Lapis Lazuli

Other Silicates & Gemstones

Lapis lazuli is a deep-blue metamorphic rock, not a single mineral. Its blue colour comes from minerals of the sodalite group, while white calcite and metallic pyrite commonly form contrasting patches and flecks.

Identity

Material or variety: Metamorphic rock
Scientific or material identity: Lapis lazuli (lazurite-bearing rock)
Classification: Rock or mixed mineral material
Aliases or trade names: Lapis
Composition or formula: Mixed rock dominated by lazurite, calcite and pyrite
Crystal system or structure: Aggregate or composite structure
Geological or manufacturing origin: Can form in more than one geological environment, or combines several materials.
Mohs hardness: 5.5

Origins

Afghanistan · Chile · Italy · Pakistan · Russia · USA

Appearance & optical properties

deep ultramarine rock with small gold pyrite flecks.

History & discovery

Lapis lazuli was mined in the Badakhshan region by the seventh millennium BCE and travelled widely through ancient trade. Ground stone became the prized pigment ultramarine, used in European painting by the late Middle Ages and Renaissance.

Uses & care

Common uses: It has long been carved into beads, seals, vessels, inlay, and small sculptures. Finely ground, carefully purified lapis was also the traditional source of natural ultramarine pigment.
Handling and cleaning: Clean with lukewarm water, mild soap, and a soft cloth. Avoid heat, acids, solvents, ultrasonic cleaning, and steam because porous material may contain calcite or have wax, oil, or dye treatments.

Jewellery

8 pieces of Lapis Lazuli jewellery. Learners earn each one in DigMyGem by learning words; until then it shows as a silhouette.

Mask of Tutankhamun
Jewel
The gold funerary mask of the boy-king Tutankhamun, its eyebrows and eye surrounds inlaid with lapis lazuli. It was found in the Valley of the Kings in 1922 and is now shown at the Grand Egyptian Museum in Cairo.
Photo: Roland Unger, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Ram in a Thicket
Jewel
A golden ram standing on its hind legs to browse a flowering thicket, inlaid with lapis lazuli and red carnelian. It comes from the Royal Cemetery of Ur and is held by the British Museum.
Photo: Jack1956, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Lapis and Gold Broad Collar
Necklace
A broad Egyptian collar of gold with rows of lapis lazuli, turquoise and carnelian, the three colours of the old kingdom. It fastens at the back with a falcon-head clasp.
Standard of Ur
Jewel
A Sumerian mosaic of about 2600-2400 BC inlaid with shell, red limestone and lapis lazuli, showing scenes of war and peace. It is held by the British Museum.
Photo: Denis Bourez from France, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Queen Puabi's headdress
Crown
A Sumerian royal headdress of about 2600-2450 BC made of gold leaf wreaths, strands of lapis lazuli and carnelian beads and a gold comb, found on Queen Puabi at the Royal Cemetery of Ur. It weighs over six pounds.
Photo: Mary Harrsch from Springfield, Oregon, USA, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Bull Headed Lyre of Ur
Jewel
One of the oldest surviving stringed instruments, about 4,500 years old, from the Royal Cemetery of Ur. Its bull's head is covered in gold leaf with a beard and eyes of lapis lazuli, and it is in the Penn Museum.
Photo: Binxedits, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Lapis Lazuli (Faberge egg)
Jewel
A jewelled Faberge egg whose exterior is carved from lapis lazuli, made as a private commission in Imperial Russia and now in the Cleveland Museum of Art.
Photo: Peter Carl Fabergé, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons
Treasure of El Lahun
Jewel
A Middle Kingdom Egyptian treasure buried with princess Sithathoriunet at El Lahun, including a cloisonne crown whose cobra head is carved from a single piece of lapis lazuli, and pectorals inlaid with lapis and turquoise-coloured cells. Most of it is in the Metropolitan Museum of Art.