the.com/lapis
Crushed-up stone that convinced humanity ground rocks could be holier than gold.
means A deep-blue semi-precious stone (lapis lazuli) that was ground into pigment and carved into ornaments and seals for millennia.
from From Latin 'lapis' meaning simply 'stone,' paired with 'lazuli' (from medieval Latin 'lazulum,' borrowed via Arabic/Persian from a word for 'blue' or 'sky'). The stone itself traveled from mines in what is now Afghanistan across ancient trade routes to Egypt and Europe, where it was ground into the pigment ultramarine — literally 'beyond the sea' — because the raw material had to cross so much water to reach the painters who prized it.
- pigment royalty
- ground into ultramarine, pricier than gold for centuries
- afterlife accessory
- King Tut's death mask inlaid with it
- source monopoly
- nearly all historic supply came from one Afghan valley
- fake fool's lapis
- dyed jasper fooled buyers for generations