by Lucy E. Zahnle

Created on: September 06, 2009   Last Updated: September 07, 2009

From the moment that a sleepy Jacob curled up on a big, old rock and began to dream, the Stone of Destiny has impacted human history. Also known as the Coronation Stone, the Stone of Scone, Liath (or Lia) Fail, Jacob's Pillow, and Jacob's Pillar, the Stone is believed to be the one upon which Jacob slept at Bethel when he received a dreaming vision from God. It is said that after waking from the dream, Jacob stood the Stone on end like a pillar or monument and anointed it with oil, consecrating it as a holy relic.

Later, according to Jewish tradition, the Stone spent some time in the Holy Temple in Jerusalem, serving as the pedestal for the Ark of the Covenant. Legend has it that the Stone will someday return to Israel at the head a huge gathering of cheering people.

Two completely different stories offer explanations regarding how the Stone got from the Middle East to Ireland. One says that, following the advice of Moses, a Greek Prince named Gathelas brought the Stone with him as he and his family and people fled from the plague (either that or he was exiled by an angry father. It gets murky here!). They traveled through Syria to Egypt, then down the Nile and eventually to Spain. After his son, Hiber, invaded Ireland, Gathelus sent the Stone to that country. The other insists that when Jerusalem was sacked and destroyed by King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon in 602 BC, Jeremiah and two daughters of King David's line escaped with the Stone, carrying it through Egypt, Sicily, and Spain to Ireland.

In Ireland, the Stone, renamed Liath Fail, came to be revered as a protector of the Irish and as the indicator of the true kings of Ireland. It is said that when the rightful heir to the throne placed his foot upon the Stone, it would roar or sing. It was also believed to rejuvenate the ruler, allowing him to reign longer.

Two possibilities have come down to us concerning the Stone's eventual appearance in Scotland. The first says that the Stone was loaned to Fergus Mor Mac Erc for his coronation in Dalriada in Scotland and was never returned. The other says that the Irish king ordered a man killed in church and consequently the Stone had to be removed from its resting place in Tara because neither the king nor the place could any longer be considered holy. Whatever the reason, the Stone moved from Ireland to Scotia Minor around the early part of the sixth century A.D. and, in 850 A.D, made its way to Scone for the coronation of Kenneth I, the 36th King of Dalriada, when

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