gems, turquoise, Iran, Persia, Nishapur

A brief account of the turquoise mines of Persia by St. de Drée, published in La Nature. The note describes the celebrated Nishapur turquoise deposits in Khorasan, long regarded as the principal source of fine Persian turquoise, and discusses their exploitation and the importance of the stones in Persian commerce. It forms part of the late nineteenth-century European literature documenting the geography and working of the Nishapur mines and is useful for the history of turquoise mining and trade in Iran.