gems, lapis lazuli, Afghanistan, history of gemology, gem trade, Central Asia, archaeology, archaeogemology

Lapis lazuli was the true precious stone of the ancient Near East—a key symbolic element in both the Near East and Egypt—its possession was a mark of political and religious power. Its history, which began as early as the Neolithic period (in the 7th millennium), continued into the Bronze Age up to the 2nd millennium B.C. and beyond. It is attested at sites more than 3,000 km apart, from Central Asia to Mesopotamia, and from Syria to Egypt. It is a rare rock, difficult to obtain due to its origin in very high mountains with access limited by natural conditions. The lapis lazuli worked in the ancient Near East came from the Badakhshan mines (Afghanistan), from Gorno-Badakhshan in the Pamirs (Tajikistan), and possibly from the Chagai Hills (Pakistan). Lapis lazuli saw its greatest use in the mid-3rd millennium, as shown by the fabulous wealth of the Royal Cemetery tombs at Ur. The study of manufacturing debris and tools indicates the existence of a shared sequence of production steps for making lapis lazuli ornaments. Regional styles emerged depending on whether the adornments came from Egypt, Syro-Mesopotamia and Susiana, or from Iran (outside Elam) or Central Asia. The hierarchical city-states of Syro-Mesopotamia were major consumers of symbolic goods, which also served their propaganda. Craftsmen worked within workshops dependent on palaces or temples. The Epic of Gilgamesh shows the gods equipping favored beings with lapis lazuli or providing them with protections before entering the underworld. Lapis lazuli symbolizes the life force that is the source of divine power. It is both agent, sign, and manifestation of the circulation of goods, ideas, and cultural representations, as well as of relationships of influence, domination, and exchange among the centers of Near Eastern civilization from the 4th to the 2nd millennia B.C.