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The Modern Sapphire
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The
earliest written records that show conclusive proof
of both the words Sapphire and lapis lazuli being used
to describe the gems as we know them today, comes from
the 12th Century A.D. ‘Silk Road’ travelogue: The Travels
of Marco Polo.
Marco Polo was born in Venice in 1254 A.D., and was
only six years old when he set out on his first trip
to China. At the age of seventeen Marco, accompanied
by his uncle and brother, set out for China again.
They passed from southern Europe through Armenia,
Georgia, Persia, Afghanistan and into what was Turkestan.
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It was during his travels through
the latter area, now known as Badakhshan in Afghanistan,
that Marco Polo fell ill, and was forced to stay for
one year to regain his strength. During this time he
made many excursions into the surrounding areas and
in doing so came across the now famous Badakhshan lapis
lazuli mines, which were a recorded source of the blue
gemstone for ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia as far back
as 3500 B.C.
“We went three days journey from thence, without
meeting any inhabitants, to the province of Balaxiam,
Balascia or Balasagan, which is inhabited by Mahometans,
who have a peculiar language…In this country the famous
Ballas rubies are found, and other precious stones of great value, particularly in
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Sicinam…In other mountains of the same province,
the best lapis lazuli in the world is found, from
which azure or ultramarine is made.”
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In this passage Polo refers to lapis
lazuli, the same gemstone that the ancients previously
referred to as ‘Sapphirus’. Literally translated lapis
lazuli means stone of ‘Azure’, the word we now use
to refer to a shade of blue. The modern English ‘Azure’
is derived from the French ‘Lazur’, in turn originating
from the Arabic ‘Al-lazaward’ and the Persian ‘Lajward’,
named after the city of Lajward in Turkestan where
lapis lazuli was mined. The Lajward lapis lazuli deposits
were sourced from the 12th to 14th Centuries.
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In this period, the Persians had a particular type
of pottery called ‘Lajvardina’, which were ceramic
vases with a dark blue glaze that was made from a
dye derived from lapis lazuli. Another word Polo uses
to describe the ‘Azure’ dye in his writings was Ultramarine;
this described the same blue pigment made from lapis
lazuli. Literally translated Ultramarine meant ‘Ultra’-‘Beyond’
and ‘Marinus’-‘Of the sea’, because lapis lazuli was
imported to Europe from distant Asia by sea.
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After his convalescence, Marco Polo
resumed his travels visiting China where he served as
translator at the court of Kublai Khan. He became one
of the emperor’s favorites, being appointed high posts
in his administration and was sent on a number of special
missions in China, Burma and India. It was during his
travels from Burma to India that he visited the island
of Ceylon, now Sri Lanka. |
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“Sailing from Angaman 1000 miles
west, and a little to the south, we come to the island
of Zelan or Ceylon…This is the finest island in the
world, and its king is called Sendernaz…They grow
no corn except rice; and they have plenty of oil of
sesame, milk, flesh, palm wine, Brazil wood, the best
rubies in the world, sapphires, topazes, amethysts, and other gems.”
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These two passages
from Polo’s travels act as comparative proof: one showing lapis lazuli originating from the Badakhshan mines in
Afghanistan, the other showing Sapphires originating
from Ceylon. Marco Polo’s texts give conclusive evidence
that a clear distinction had been made between the two gem types, and that their use was current in Europe
by at least the end of 12th Century.
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After serving 17 years in Kublai
Khan’s court and accumulating great wealth in jewels
and gems Marco made the perilous 2-year journey back
to Venice. Three years after Marco returned to Venice,
he fought in a war against the rival city of Genoa and
was captured. Marco Polo spent a year in a Genoese prison
where a fellow inmate, a writer of romances named Rustichello,
noted Marco’s travel stories. |
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After being published Marco's book became the most
influential travelogue on the Silk Road ever written
in a European language, paving the way for thousands
of Westerners into the east for centuries to come.
However, his travels into the mystic east weren’t
rivaled for another 600 years, remaining the most
comprehensive written documentation of Asia for that period of time.
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