Internet Colors - Set of 1035

Lapis Lazuli Color 482 - #26619C

Lapis lazuli (sometimes abbreviated to lapis) is a relatively rare semi-precious stone that has been prized since antiquity for its intense blue color. Lapis lazuli was being mined in the Badakhshan province of Afghanistan as early as the 3rd millennium BC, and there are sources that are found as far east as in the region around Lake Baikal in Siberia.

Trade in the stone is ancient enough for lapis jewelry to have been found at Predynastic Egyptian and ancient Sumerian sites, and as lapis beads at neolithic burials in Mehrgarh, the Caucasus, and even as far from Afghanistan as Mauritania.

Lapis is the Latin word for "stone" and lazuli is the genitive form of the Medieval Latin lazulum. Lapis takes an excellent polish and can be made into jewelry, carvings, boxes, mosaics, ornaments, and vases.