A Rabbinical story in which Patriarch Abraham attempts to hide Sarah in a chest, so that foreign eyes might not behold her beauty, at the time they entered Egypt, serves to highlight the value placed on pearls by ancient Hebrews at that time. When they reached the point at which they were to pay custom dues, the officers requested Abraham to pay the dues on the goods carried by him, without caring to open the chest. When told that he was surely carrying clothes with him, Abraham acknowledged and said that he would pay the dues on them. When the officers questioned Abraham whether he carried gold, fine silk and pearls with him he
acknowledged every one of them and agreed to pay tax on them. This aroused the suspicion of the custom officers, who ordered Abraham to open the chest, and as the story goes the chest was opened, and the land was illumined by the luster of Sarah's beauty.
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