Turquoise Mountain
Ishkar
Etsy
Lapis lazuli (læpɪs ˈlæz(j)ʊli), or
lapis for short, is a
deep-blue metamorphic rock used as a semi-precious stone that has been
prized since antiquity for its intense color.
As early as the 7th millennium BCE, lapis lazuli was mined in the Sar-i
Sang mines, in Shortugai, and in other mines in Badakhshan province in
northeast Afghanistan.
Lapis lazuli artifacts, dated to 7570 BCE, have been found at Bhirrana,
which is the oldest site of Indus Valley Civilisation. Lapis was highly
valued by the Indus Valley Civilisation (7570–1900 BCE). Lapis beads have
been found at Neolithic burials in Mehrgarh, the Caucasus, and as far away
as Mauritania. It was used in the funeral mask of Tutankhamun (1341–1323
BCE).
By the end of the Middle Ages, lapis lazuli began to be exported to
Europe, where it was ground into powder and made into ultramarine, the
finest and most expensive of all blue pigments. Ultramarine was used by
some of the most important artists of the Renaissance and Baroque,
including Masaccio, Perugino, Titian and Vermeer, and was often reserved
for the clothing of the central figures of their paintings, especially the
Virgin Mary. Ultramarine has also been found in dental tartar of medieval
nuns and scribes.
Mines in northeast Afghanistan continue to be a major source of lapis
lazuli. Important amounts are also produced from mines west of Lake Baikal
in Russia, and in the Andes mountains in Chile which is the source that
the Inca used to carve artifacts and jewelry. Smaller quantities are mined
in Pakistan, Italy, Mongolia, the United States, and Canada.
Lapis takes an excellent polish and presently continues to be made into
jewelry, carvings, boxes, mosaics, ornaments, small statues, and vases.