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The name of lapis lazuli has international roots. The word lapis
is the Latin "lapis" meaning stone, and lazuli comes from an
old Arabic word, "allazjward", meaning heaven, sky or simply
blue. Lapis lazuli shares with
turquoise
the distinction of being among the most prized of all gemstones of
earlier civilizations. In a grave from the Indus valley, the lapis
ornaments found were dated as 9000 years old.
In
Babylonia, Ur, and ancient Egypt, lapis was very highly valued. It
was believed to cure melancholy and one particular kind of recurrent
fever. In Rome, it was considered a powerful aphrodisiac.
In South America, the Chilean deposit of lapis lazuli was used by
ancient civilizations at least 1500 years B.C.
Lapis powder was
extensively used by Roman, Persian, and Chinese women to paint their
eyebrows.
From the days of ancient Greece and Rome trough to the Renaissance,
lapis was pulverized to make a durable pigment called ultramarine,
which was used extensively to produce the intense blue of many of
the world's most famous oil paintings. This ultramarine pigment
was in use until the nineteenth century when another method to
produce this color was found.
Much of what is sold as
lapis is an artificially dyed
jasper from
Germany that shows colorless specks of clear, crystallized quartz and
never the gold-like flecks of pyrite that are characteristic of lapis
lazuli and have been compared to stars in the sky.
Lapis lazuli is the alternative to
turquoise, zircon and ruby as birthstones
for December. Lapis Lazuli is the anniversary
gemstone for the 7th and 9th years of marriage. |
