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The gemstone lapis lazuli in Afghanistan
Lapis lazuli is a deep blue semi-precious stone prized since antiquity for its intense color. Lapis lazuli was mined in the Sar-i Sang mines and in other mines in the Badakhshan province in northeast Afghanistan as early as the 7th millennium BC. Lapis beads have been found at neolithic burials in Mehrgarh, the Caucasus, and even as far from Afghanistan as Mauritania. It was used for the eyebrows, among other features, on the funeral mask of Tutankhamun (1341–1323 BC).
At the end of the Middle Ages, lapis lazuli began to be exported to Europe, where it was ground into powder and made into ultramarine, the finest and most expensive of all blue pigments. It was used by some of the most important artists of the Renaissance and Baroque, including Masaccio, Perugino, Titian and Vermeer, and was often reserved for the clothing of the central figures of their paintings, especially the Virgin Mary.
Today mines in northeast Afghanistan and Pakistan is still the major source of lapis lazuli. Important amounts are also produced from mines west of Lake Baikal in Russia, and in the Andes mountains in Chile. Smaller quantities are mined in Italy, Mongolia, the United States, and Canada
Source of conflict
And lapis is still cherished for jewelry and ornaments today, but, says Global Witness, "an extraordinary national treasure that should be a powerful resource for reconstruction and development has become a major source of conflict and grievance."
And what is happening to lapis is a microcosm of the entire Afghan mining sector.
According to the US Geological Survey-Afghanistan has nearly $1trillion in untapped mineral deposits, enough to transform the impoverished nation's economy.
But illegal mining, operated with the connivance of senior politicians and insurgent groups, is robbing the country of this incredible wealth.
The United Nations has estimated that the income from minerals including lapis is now the Taliban's second-largest source of income after opium.
At the end of the Middle Ages, lapis lazuli began to be exported to Europe, where it was ground into powder and made into ultramarine, the finest and most expensive of all blue pigments. It was used by some of the most important artists of the Renaissance and Baroque, including Masaccio, Perugino, Titian and Vermeer, and was often reserved for the clothing of the central figures of their paintings, especially the Virgin Mary.
Today mines in northeast Afghanistan and Pakistan is still the major source of lapis lazuli. Important amounts are also produced from mines west of Lake Baikal in Russia, and in the Andes mountains in Chile. Smaller quantities are mined in Italy, Mongolia, the United States, and Canada
Source of conflict
And lapis is still cherished for jewelry and ornaments today, but, says Global Witness, "an extraordinary national treasure that should be a powerful resource for reconstruction and development has become a major source of conflict and grievance."
And what is happening to lapis is a microcosm of the entire Afghan mining sector.
According to the US Geological Survey-Afghanistan has nearly $1trillion in untapped mineral deposits, enough to transform the impoverished nation's economy.
But illegal mining, operated with the connivance of senior politicians and insurgent groups, is robbing the country of this incredible wealth.
The United Nations has estimated that the income from minerals including lapis is now the Taliban's second-largest source of income after opium.
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