gems, lapis lazuli, Afghanistan, amazonite, turquoise, history of gemology, gem trade, Central Asia, ancient commerce, glyptic

Tosi reconstructs the third-millennium B.C. lapis lazuli trade across the Iranian plateau in light of archaeological discoveries that had transformed the older picture of Iran as merely an empty corridor between Mesopotamia and Central Asia. He accepts Badakhshan in northeastern Afghanistan, particularly the Kokcha Valley mining region, as the principal ancient source of lapis lazuli, but argues that its movement westward depended upon a network of populous and economically developed intermediary centers across Iran. He distinguishes changing northern, southern, and maritime routes rather than a single permanent “lapis road.” At the beginning of the third millennium, he considers the southern route the more important: lapis moved from Badakhshan through the Hilmand system to Sistan, then around the southern margin of the Dasht-i Lut toward Kerman, with routes continuing toward Elam and Mesopotamia. Shahr-i Sokhta was especially important, since excavations yielded large quantities of lapis lazuli, carnelian, and turquoise together with tools for cutting and drilling them; more than 90% of the stone fragments were workshop waste. Tosi consequently interprets Shahr-i Sokhta not simply as a transit point but as a major processing and bead-manufacturing center that added value to raw materials before their onward shipment. Tepe Yahya, Siyalk, Hissar, southern Turkmenia, Mundigak, and other urban centers similarly demonstrate the economic and cultural integration of the plateau. Tosi uses the fluctuating quantities of lapis found in Mesopotamia to examine changes in control of the trade, including its near disappearance during Early Dynastic I and revival during Early Dynastic II–III. He relates this interruption to the Sumerian tale of Enmerkar and the Lord of Aratta, interpreting the story as preserving the memory of a commercial blockade involving lapis lazuli, and tentatively explores whether Aratta might be associated with Sistan, while acknowledging the considerable geographical difficulties with that identification. By the middle of the third millennium the northern route through the Gorgan-Damghan region and what later became the Great Khurasan Road had become more important, while after about 2500 B.C. maritime commerce through the Persian Gulf increasingly bypassed inland intermediaries. In this later system Magan and Meluhha, identified respectively with the Oman–Iranian Gulf region and the Indus civilization, became important links in supplying Mesopotamia. Tosi thus treats lapis lazuli not merely as a luxury stone but as an archaeological tracer for reconstructing long-distance commerce, urbanization, craft specialization, political relationships, and cultural exchange linking Badakhshan, Afghanistan, Iran, Central Asia, the Indus Valley, the Persian Gulf, Elam, Mesopotamia, Syria, and Egypt during the third millennium B.C.