Lapis Lazuli between Leontius Mechanicus and al-Bīrūnī

While the vividly blue semiprecious stone from Badaḫšān (in modern Afghanistan) had ever since the Neolithic been a much sought-after commodity throughout the Near and Middle East, it has only since c. 600 CE been known under its present name. In this study, the history of the lexeme at the root of modern ‘lazuli’ will be traced from its earliest Greek attestations through Arabic and Persian to c. 1050 CE.