Lapis Lazuli

A blue gem obtained from one of the oldest caves in the world from about 4000BC. Lapis Lazuli was a tribute and used as burial ornaments of Egyptian royalty and referred to as Sapphire in the old testament.

    Lapis is a metamorphic rock with lazurite as the main general component. Some contain calcite, sodalite, pyrite.
    Lapis is derived from the Latin word for Stone and Lazuli from "lazulum" which stretches it origin from medieval Latin through Arabic to India's Sankrit root word for blue. It's blue colour is attributed to the presence of trisulphur radicals present in the crystal.

     Northeast Afghanistan cave deposits served as the main source of supply for ancient civilizations up until the Roman empire and this is still the primary source being the largest in the world with minor deposits in Russia, USA, Canada and the Andes mountain in Chile.

      Lapis is processed into jewelry, sculptural art work, mosaics, vases. It is produced large scale through Gilson process.

Powdered form.

     It's trade and use across ancient civilizations is so profound that the powdered form of lapis was used as eyeshadow by Cleopatra 😅 (an historic queen of Egypt at the start of Roman Empire.)

945-600BC ancient Egyptian image of ptah using Lapis for the sculpture. (cot-cee Wikipedia)

       A symbol of starry night in pre-Columbian America, lapis is a favourite stone of the Islamic orient for protection from evil. It was used by famous painters in medieval times for respected figures. Buddhists see lapis as a stone that brings inner peace and freedom. The crystal is believed to activate and improve intellectual ability, it encourages honesty and said to have medicinal benefits.

       Lapis is the Zodiac stone of Sagittarius (Nov. 21-Dec. 21). If your best colour is not blue 😒, let's start looking for your colour Belle rock 😜.