Opal with its fiery colors takes its name from a Latin word meaning precious stones. The Romans believed the opal was the symbol of hope and purity. They referred to the opal as a child beautiful as love and thought the wearer safe from disease. Pliny the Elder, a Roman naturalist and writer, said of opal in the first century: "For in them you shall see the living fire of ruby, the glorious purple of the amethyst, the green of the emerald, all glittering together in an incredible mixture of light." The Arabs believed that opals fell from heaven in flashes of lightning and thus acquired their marvelous play of colors. Black opals are the most prized of all opals. Nearly all the world’s black opal comes from one location: Lightning Ridge in outback New South Wales, Australia.