Lapis lazuli from Afghanistan was traded widely across early Silk Road networks and used for deep-blue pigment. The finest ancient source was the Sar-e-Sang area of Badakhshan, in the mountains of present-day northeastern Afghanistan.
The stone was valuable because its intense blue color was rare and difficult to obtain elsewhere. Artisans carved it into beads, seals, inlays, and ornaments; painters later ground it into ultramarine pigment. Long-distance movement of the material is documented in archaeological sites far from its mountain source.
Lapis lazuli circulated before the routes were called the Silk Road. Finds in Bronze Age Mesopotamia, Egypt, and the Indus region show that Central Asian exchange systems already connected distant societies.
Jade and turquoise were also important stones in Eurasian trade, which can cause confusion. Lapis lazuli is distinguished by its deep blue color and its famous Badakhshan source, whereas jade was especially associated with other Central Asian and East Asian networks.