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

The splendid jewelry of lapis lazuli found throughout the ancient East fully deserves the rich epithets authors have lavished on it since antiquity. Artifacts of lapis lazuli provide evidence for the history of art. Their wide distribution and the fact that there are only a limited number of deposits where lapis lazuli can be mined present realistic prospects for determining ancient trade routes and cultural ties in the East. This article is devoted to an examination of the trade routes leading from the deposits of lapis lazuli in Badakhshan in northern Afghanistan.