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Queen Puabi's headgear contains four different wreaths. The first two wreaths are almost identical, with twenty gold poplar leaves separated by two strings of lapis lazuli and carnelian beads. [1] The importation of materials for the headdress demonstrates Ur's political and cultural significance as a hub of maritime and commercial trade. [4]
The Neo-Sumerian ruler Gudea (c. 2100 BCE), in his Gudea cylinders (cylinder B XIV), mentioned his procurement of "blocks of lapis lazuli and bright carnelian from Meluhha." [ 16 ] [ 17 ] Meluhha is generally identified with the Indus region, and there are no known mentions of Meluhha after 1760 BCE. [ 18 ]
A 17th century English lapidary text. The etymological root of the word lapidary is the Latin word lapis, meaning "stone". [6] In the 14th century, the term evolved from lapidarius, meaning 'stonecutter' or 'working with stone', into the Old French word lapidaire, meaning 'one skilled in working with precious stones'.
The Greek term for sapphire quite likely was instead used to refer to lapis lazuli. [72] During the Medieval Ages, European lapidaries came to refer to blue corundum crystal by "sapphire", a derivative of the Latin word for blue: sapphirus. [74] The sapphire is the traditional gift for a 45th wedding anniversary. [75]
By the Old Kingdom, the combination of carnelian, turquoise and lapis lazuli had been established for royal jewelry, and this was to become standard in the Middle Kingdom. Less sophisticated pieces might use bone, mother-of-pearl or cowrie shells. The particular choice of materials depended upon practical, aesthetical and symbolic considerations.
In the royal cemetery lapis lazuli is found as jewelry, plaques and amulets, and as inlays in gaming boards, musical instruments, and ostrich-egg vessels as well as parts of larger sculptural groups such as the "Ram in a Thicket" and as the beard of a bull attached to a lyre. Some of the larger objects include a spouted cup, a dagger-hilt, and ...