Lapis lazuli Necklace Jewellery Style
By Mans Women Jewellery
General
Category Metamorphic rock
Formula
(repeating unit) mixture of minerals with lazurite as the main constituent.
Crystal system None, as lapis is a rock. Lazurite, the main constituent, frequently occurs as dodecahedra
Identification
Color Blue, or purple, mottled with white calcite and brassy pyrite
Crystal habit Compact, massive
Fracture Uneven-Conchoidal
Mohs scale hardness 5–5.5
Luster dull
Streak light blue
Specific gravity 2.7–2.9
Refractive index 1.5
Other characteristics The variations in composition cause a wide variation in the above values.
Lapis lazuli (/ˈlæpɪs ˈlæzjʊli, -laɪ/), 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. As early as the 7th millennium BCE, lapis lazuli was mined in the Sar-i Sang mines, in Shortugai, and in other mines in Badakhshan province in northeast Afghanistan Lapis was highly valued by the Indus Valley Civilisation (3300–1900 BC). Lapis beads have been found at Neolithic burials in Mehrgarh, the Caucasus, and even as far from Afghanistan as Mauritania. It was used in the funeral mask of Tutankhamun (1341–1323 BCE)
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