Perhaps opaque gem is that the oldest of the rocks to be thought of a gemstone. Its lovely deep blue was prized by pharaohs in ancient Egypt and continues to be prized nowadays. the best specimens are gently dusted with minute flecks of golden pyrite, that establish the stone as genuine.
the foremost beautiful lapis lazuli comes from Afghanistan, wherever the mines which are worked today may well are operative to urge the stones for the pharaohs. Lapis has additionally been found within the Andes, and to some extent in Russia, Angola, Burma, North American country and in California and Colorado within the USA, however no stone from these places is that the vivacious intense blue of that from Afghanistan.
the traditional Egyptians favored opaque gem for amulets and also the Assyrians and Babylonians used it for seals. Egyptian women used fine lapis as eye shadow and the Romans thought it a strong aphrodisiac. Artists victimisation blue colours in Medieval lighted manuscripts and Renaissance paintings found the ultramarine water-base paint paint derived from lapis lazuli to be terribly expensive. once paint was introduced throughout the Renaissance, artists found that the attractive blue was diminished when mixed with oil, so the use of ultramarine declined. Most artists nowadays use artificial versions of blue colors, however there are many pigment firms that also manufacture the real ultramarine.
opaque gem can polished to create lovely jewelry, and might be sculptured into figurines, statuettes and vases. close to the Euphrates within the lower regions of Iraq, the traditional Sumerian tombs yielded thousands of carved artifacts of lapis lazuli, and in components of Afghanistan, artificer craftsmen are still victimisation this beautiful stone.
