Corsi 703, approx. 145 x 73 x 40 mm, © Oxford University Museum of Natural History
| OUMNH Number: | 703 |
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| Name and quarry location: | Lapis lazuli, from Kokcha Valley, Badakhshan, Afghanistan |
| Geological description: | Rock composed of lazurite, probably with minor blue sodalite, and with flecks of pyrite and minor white calcite; from a marble deposit formed by contact metamorphism. |
| Comments: | A fine example of lapis lazuli from the Kokcha valley, Badakhshan, Afghanistan, where mining has taken place for thousands of years. Corsi, in common with many ancient and modern authors, erronously believed the stone came from Persia (now Iran) and China, perhaps because so much Afghan lapis lazuli was transported to these countries where it was both used and traded. By comparison the mines (which still operate) were located in singularly inhospitable terrain rarely visited by foreign travellers. For a bibliography and further information on the location and cultural history of the mines, see Bowersox (1995; 37-63). Other sources of lapis lazuli include Russia, Chile and the USA. |
| References: | Bowersox (1995) 37-63; Bostock (1855) bk 37, ch 39; Bulakh (2010) passim.; Corsi (1845) 232-233; Giusti (1992) 270; Price (2007) 262-263; Webster (1994) 263-266; Zeitner (1996) 175-177 |
| Further information: |
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| Corsi's classification: | Class 12. Lapis lazuli |
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| Corsi's text: | 168 Lapis lazuli. Lapis lazzulo. Lapislazzulo. Lapis Cyanus |