1. In other cultures, lapis lazuli was regarded as a holy stone. ... Lapis lazuli is regarded by many people around the world as the stone of friendship and truth. ...

    A blue rock that is widely used as a semiprecious stone and for ornamental purposes. It is composed chiefly of the deep blue mineral lazurite embedded in a matrix of white calcite and usually also contains small specks of pyrite. It occurs in only a few places in crystalline limestones as a contact metamorphic mineral. The chief source is Afghanistan; lapis lazuli also occurs near Lake Baikal in Siberia and in Chile. It was formerly used to make the artists' pigment ultramarine.