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Why gem stones?
Yet joyned John the crysolyt
The seventhe gemme in fundament;
The aghtthe, the beryl cler and quyt,
The topasye twynne-hew, the nente endent.
The crysopase, the tenthe is tyght,
The jacyngh, the enleventhe gent.
The twelfthe, the tryeste in uch a plyt,
The amatyst, purpre wyth ynde blente.
Pearl, ed. by Sarah Stanbury (Medieval Institute Publications: 2001), ll. 1009-1016.
The above passage is drawn from the the famous late fourteenth-century poem, Pearl. The dreamer, mourning the loss of his perle, is granted a vision of New Jerusalem, whose tiers of foundations are made of gem stones (the Pearl-Poet employs the hierarchy of twelve gem stones found in Book of Revelation). Beryl, topaz, chrysoprase, jacinth, and amethyst represent the five most valuable gems in the hierarchy.
