History Of Lapis Lazuli

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Lapis lazuli also known as just lapis is a deep blue semi-precious stone that has been prized since its discovery for its exquisite intense deep blue color. Lapis lazuli was first mined six thousand years ago in the Sar-i Sang mines and in other mines in the Badakhshan province in northeast Afghanistan. Its name comes from the Latin word lapis, meaning “stone,” and the Arabic word azul, which means “blue.” At the end of the Middle period, lapis lazuli began to be exported to Europe, where it was grounded into powder form and made into ultramarine, the most expensive and finest of all blue pigments widely used during the Renaissance in frescoes and oil painting. Afghanistan was the only source of lapis stone for the ancient Mesopotamian and Egyptian civilizations and later as well as for the Greeks and Romans. …show more content…

In present times, lapis is also extracted in the Andes and to the west of Lake Baikal in Siberia, Russia, at the Tultui Lazurite deposit. It is mined in smaller amounts in Angola, Argentina, Burma, Canada, Italy, and India and in the USA in California and Colorado. Mines in northeast Pakistan and Afghanistan are the major source of lapis lazuli. Lapis lazuli is not a single mineral infact it’s not a mineral at all. It’s a rock which is made up of combination of lazurite, calcite, and pyrite, with small amounts of other minerals. Lapis trade grades are based on color and the presence or absence of pyrite and calcite. Today in the market, Lapis lazuli is traded in order of their value such as the Persian or the Afghan stone is uniform, intense, slightly violetish in color and medium dark with little or no pyrite and calcite making it one of the rarest and most expensive lapis. In order of cost, the Russian or the Siberian lapis comes

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