5,000 years at the peak of fashion: the world's oldest lapis lazuli deposit

The Egyptian pharaohs and influential rulers of the Ancient world paid a lot of money for owning this magnificent stone. The high price was explained not only by the unique properties of the stone, but also by its rarity: until the end of the 18th century, lapis lazuli was mined in only one single place on the planet - in the Sary-Sang river valley in the Asian mountains.

Lazurite deposit Sar-e-Sang (Sary-Sang) is located in the province of Badakhshan in northern Afghanistan. It has been developed for at least the past 5,000 years, and products decorated with lapis lazuli of this particular deposit were discovered during excavations of the legendary Troy and the tombs of Egyptian pharaohs. Eyebrows and some other elements of the famous mask of the pharaoh Tutankhamun are made of this stone.

With the use of lapis lazuli, many ornaments and interior items were made, which were located at the richest yards of Europe and the East.

Lapis lazuli from Sar-e-Sang has the best characteristics in comparison with all other deposits of the world. In the Middle Ages, the unique beauty of its stones, the lapis lazuli deposit was declared the property of the Afghan emirs, and any illegal mining was strictly suppressed. It was almost impossible to even get to this field in a high mountain valley, and all attempts to capture the neighboring rulers were reflected by the troops of the Afghan rulers. The gemstone has been exported for millennia to the countries of the Middle East and Europe, as well as to China through the Great Silk Road, whose route passed through the Hindu Kush.

From a geological point of view, lapis lazuli is an opaque blue mineral from the group of aluminosilicates with a very complex formula. The formula may vary depending on the availability of certain chemicals that are individual for each field. But blue can be different: from deep, velvety blue to light blue with a malachite or gray tint. Of course, the most valuable is considered to be lapis lazuli of a saturated blue color, the one that is mined in Afghan Badakhshan. Sometimes lapis lazuli is found with inclusions of pyrite or in combination with other minerals, but this makes it no less beautiful.

Since ancient times, lapis lazuli was used as an ornamental stone. Today, jewelers attribute it to semiprecious stones, like rock crystal, agate, malachite and jasper. In addition, from the lapis lazuli crushed into powder, the artists of the East and Europe up to the 19th century made a paint, rare in its beauty, called ultramarine. Lapis lazuli also did not ignore ancient medicine: stone was used for the manufacture of medicines and medicinal powders.

Despite the discovery of the lapis lazuli deposit in some other regions of the world, Badakhshan lapis lazuli is still considered the best mineral among competitors. Unfortunately, the unstable situation in the region in recent decades has negatively affected the ancient field: unique lapis lazuli has become the object of smuggling and illicit enrichment.