Lapis Lazuli

ancient-gems · blue-rocks · mining-history

A special blue rock. Lapis lazuli is a metamorphic rock made of minerals like lazurite, pyrite, diopside, and calcite all mixed together. It's the intense, gorgeous blue color that made ancient people fall in love with it.

Mined for 9,000 years. People have been digging lapis lazuli from mines in Badakhshan in Afghanistan since at least 7000 BC. That's one of the oldest mining operations we know about in human history.

Traveled far and wide. Ancient traders moved lapis lazuli beads all the way from the Middle East to places like Mauritania in Africa and the Indus Valley in South Asia. This shows how valuable it was to early civilizations.

Fit for pharaohs. King Tutankhamun of Egypt was buried with a funeral mask that contained lapis lazuli. Only the most precious materials were worthy of protecting an Egyptian king in the afterlife.

Named the color blue. The word lapis lazuli comes from Persian and it's so famous that the Spanish, Portuguese, and English words for blue (azul and azure) actually come from its name.