User:Sophialeis/Lapis lazuli

Lapis lazuli (UK: /ˌlæpɪs ˈlæz(j)ʊli, ˈlæʒʊ-, -ˌlaɪ/; US: /ˈlæz(j)əli, ˈlæʒə-, -ˌlaɪ/), 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. '''It is thought to represent royalty and honor, alongside being a universal symbol of wisdom and truth. It is believed to have some spiritual benefits, such as harmony and honesty within our communication. (28) It is also the September birthstone, and the stone of the zodiac sign Libra. (29)'''

As early as the 7th millennium BC, lapis lazuli was mined in the Sar-i Sang mines,[1] in Shortugai, and in other mines in Badakhshan province in northeast Afghanistan.[2]

Lapis lazuli artifacts, dated to 7570 BC, have been found at Bhirrana, which is the oldest site of Indus Valley Civilisation.[3] Lapis was highly valued by the Indus Valley Civilisation (7570–1900 BC).[3][4][5] Lapis beads have been found at Neolithic burials in Mehrgarh, the Caucasus, and as far away as Mauritania.[6] It was used in the funeral mask of Tutankhamun (1341–1323 BC).[7]

By 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. 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. Ultramarine has also been found in the dental tartar of medieval nuns and scribes.[8]

'''"In ancient Persia and pre-Columbian America, Lapis Lazuli was a symbol of the starry night and a favorite stone of the Islamic Orient for protection from the evil eye. Lapis was much used in Greek and Roman times as an ornamental stone, and in medieval Europe, Lapis Lazuli, resembling the blue of the heavens, was believed to counteract the wiles of the spirits of darkness and procure the aid and favor of the spirits of light and wisdom." (28)'''

Major sources
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.[9]

Etymology
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. It means "sky" or "heaven"; so this is a "stone (of/from) the sky" or "stone (of/from) heaven". Historically, it was mined in Badakhshan region of upper Afghanistan, but also mined in Lājevard, Persia. 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.[10][11]

Composition
The most important mineral component of lapis lazuli is lazurite[12] (25% to 40%), a blue feldspathoid silicate mineral with the formula (Na,Ca) 8(AlSiO4) 6(S,SO4,Cl)

1–2.[13] Most lapis lazuli also contains calcite (white), sodalite (blue), 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.

Lapis lazuli seen through a microscope (x240 magnification)
The intense blue color is due to the presence of the trisulfur radical anion (S•−

3) in the crystal.[14] An electronic excitation of one electron from the highest doubly filled molecular orbital (No. 24) into the lowest singly occupied orbital (No. 25)[15] results in a very intense absorption line at λmax ~617 nm.

Uses and substitutes
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. Two of the columns framing the iconostasis in Saint Isaac's Cathedral in Saint Petersburg are built 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 was said to cure apoplexies, epilepsies, diseases of the spleen, and dementia. It was worn around the neck as an amulet to drive away frights from children, strengthened sight, and prevented fainting if taken near the time of delivery.” (28)'''

Lapis lazuli is commercially synthesized or simulated by the Gilson process, which is used to make artificial ultramarine and hydrous zinc phosphates.[17] It may also be substituted by spinel or sodalite, or by dyed jasper or howlite.[18]

In the ancient world
Further information: Art of ancient Egypt § Lapis lazuli

Ancient Egyptian cult image of Ptah; 945–600 BC; lapis lazuli; height of the figure: 5.2 cm, height of the dais: 0.4 cm; Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York City)

Lapis lazuli has been mined in Afghanistan and exported to the Mediterranean world and South Asia since the Neolithic age,[19][20] 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.[19] Stone also known as Lazika Stone.

Lapis was also used in ancient 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.[21]

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.[6][22]

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.[23]

Pliny the Elder wrote that lapis lazuli is “opaque and sprinkled with specks of gold”. 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. In the early Christian tradition lapis lazuli was regarded as the stone of Virgin Mary.

In late classical times and as late as the Middle Ages, lapis lazuli was often called sapphire (sapphirus in Latin, sappir in Hebrew),[24] 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.[25]

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 if 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.[26] Modern translations of the Bible, such as the New Living Translation Second Edition,[27] refer to lapis lazuli in most instances instead of sapphire.

References

Lapis lazuli

(28) https://www.crystalvaults.com/crystal-encyclopedia/lapis/

(29) https://www.gemrockauctions.com/learn/a-z-of-gemstones/lapis-lazuli