Paus Lazuli. The January Birthstone | Gem Library | Bashert Jewelry
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Is lapis lazuli a birthstone for December?
Although not the only month with several recognized birthstones, December has the most birthstones overall. Traditional December birthstones included turquoise and lapis lazuli, another well-known blue gemstone. The most popular modern gemstones for December birthdays nowadays are zircon and the more brilliant blue topaz.
Is September’s birthstone lapis lazuli?
Lapis Lazuli’s rich blue color is a universally recognized emblem of wisdom. It is a stone representing honesty and sincerity, and it has long been used as a representation of majesty, strength, and energy. Lapis lazuli is a stunning and potent gemstone that was frequently used in the jewelry and robes of ancient kings and queens. It is thought to stimulate the mind’s intellectual yearning, making it the ideal stone for anybody in a position of leadership.
Birthstones have been popular for a very long time. The bible is where the idea of specific precious stones standing in for the seasons was first mentioned.
Each gemstone represented a quality or power that it could provide the wearer, therefore it was customary to own jewelry in all twelve and wear a different one every month. Wearing a single stone all year long to represent the wearer’s birth month is a relatively new tradition. Poland in the 18th century is where it can be seen to be the earliest.
The gemstone lapis lazuli is exquisite. It’s frequently compared to the night sky because of its typical midnight blue color and golden flecks. Our Gold September Lapis Birthstone Hoop Earrings are the ideal September birthday gift since the gemstone’s gold specks make it a beautiful accent to gold jewelry (shown above).
Additionally, it is a powerful stone. Lapis lazuli is frequently worn around the head (in earrings or on a necklace), where it is supposed to calm the mind, activate particular intellectual faculties, and instill confidence. It is also associated with royalty, knowledge, and inner serenity. Our gorgeous Gold September Lapis Lazuli Birthstone Necklace is the perfect way to show off this strong birthstone.
What shade is the birthstone lapis?
A deep blue metamorphic rock called lapis lazuli is valued for its vibrant hue, which makes it both a semi-precious gemstone and a pricey source of pigment. The best specimen will have a deep, even blue color that is vibrant, strong, and dust-like with small golden pyrite specks. The pyrite need to be of a tiny size. The grade of the stone is reduced by naken-visible calcite veins.
Lapis lazuli: A sapphire or not?
Since the Neolithic period, along the historic trade route between Afghanistan and the Indus Valley, dating to the seventh millennium BC, lapis lazuli has been mined in Afghanistan and shipped to the Mediterranean region and South Asia. These beads have also been discovered in significant numbers at towns dating back to the 4th millennium BC in Northern Mesopotamia and at the Bronze Age site of Shahr-e Sukhteh in southeast Iran (3rd millennium BC). Inlays of eyebrows and beards, amulets, pearls, and a dagger with a lapis handle were discovered in the royal tombs of the Sumerian city-state of Ur from the third millennium BC. Lazika Stone is another name for Stone.
The Akkadians, Assyrians, and Babylonians employed lapis in ancient Mesopotamia for jewelry and seals. One of the earliest known works of literature, the Mesopotamian poetry The Epic of Gilgamesh (17th18th Century BC), makes multiple references to it. Lapis lazuli inlays are used on the irises of the eyes of the Statue of Ebih-Il, a statue from the third millennium BC that was discovered in the ancient city-state of Mari in modern-day Syria and is currently housed in the Louvre.
Lapis lazuli was a preferred material in ancient Egypt for scarabs and amulets. During predynastic Egyptian site Naqada excavations, lapis jewelry has been discovered (33003100 BC). The relief carvings of Thutmose III (14791429 BC) at Karnak depict lapis lazuli fragments and barrel-shaped pieces being given to him as a gift. Cleopatra used powdered lapis as eyeshadow.
Lapis lazuli jewelry has also been discovered in Mycenae, indicating that the Myceneans interacted with Egypt’s and the East’s advanced civilizations.
Lapis lazuli is described as being “opaque and flecked with gold” by Pliny the Elder.
The stone was a representation of achievement in ancient Jewish tradition because it combines the blue of the heavens with the golden sparkle of the sun. The lapis lazuli stone was revered as the stone of the Virgin Mary in early Christian history.
Lapis lazuli was frequently referred to as sapphire in late classical and early medieval periods (sapphirus in Latin, sappir in Hebrew), despite having little in common with the stone now known as the blue corundum form of sapphire.
Theophrastus, a Greek scientist, characterized lapis lazuli as “the sapphirus, which is sprinkled with gold” in his book on stones.
There are numerous references to “sapphire” in the Old Testament, but most academics concur that they most likely relate to lapis lazuli rather than sapphire because sapphire was unknown before the Roman Empire. Exodus 24:10, for example, states, “And they beheld the God of Israel, and there was under his feet as it were a paved work of a sapphire stone.” (KJV). In this quotation, the Latin Vulgate Bible uses the terms “quasi opus lapidis sapphirini,” which are synonyms for lapis lazuli. Most of the time, lapis lazuli is used instead of sapphire in contemporary versions of the Bible, such as the New Living Translation Second Edition.
What does lapis lazuli symbolize spiritually?
While the ancient Egyptians interpreted it as a representation of the night sky, the Sumerians thought that the stone contained the essence of their gods. Lapis lazuli has been linked to power and bravery, monarchy and knowledge, intelligence and truth since the dawn of time.