Lapidarium
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Lapis Lazuli

A blue rock, not a mineral, mined in Afghanistan for six thousand years.

Family
Lazurite
Formula
(Na,Ca)₈(AlSiO₄)₆(S,SO₄,Cl)₂
Mohs
5 to 6
System
Cubic

Science

Lapis is a metamorphic rock: blue lazurite, white calcite and brassy pyrite. The blue comes from sulphur radicals trapped in the lazurite cage structure. The Sar-e-Sang mines in the Hindu Kush have been worked continuously since about 7000 BCE and supplied every ancient civilisation to the west.

Mineral
Lazurite
Formula
(Na,Ca)₈(AlSiO₄)₆(S,SO₄,Cl)₂
Crystal system
Cubic
Mohs hardness
5 to 6
Specific gravity
2.70 to 2.90
Refractive index
1.50
Lustre
Dull to vitreous
Colours
Ultramarine blue, Gold flecks
Birthstone
December

Composition

(Na,Ca)₈(AlSiO₄)₆(S,SO₄,Cl)₂. Made of Sodium, Calcium, Aluminium, Silicon, Oxygen, Sulfur, Chlorine, with trace Iron responsible for colour.

in formula trace, gives colour

Origin

  • Afghanistan
    Sar-e-Sang, Badakhshan
  • Chile
    Ovalle, paler with calcite
  • Russia
    Lake Baikal
  • Pakistan

Filled dots are primary sources

Rarity

Common
2 of 5

Commercial lapis is plentiful; deep, even blue with little calcite and fine pyrite is the scarce grade, still mostly Afghan.

  1. 1 Abundant
  2. 2 Common
  3. 3 Uncommon
  4. 4 Rare
  5. 5 Exceptional

Hardness

Lapis Lazuli sits at 5 to 6 on the Mohs scale. Glass and a knife blade are about as hard; it wears well with care.

Fingernail
Copper coin
Knife, glass
Steel file
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10

Energy

Associations from crystal-healing tradition, recorded here as folklore. They are not medical claims.

Chakras

  • Third Eye
  • Throat

Element

  • Water

Zodiac

  • Sagittarius
  • Libra
  • Taurus

Planets

  • Jupiter

Properties

  • Wisdom
  • Truth
  • Self-awareness
  • Inner vision

Lore

Ground lapis was ultramarine, the most expensive pigment in Renaissance painting, reserved for the Virgin's robe; Vermeer used it lavishly and died in debt. Tutankhamun's funeral mask is inlaid with it, and Cleopatra wore it as eye shadow.

Sumerians associated it with Inanna; the Epic of Gilgamesh was written, the text says, on a lapis tablet.

  • Ultramarine
    'Beyond the sea', because it came to Europe by ship from Afghanistan.
  • Pyrite
    Gold flecks are a sign of natural lapis; dyed howlite lacks them.