Lapis Lazuli

Lapis lazuli

Lapis lazuli is a deep-blue metamorphic rock used as a semi-precious stone that has been prized since antiquity for its intense color. Its name originates from the Persian word for the gem, lāžward, and serves as the root for the word for "blue" in several languages, including Spanish and Portuguese azul and English azure. Lapis lazuli is a rock composed primarily of the minerals lazurite, pyrite, diopside, and calcite. As 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 modern northeast Afghanistan. Lapis lazuli artifacts, dated to 7570 BC, have been found at Bhirrana, which is the oldest site of Indus Valley Civilisation. Lapis was highly valued by the Indus Valley Civilisation. 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.

Lapis Lazuli (Fabergé egg)

The Lapis Lazuli egg is a jewelled Fabergé egg, attributed to the House of Fabergé in St. Petersburg, Imperial Russia. Unlike many of the other Fabergé eggs, Lapis Lazuli was a private commission and as such is not considered to be one of the imperial Easter eggs, as it was never given to a Russian Tsarina.

lapis lazuli

Noun

1. A deep blue stone, used in making jewelry, and traditionally used to make the pigment ultramarine.
2. A deep, bright blue, like that of the stone.

Adjective

1. Of a deep, bright blue, like that of the stone.