The Effect of Trading Lapis Lazuli on the Settlements in the East of Iran's Central Plateau (3rd–4th Mill. BCE)

Bibliographic Data

ID22605674
AuthorsS Farzin, M Zohouriyan, M A Hajizadeh, Meisam Hajizadeh
Year2019
Volume62
Issue2
Pages193-202
Publication date2019-01-01
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueCentral Asiatic Journal (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0008-9192 • E-ISSN: 2747-4305
PublisherHarrassowitz Publishing House (PUBLISHER • DE)
DOI10.13173/caj/2019/2/5
OpenAlexW4320809064
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited6

Lapis lazuli was one of the ancient world's most precious stones, extensively traded during the third and fourth millennia and important for the settlement of Shahr-i Sokhta in Sistan and Baluchestan province. The authors scrutinised recent archaeological evidence in order to evaluate the impact of the lapis lazuli trade between this part of Persia with locations as far apart as Central Asia and southern Egypt. The raw material came from mines in Badakhshan (northern Afghanistan), whilst the evidence suggests that Shahr-i Sokhta became a wealthy production and trading centre for lapis lazuli, which was exported as jewellery and as ornaments for temples and palaces. This would explain why the city also became the social, political, economic and cultural centre of the whole region for much of the third millennium.

Ancient history · Archaeology · Geography · Human settlement · Plateau (mathematics) · Settlement (finance) · Ancient Near East History · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies · Eurasian Exchange Networks · History

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