Natural Lapis lazuli with pyrite
set in tibetan silver pendant
with service chain
not high cabochon
tcw

The best lapis lazuli is found in limestone in the Kokcha River valley of Badakhshan province in northeastern Afghanistan , and these deposits in the mines of Sar-e-Sang have been worked for more than 6,000 years.[ 7] Afghanistan was the source of lapis for the ancient Egyptian and Mesopotamian civilizations, as well as the later Greek and Roman; during the height of the Indus valley civilization about 2000 B.C. , the Harappan colony now known as Shortugai was established near the lapis mines.