe and beyond. 

 

 

1980s and 1990s were the decades for the improvement of machinery and technology as well as expansion of multinational companies for the extraction and production of porphyry.