Sar-i Sang
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Sar-i Sang (or Sar-e Sang) (lit. "stone summit" in Persian) is a settlement in the
Kuran Wa Munjan District Kuran wa Munjan District is one of the 28 districts of Badakhshan Province in eastern Afghanistan. Located in the Hindu Kush mountains, the district is home to approximately 8,000 residents. The district administrative center is Kuran wa Munjan. ...
of
Badakhshan Province Badakhshan Province (Persian/ Uzbek: , ''Badaxšān'') is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, located in the northeastern part of the country. It is bordered by Tajikistan's Gorno-Badakhshan in the north and the Pakistani regions of Lower ...
,
Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...
, famous for its ancient
lapis lazuli Lapis lazuli (; ), or lapis for short, is a deep-blue metamorphic rock used as a semi-precious stone that has been prized since antiquity for its intense color. As early as the 7th millennium BC, lapis lazuli was mined in the Sar-i Sang mines, ...
mines producing the world's finest lapis. It is located in the
Koksha Valley Koksha ( prs, , mnj, , ps, کوکشه) is a valley that is located in Badakhshan's Kuran Wa Munjan District in Afghanistan. Koksha is famous for its lapis lazuli found in the mines of Sar-e-Sang since the 3rd millennium BC. Koksha Valley i ...
.


Lapis lazuli mines

The Sar-i Sang
lapis lazuli Lapis lazuli (; ), or lapis for short, is a deep-blue metamorphic rock used as a semi-precious stone that has been prized since antiquity for its intense color. As early as the 7th millennium BC, lapis lazuli was mined in the Sar-i Sang mines, ...
mine probably dates from proto-historic times. It consists of one old disused shaft and two new shafts. This was the main source of lapis lazuli in the ancient world, with lapis from here occurring in such famous archaeological discoveries as the Royal Treasure of Ur and the Tomb of
Tutankhamun Tutankhamun (, egy, twt-ꜥnḫ-jmn), Egyptological pronunciation Tutankhamen () (), sometimes referred to as King Tut, was an Egyptian pharaoh who was the last of his royal family to rule during the end of the Eighteenth Dynasty (ruled ...
.Warwick Ball, 2008, 'The Monuments of Afghanistan: History, Archaeology and Architecture': 261, London.


See also

*
Mount Imeon Mount Imeon () is an ancient name for the Central Asian complex of mountain ranges comprising the present Hindu Kush, Pamir and Tian Shan, extending from the Zagros Mountains in the southwest to the Altay Mountains in the northeast, and linked to ...


References

* Warwick Ball, 2008, 'The Monuments of Afghanistan: History, Archaeology and Architecture': 261, I.B. TAURIS, London, . * Warwick Ball, 1982, 'Archaeological Gazetteer of Afghanistan': Volume I: 1001. SAR-I SANG, Editions Recherche sur les civilisations, Paris,
Lapis lazuli mines at Sar-e Sang, Afghanistan
at Mindat.org * Sarah Stone, 'LAPIS LAZULI in pursuit of a celestial stone', EAST and WEST PUBLISHING LTD, London, 2010,


External links


Satellite map at Maplandia.com


{{Authority control Populated places in Badakhshan Province Geological type localities