Lapis Lazuli (Lajward)

Lapis lazuli is a beautiful deep blue stone with tiny golden sparkles. It has been loved for thousands of years because of its rich color and royal look. The stone’s name comes from a Persian word - lāžward. Which means blue. Lapis stone is not just one mineral its made of lazurite, pyrite (which gives it those gold-like dots, and a little calcite (white). Long ago even before 7000 BC, people were already mining it in Afghanistan especially in a place called Badakhshan.