![]() Most lapis lazuli also contains calcite (white), sodalite (blue), and pyrite (metallic yellow). The most important mineral component of lapis lazuli is lazurite (25% to 40%), a blue feldspathoid silicate mineral with the formula (Na,Ca)ġ–2. 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 azul. Historically, it was mined in Badakhshan region of upper Afghanistan, but also mined in Lājevard, Persia. It means "sky" or "heaven" so this is a "stone (of/from) the sky" or "stone (of/from) heaven". Lapis is the Latin word for "stone" and lazulī is the genitive form of the Medieval Latin lazulum, which is taken from the Arabic لازورد lāzaward, itself from the Persian لاجورد lājevard. Smaller quantities are mined in Pakistan, Italy, Mongolia, the United States, and Canada. ![]() Important amounts are also produced from mines west of Lake Baikal in Russia, and in the Andes mountains in Peru which is the source that the Inca used to carve artifacts and jewelry. Mines in northeast Afghanistan continue to be a major source of lapis lazuli. Ultramarine has also been found in dental tartar of medieval nuns and scribes. 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. īy 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. It was used in the funeral mask of Tutankhamun (1341–1323 BC). Lapis beads have been found at Neolithic burials in Mehrgarh, the Caucasus, and as far away as Mauritania. Lapis was highly valued by the Indus Valley Civilisation (7570–1900 BC). Lapis lazuli artifacts, dated to 7570 BC, have been found at Bhirrana, which is the oldest site of Indus Valley civilisation. Lapis lazuli ( UK: / ˌ l æ p ɪ s ˈ l æ z( j) ʊ l i, ˈ l æ ʒ ʊ-, - ˌ l aɪ/ US: / ˈ l æ z( j) ə l i, ˈ l æ ʒ ə-, - ˌ l aɪ/), 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.Īs early as the 7th millennium BC, lapis lazuli was mined in the Sar-i Sang mines, in Shortugai, and in other mines in Badakhshan province in northeast Afghanistan. Mixture of minerals with lazurite as the main constituent Lapis lazuli from Afghanistan in its natural state
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