Large Natural Lapis Lazuli

Origination: Afghanistan
Approximate Height - 50" - Width - 30" - Depth - 30"
Large Natural Lapis Lazuli: $15,000.00 U.S.D.
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Lapis is the Latin word for "stone" and lazuli is the genitive form of the Medieval Latin lazulum, which is taken from the Arabic لازورد lāzaward, itself from the Persian لاژورد lāžavard, which is the name of the stone in Persian and also of a place where lapis lazuli was mined. Lapis lazuli is a rock whose most important mineral component is lazurite (25% to 40%), a feldspathoid silicate mineral with the formula (Na,Ca)8(AlSiO4)6(S,SO4,Cl)1-2.  Most lapis lazuli also contains calcite (white), sodalite (blue), and pyrite (metallic yellow). Other possible constituents: augite; diopside; enstatite; mica; hauynite; hornblende, and nosean. Some lapis lazuli contains trace amounts of the sulfur-rich ingite variety geyerite.

The name of the stone came to be associated with its color. The English word azure, French azur, the Italian azzurro, the Polish lazur, Romanian azur and azuriu, and the Portuguese and Spanish azul, Hungarian, all come from the name and color of lapis lazuli.

Lapis lazuli, or lapis for short, is a deep blue semi-precious stone that has been prized since antiquity for its intense color. Lapis lazuli was being mined in the Sar-i Sang mines and in other mines in the Badakhshan province in northeast Afghanistan as early as the 7th millennium BCE. Lapis beads have been found at neolithic burials in Mehrgarh, the Caucasus, and even as far from Afghanistan as Mauritania.  It was used for the eyebrows on the funeral mask of King Tutankhamun (1341-1323 BCE).

SHIPPING AND DELIVERY: We use only the most reliable and trustworthy crating and shipping services available for delivery of your TerraPiedra purchase. The price for each stone does not include packing, crating, insurance or transportation. Shipping and delivery costs will be based on location and method of transportation. If you have a shipping service that you prefer to use, by all means we will be very happy to coordinate with them so your Terra Piedra stone arrives in perfect condition.