Lapis lazuli

Excavations from Tepe Gawra show that Lapis lazuli was introduced to Mesopotamia approximately in the late Ubaid period, c. 4900–4000 BCE.{{Cite journal |last=Herrmann |first=Georgina |date=April 1968 |title=Lapis Lazuli: The Early Phases of its Trade |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/iraq/article/abs/lapis-lazuli-the-early-phases-of-itstrade/56AE13DC2B65517140129A493FED4335 |journal=IRAQ |language=en |volume=30 |issue=1 |pages=21–57 |doi=10.2307/4199836 |jstor=4199836 |issn=0021-0889|url-access=subscription }} A traditional understanding was that the Lapis lazuli was mined some fifteen hundred miles to the east – in Badakhshan. Indeed, the Persian {{lang|fa|لاژورد}} {{Transliteration|fa|lāžavard/lāževard}}, also written {{lang|fa|لاجورد}} {{Transliteration|fa|lājevard}}, is commonly interpreted as having an origin in a local place name.

From the Persian, the Arabic {{lang|ar|لازورد}} {{Transliteration|ar|lāzaward}} is the etymological source of both the English word azure (via Old French azur) and Medieval Latin {{lang|la|lazulum}}, which came to mean 'heaven' or 'sky'. To disambiguate, {{lang|la|lapis lazulī}} ("stone of {{lang|la|lazulum}}") was used to refer to the stone itself, and is the term ultimately imported into Middle English.{{cite book |last=Senning |first=Alexander |url=https://archive.org/details/elseviersdiction00senn |title=Elsevier's Dictionary of Chemoetymology |publisher=Elsevier |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-444-52239-9 |location=Amsterdam |page=[https://archive.org/details/elseviersdiction00senn/page/n232 224] |chapter=lapis lazuli (lazurite) |url-access=limited}} {{lang|la|Lazulum}} is etymologically related to the color blue, and used as a root for the word for blue in several languages, including Spanish and Portuguese {{lang|es|azul}}.{{cite book |last=Weekley |first=Ernest |url=https://archive.org/details/etymologicaldict00week |title=An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English |publisher=Dover Publications |year=1967 |location=New York |page=[https://archive.org/details/etymologicaldict00week/page/n50 97] |chapter=azure |url-access=registration}}

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.{{Cite web|url=https://www.gemstone.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=117:sapphire&catid=1:gem-by-gem&Itemid=14|title=Lapis Lazuli|publisher=International Colored Gemstone Association|website=www.gemstone.org|access-date=2020-02-13|archive-date=2020-03-21|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200321162641/https://www.gemstone.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=117%3Asapphire&catid=1%3Agem-by-gem&Itemid=14|url-status=live}}

The most important mineral component of lapis lazuli is lazurite{{Cite web|url=https://www.mindat.org/min-2330.html|title=Lapis lazuli: Mineral information, data and localities.|website=www.mindat.org|access-date=2020-02-13|archive-date=2020-01-29|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200129083053/https://www.mindat.org/min-2330.html|url-status=live}} (25% to 40%),{{citation needed|date=August 2024}} a blue feldspathoid silicate mineral of the sodalite family, with the formula Na₇Ca(Al₆Si₆O₂₄)(SO₄)(S₃) ·H₂O .{{Cite web|url=https://www.mindat.org/min-2357.html|title=Lazurite: Mineral information, data and localities.|website=www.mindat.org|access-date=2020-02-13|archive-date=2020-04-03|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200403042835/https://www.mindat.org/min-2357.html|url-status=live}} Most lapis lazuli also contains calcite (white), and pyrite (metallic yellow). Some samples of lapis lazuli contain augite, diopside, enstatite, mica, hauynite, hornblende, nosean, and sulfur-rich löllingite geyerite.

Lapis lazuli usually occurs in crystalline marble as a result of contact metamorphism.

File:Lapis-Lazuli microscope x240.jpg

The intense blue color is due to the presence of the trisulfur radical anion ({{chem|S|3|•−}}) in the crystal.{{cite journal | last1 = Boros | first1 = E. | last2 = Earle | first2 = M. J. | last3 = Gilea | first3 = M. A. | last4 = Metlen | first4 = A. | last5 = Mudring | first5 = A.-V. | last6 = Rieger | first6 = F. | last7 = Robertson | first7 = A. J. | last8 = Seddon | first8 = K. R. | last9 = Tomaszowska | first9 = A. A. | last10 = Trusov | first10 = L. | last11 = Vyle | first11 = J. S. | year = 2010 | title = On the dissolution of non-metallic solid elements (sulfur, selenium, tellurium and phosphorus) in ionic liquids | url = https://works.bepress.com/anja_mudring/33/download/ | journal = Chem. Comm. | volume = 46 | issue = 5 | pages = 716–718 | doi = 10.1039/b910469k | pmid = 20087497 | access-date = 2018-04-20 | archive-date = 2017-09-22 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170922042128/https://works.bepress.com/anja_mudring/33/download/ | url-status = live | url-access = subscription }} The presence of disulfur ({{chem|S|2|•−}}) and tetrasulfur ({{chem|S|4|•−}}) radicals can shift the color towards yellow or red, respectively.{{Cite journal |last1=Ganio |first1=Monica |last2=Pouyet |first2=Emeline S. |last3=Webb |first3=Samuel M. |last4=Patterson |first4=Catherine M. Schmidt |last5=Walton |first5=Marc S. |date=2018-03-01 |title=From lapis lazuli to ultramarine blue: investigating Cennino Cennini's recipe using sulfur K-edge XANES |journal=Pure and Applied Chemistry |language=en |volume=90 |issue=3 |pages=463–475 |doi=10.1515/pac-2017-0502 |s2cid=102593589 |issn=1365-3075 |doi-access=free }} These radical anions substitute for the chloride anions within the sodalite structure.{{Cite journal |last1=Reinen |first1=Dirk |last2=Lindner |first2=Gottlieb-Georg |date=1999-01-01 |title=The nature of the chalcogen colour centres in ultramarine-type solids |url=https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/1999/cs/a704920j |journal=Chemical Society Reviews |language=en |volume=28 |issue=2 |pages=75–84 |doi=10.1039/A704920J |issn=1460-4744 |access-date=2022-06-16 |archive-date=2022-06-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220616174412/https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/1999/CS/a704920j |url-status=live |url-access=subscription }} The {{chem|S|3|•−}} radical anion exhibits a visible absorption band in the range 595–620 nm with high molar absorptivity, leading to its bright blue color.{{Cite journal |last1=Chivers |first1=Tristram |last2=Elder |first2=Philip J. W. |date=2013-06-21 |title=Ubiquitous trisulfur radical anion: fundamentals and applications in materials science, electrochemistry, analytical chemistry and geochemistry |url=https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2013/cs/c3cs60119f |journal=Chemical Society Reviews |language=en |volume=42 |issue=14 |pages=5996–6005 |doi=10.1039/C3CS60119F |pmid=23628896 |issn=1460-4744 |access-date=2022-06-16 |archive-date=2022-06-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220616174349/https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2013/cs/c3cs60119f |url-status=live |url-access=subscription }}

Lapis lazuli is found in limestone in the Kokcha River valley of Badakhshan province in north-eastern Afghanistan, where the Sar-i Sang mine deposits have been worked for more than 6,000 years.{{Harvcolnb|Oldershaw|2003}} Afghanistan was the source of lapis for the ancient Persian, Egyptian and Mesopotamian civilizations, as well as the later Greeks and Romans. Ancient Egyptians obtained the material through trade with Mesopotamians, as part of Egypt–Mesopotamia relations and from ancient Ethiopia . During the height of the Indus Valley civilisation, approximately 2000 BC, the Harappan colony, now known as Shortugai, was established near the lapis mines.

In addition to the Afghan deposits, lapis is also extracted in the Andes (near Ovalle, Chile); 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, Ethiopia, Pakistan, Canada, Italy, India, and in the United States in California and Colorado.

Lapis takes an excellent polish and can be made into jewellery, carvings, boxes, mosaics, ornaments, small statues, and vases. Interior items and finishing buildings can be also made with lapis. During the Renaissance, lapis was ground and processed to make the pigment ultramarine for use in frescoes and oil painting. Its usage as a pigment in oil paint largely ended during the early 19th century, when a chemically identical synthetic variety became available.

Lapis lazuli is commercially synthesized or simulated by the Gillson process, which is used to make artificial ultramarine and hydrous zinc phosphates.Read, Peter (2005). [https://books.google.com/books?id=t-OQO3Wk-JsC&pg=PA185 Gemmology] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161124003535/https://books.google.com/books?id=t-OQO3Wk-JsC&pg=PA185 |date=2016-11-24 }}, Elsevier, p. 185. {{ISBN|0-7506-6449-5}}. Spinel or sodalite, or dyed jasper or howlite, can be substituted for lapis.[http://www.gemstonebuzz.com/lapis-lazuli Lapis lazuli] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191027192333/http://www.gemstonebuzz.com/lapis-lazuli |date=2019-10-27 }}, Gemstone Buzz.

File:Lazurite.jpg|Crystals of lazurite (the main mineral in lapis lazuli) from the Sar-i Sang Mining District in Afghanistan

File:Lapis lazuli block.jpg|A polished block of lapis lazuli

File:Natural ultramarine pigment.jpg|Natural ultramarine pigment made from ground lapis lazuli. During the Middle Ages and Renaissance it was the most expensive pigment available (gold being second) and was often reserved for depicting the robes of Angels or the Virgin Mary

File:19th Century lapis lazuli and diamond pendant.jpg|19th-century lapis lazuli and diamond pendant

{{Further information|Art of ancient Egypt#Lapis lazuli}}

Lapis lazuli has been mined in Afghanistan and exported to the Mediterranean world and South Asia since the Neolithic age,{{cite book|last=Moorey|first=Peter Roger|title=Ancient mesopotamian materials and industries: the archaeological evidence|year=1999|publisher=Eisenbrauns|isbn=978-1-57506-042-2|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P_Ixuott4doC&q=Lapis+lazuli+++mines+in+the+Badakhshan&pg=PA86|pages=86–87|access-date=2020-11-08|archive-date=2015-10-03|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151003232804/https://books.google.com/books?id=P_Ixuott4doC&pg=PA86&dq=Lapis+lazuli+++mines+in+the+Badakhshan&hl=en&ei=sW6_TvWKBIKr8AOTn623BA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&sqi=2&ved=0CDkQ6AEwAQ|url-status=live}}{{Cite news|url=http://www.jewellerymonthly.com/what-is-a-gemstone/|title=A complete guide to Gemstones|last=Monthly|first=Jewellery|date=2015-04-02|work=Jewellery & Watch Magazine {{!}} Jewellery news, jewellery fashion and trends, jewellery designer reviews, jewellery education, opinions {{!}} Wrist watch reviews|access-date=2017-08-28|language=en-GB|archive-date=2017-08-28|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170828191332/http://www.jewellerymonthly.com/what-is-a-gemstone/|url-status=live}} along the ancient trade route between Afghanistan and the Indus Valley dating to the 7th millennium BC. Quantities of these beads have also been found at 4th millennium BC settlements in Northern Mesopotamia, and at the Bronze Age site of Shahr-e Sukhteh in southeast Iran (3rd millennium BC). A dagger with a lapis handle, a bowl inlaid with lapis, amulets, beads, and inlays representing eyebrows and beards, were found in the Royal Tombs of the Sumerian city-state of Ur from the 3rd millennium BC.

Lapis was also used in ancient Persia, Mesopotamia by the Akkadians, Assyrians, and Babylonians for seals and jewelry. It is mentioned several times in the Mesopotamian poem, the Epic of Gilgamesh (17th–18th century BC), one of the oldest known works of literature. The Statue of Ebih-Il, a 3rd millennium BC statue found in the ancient city-state of Mari in modern-day Syria, now in the Louvre, uses lapis lazuli inlays for the irises of the eyes.{{cite web|url=http://www.louvre.fr/en/oeuvre-notices/ebih-il-superintendent-mari|title=Ebih-Il, the Superintendent of Mari|last=Claire|first=Iselin|publisher=Musée du Louvre|access-date=10 October 2012|archive-date=30 December 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121230075703/http://www.louvre.fr/en/oeuvre-notices/ebih-il-superintendent-mari|url-status=live}}

In ancient Egypt, lapis lazuli was a favorite stone for amulets and ornaments such as scarabs. Lapis jewellery has been found at excavations of the Predynastic Egyptian site Naqada (3300–3100 BC). At Karnak, the relief carvings of Thutmose III (1479–1429 BC) show fragments and barrel-shaped pieces of lapis lazuli being delivered to him as tribute. Powdered lapis was used as eyeshadow by Cleopatra.[http://indianapublicmedia.org/amomentofscience/cleopatra-wear-makeup/] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131004224254/http://indianapublicmedia.org/amomentofscience/cleopatra-wear-makeup/|date=2013-10-04}} Moment of Science site, Indiana Public Media

Jewelry made of lapis lazuli has also been found at Mycenae attesting to relations between the Myceneans and the developed civilizations of Egypt and the East.Alcestis Papademetriou, Mycenae, John S. Latsis Public Benefit Foundation, 2015, p. 32.

Pliny the Elder wrote that lapis lazuli is "opaque and sprinkled with specks of gold".{{citation needed|date=September 2024}} Because the stone combines the blue of the heavens and golden glitter of the sun, it was emblematic of success in the old Jewish tradition.{{citation needed|date=September 2024}} In the early Christian tradition lapis lazuli was regarded as the stone of Virgin Mary.{{citation needed|date=September 2024}}

In late classical times and as late as the Middle Ages, lapis lazuli was often called sapphire (sapphirus in Latin, sappir in Hebrew),{{cite book | last = Schumann | first = Walter | others = trans. Annette Englander & Daniel Shea | title = Gemstones of the World | orig-year = 2002 | edition = Newly revised & expanded 3rd | year = 2006 | publisher = Sterling | location = New York | page = 102 | chapter = Sapphire | quote =In antiquity and as late as the Middle Ages, the name sapphire was understood to mean what is today described as lapis lazuli.}} though it had little to do with the stone today known as the blue corundum variety sapphire. In his book on stones, the Greek scientist Theophrastus described "the sapphirus, which is speckled with gold," a description which matches lapis lazuli.Theophrastus, On Stones (De Lapidibus) – IV-23, translated by D.E. Eichholtz, Oxford University Press, 1965.

File:Meisje_met_de_parel.jpg by Vermeer]]

There are many references to "sapphire" in the Old Testament, but most scholars agree that, since sapphire was not known before the Roman Empire, they most likely are references to lapis lazuli. For instance, Exodus 24:10: "And they saw the God of Israel, and there was under his feet as it were a paved work of a sapphire stone..." (KJV). The words used in the Latin Vulgate Bible in this citation are "quasi opus lapidis sapphirini", the terms for lapis lazuli.Pearlie Braswell-Tripp (2013), Real Diamonds and Precious Stones of the Bible {{ISBN|978-1-4797-9644-1}} Modern translations of the Bible, such as the New Living Translation Second Edition,"In His Image Devotional Bible" {{ISBN|978-1-4143-3763-0}} refer to lapis lazuli in most instances instead of sapphire.

Johannes Vermeer used lapis lazuli paint in the Girl with a Pearl Earring painting.{{Cite web |url=http://www.essentialvermeer.com/palette/palette_ultramarine.html |title=Vermeer's Palette: Natural Ultramarine |access-date=2022-06-23 |archive-date=2021-11-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211123183602/http://www.essentialvermeer.com/palette/palette_ultramarine.html |url-status=live }}{{Cite journal |title=Out of the blue: Vermeer's use of ultramarine in Girl with a Pearl Earring |year=2020 |doi=10.1186/s40494-020-00364-5 |last1=Van Loon |first1=Annelies |last2=Gambardella |first2=Alessa A. |last3=Gonzalez |first3=Victor |last4=Cotte |first4=Marine |last5=De Nolf |first5=Wout |last6=Keune |first6=Katrien |last7=Leonhardt |first7=Emilien |last8=De Groot |first8=Suzan |last9=Proaño Gaibor |first9=Art Ness |last10=Vandivere |first10=Abbie |journal=Heritage Science |volume=8 |s2cid=211540737 |doi-access=free }}

The poet, William Butler Yeats, describes a figurine of sculpted lapis lazuli in a poem entitled "Lapis Lazuli". The sculpture of three men from China, a bird, and a musical instrument serves in the poem as a reminder of "gaiety" in the face of tragedy.{{Cite journal |last1=Labistour |first1=Marion |last2=Yeats |first2=W. B. |date=1966 |title=Lapis Lazuli |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/41553715 |journal=Critical Survey |volume=3 |issue=1 |pages=13–16 |jstor=41553715 |issn=0011-1570}}

{{clear}}

File:Bull LACMA M.71.73.4.jpg|A bovine with eyes decorated with lapis lazuli. Fertile Crescent, Sumerian, 889-853 B.C.

File:Oriental Institute Museum. ORLY? (5948770604).jpg|Sumerian bald clean-shaven male worshipper head, 2600–2500 BC; gypsum, shell, lapis lazuli and bitumen; from Nippur (Iraq); Museum of the Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures (Chicago)

File:Necklace beads MET DP104225.jpg|Sumerian necklace beads; 2600–2500 BC; gold and lapis lazuli; length: {{convert|54|cm|in|abbr=on}}; Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York City)

File:Necklace MET an33.35.47.jpg|Sumerian necklace; 2600–2500 BC; gold and lapis lazuli; length: {{convert|22.5|cm|in|abbr=on}}; from the Royal Cemetery at Ur (Iraq); Metropolitan Museum of Art

File:Scarab Finger Ring MET 26.7.755 top.jpg|Ancient Egyptian scarab finger ring; 1850–1750 BC; lapis lazuli scarab set in gold plate and on a gold wire ring lapis-lazuli; diameter: {{convert|2.5|cm|in|abbr=on}}, the scarab: {{convert|1.8|cm|in|abbr=on}}; Metropolitan Museum of Art

File:Conical seal MET vsz1999 325 097.jpg|Neo-Babylonian conical seal; 7th–6th century BC; lapis lazuli; height: {{convert|2.7|cm|in|abbr=on}}, diameter: {{convert|2.1|cm|in|abbr=on}}; Metropolitan Museum of Art

File:Plaque- Wedjat Eye MET 30.8.1053 view 2.jpg|Ancient Egyptian plaque with an Eye of Horus; 664–332 BC; lapis lazuli; length: {{convert|1.8|cm|in|abbr=on}}, width: {{convert|1.6|cm|in|abbr=on}}; Metropolitan Museum of Art

File:Lapis lazuli ring stone MET DP261442 (cropped).jpg|Greek or Roman ring stone; lapis lazuli; {{convert|2.1|x|1.6|x|0.3|cm|in|abbr=on}}; Metropolitan Museum of Art

File:Bead ornament with lapis lazuli MET sf951625color.jpg|Roman bead ornament; gold and lapis lazuli; {{convert|3|×|1.8|×|0.5|cm|in|abbr=on}}; Metropolitan Museum of Art

File:Lapis lazuli oval set in silver ring.jpg|20th century silver ring with polished lapis oval; {{convert|2|x|2.4|x|1|cm|in|abbr=on}}

File:Elephant carved in lapis lazuli Length 7 cm arp.jpg|Elephant carved from lapis lazuli. Length {{convert|7|cm|in|abbr=on}}.

File:Lapis lazuli, Smithsonian Objects of Wonder.jpg|Large lapis lazuli specimen from Afghanistan's Hindu Kush mountains. National Museum of Natural History (Washington, D.C.)

• {{annotated link|Dvārakā–Kamboja route}}
• {{annotated link|Hauyne}}
• {{annotated link|Lapis armenus}}
• {{annotated link|Sar-i Sang}}
• {{annotated link|Shades of blue}}
• {{annotated link|Ultramarine}}

{{Reflist}}

• Bakhtiar, Lailee McNair, Afghanistan's Blue Treasure Lapis Lazuli, Front Porch Publishing, 2011, {{ISBN|978-0615573700}}
• Bariand, Pierre, "Lapis Lazuli", Mineral Digest, Vol 4 Winter 1972.
• {{Cite book | last1=Bowersox | first1=Gary W. | last2=Chamberlin | first2=Bonita E. | year=1995 |title=Gemstones of Afghanistan | location=Tucson, AZ | publisher=Geoscience Press}}
• Herrmann, Georgina, "Lapis Lazuli: The Early Phases of Its Trade", Oxford University Dissertation, 1966.
• Korzhinskij, D. S., "Gisements bimetasomatiques de philogophite et de lazurite de l'Archen du pribajkale", Traduction par Mr. Jean Sagarzky-B.R.G.M., 1944.
• Lapparent A. F., Bariand, P. et Blaise, J., "Une visite au gisement de lapis lazuli de Sar-e-Sang du Hindu Kouch, Afghanistan," C.R. Somm.S.G.P.p. 30, 1964.
• {{Cite book | last = Oldershaw | first = Cally |author-link=Cally Oldershaw |title=Firefly Guide to Gems |year=2003 |publisher=Firefly Books | location = Toronto }}.
• Wise, Richard W., Secrets of the Gem Trade: The Connoisseur's Guide to Precious Gemstones, 2016 {{ISBN|9780972822329}}
• Wyart J. Bariand P, Filippi J., "Le Lapis Lazuli de Sar-e-SAng", Revue de Geographie Physique et de Geologie Dynamique (2) Vol. XIV Pasc. 4 pp. 443–448, Paris, 1972.

{{Wiktionary|lapis lazuli}}

{{commons}}

• [http://www.gemstone.org/gem-by-gem/english/lapis.html Lapis lazuli] at Gemstone.org
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20090101082000/http://ist-socrates.berkeley.edu/~eps2/wisc/Lect16.html Documentation from online course produced by University of California at Berkeley]
• [http://www.mineral-exploration.de/mepub/lapislazuli.pdf Lapislazuli: Occurrence, Mining and Market Potential of a blue Mineral Pigment]
• {{Cite NSRW|wstitle=Lapis Lazuli|short=x}}
• [https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2019/01/the-woman-with-lapis-lazuli-in-her-teeth/579760/ "Why a Medieval Woman Had Lapis Lazuli Hidden in Her Teeth"], The Atlantic, January 2019
• [https://www.birthstone.guide/lapis-lazuli-birthstone-meaning Lapis Lazuli birthstone] virtues and story at birthstone.guide

{{Jewellery}}

{{Rock type}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Gemstones

Category:Metamorphic rocks

Category:Archaeological sites in Rajasthan