2" Natural Blue Lapis Lazuli Worry Palm Stone Pyrite Crystal Calcite Mineral

Location: Afghanistan

Weight: 1.4 Ounces  

Dimensions: 2 Inches Long, 1.6 Inches Wide, 0.4 Inches Thick

The item pictured is one you will receive.  

Hardness: 5.5

Lapis Lazuli is a sophisticated composite of lazurite, calcite, and pyrite, distinguished by the absence of lazurite despite common misconceptions. Its name, deriving from Latin and Persian or Arabic origins, translates to "blue stone." Archaeological evidence traces humankind’s affinity for this gem back over 6,500 years. Esteemed by ancient civilizations—including those of Mesopotamia, Egypt, China, Greece, and Rome—for its rich and captivating hue, lapis was valued on par with sapphires and turquoise. The formidable mountains of Badakhshan in modern Afghanistan, rising to 17,000 feet with perilous ravines, have yielded lapis since at least 700 BC, when the area was known as Bactria. These enduring mines represent the oldest known commercial sources of precious gemstones. Historically, caravans transported lapis across regions to the iconic cities of antiquity. Even Marco Polo noted these mines in 1271, though their remote and forbidding location has kept them largely unseen by outsiders.