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Lapis lazuli (UK: / ˌ l æ p ɪ s ˈ l æ z (j) ʊ l i, ˈ l æ ʒ ʊ-,-ˌ l i /; US: / ˈ l æ z (j) ə l i, ˈ l æ ʒ ə-,-ˌ l i /), 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.
Lapis lazuli is often speckled with shining pyrites giving it the appearance of being sprinkled with gold dust. It is composed of silica, alumina, and alkali and is an opaque substance easily engraved. Lapis lazuli seems more probable as its qualities are better suited for the purposes of engraving (Lam., iv, 7; Ex., xxviii, 17; xxxix, 13).
Queen Puabi's headgear contains four different wreaths. The first two wreaths are almost identical, with twenty gold poplar leaves separated by two strings of lapis lazuli and carnelian beads. [1] The importation of materials for the headdress demonstrates Ur's political and cultural significance as a hub of maritime and commercial trade. [4]
Lapis lazuli scarab belonging to Sithathoriunet with the name of Amenemhat III, 1887–1813 BC, MET Group of scarabs, MET. Scarabs are amulets and impression seals shaped according to the eponymous beetles, which were widely popular throughout ancient Egypt.
Headdress decorated with golden leaves; 2600–2400 BC; gold, lapis lazuli and carnelian; length: 38.5 centimetres (15.2 in); from the Royal Cemetery at Ur; Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York City) By approximately 5,000 years ago, jewellery-making had become a significant craft in the cities of Mesopotamia.
It was produced from lapis lazuli, a mineral whose major source was the mines of Sar-e-Sang in what is now northeastern Afghanistan. [1] It was transformed into a pigment by the Afghans beginning in about the 5th century, and exported by caravans to India. It was the most expensive blue used by Renaissance artists.
In 1735, the French chemist Charles François de Cisternay du Fay determined that lapis lazuli, emerald, and aquamarine were luminescent. Josiah Wedgwood, in 1792, found phosphoresce from rubbing together two pieces of quartz or of agate, and wrote that the ruby gives "a beautiful red light of short continuance."
The term for it in the Egyptian language is ḫsbḏ-ỉrjt (khesbedj irtiu), which referred to artificial lapis lazuli (ḫsbḏ). [5] It was used in antiquity as a blue pigment to color a variety of different media such as stone, wood, plaster, papyrus, and canvas, and in the production of numerous objects, including cylinder seals, beads ...