Editing Turquoise (section)

=== Iran ===
[[Iran]] has been an important source of turquoise for at least 2,000 years. It was initially named by [[Iranian peoples|Iranians]] "''pērōzah''" meaning "victory", and later the [[Arabs]] called it "''fayrūzah''", which is pronounced in Modern Persian as "''fīrūzeh''". In Iranian architecture, the blue turquoise was used to cover the [[dome]]s of [[palace]]s because its intense blue colour was also a symbol of heaven on earth.<ref name="Beale-1973" /><ref>Farmani, Anousheh (2015) ''"Precious and semi-precious minerals and their roots in ancient Persian texts"'', Second International Congress of Science and Earth, Tehran [https://web.archive.org/web/20231028133214/https://fa.seminars.sid.ir/ViewPaper.aspx?ID=35943]</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=zawush|first=Muhammad|title=mineralogy in Ancient Iran|publisher=Institute of Humanities and Cultural Studies|year=1996|isbn=9789644260315|location=tehran|pages=156}}</ref>
[[File:Persian Turquoise.jpg|thumb|Persian turquoise from Iran]]

This deposit is blue naturally and turns green when heated due to dehydration. It is restricted to a mine-riddled region in [[Nishapur]], the {{convert|2012|m|ft|adj=on|abbr=on}} mountain peak of [[Ali-mersai]] near [[Mashhad]], the capital of [[Khorasan Province]], [[Iran]]. Weathered and broken [[trachyte]] is host to the turquoise, which is found both ''in situ'' between layers of limonite and sandstone and amongst the [[scree]] at the mountain's base. These workings are the oldest known, together with those of the [[Sinai Peninsula]].<ref name=USGS /> Iran also has turquoise mines in [[Semnan Province|Semnan]] and [[Kerman]] provinces.<ref name="Beale-1973" />