World's Largest Sapphire Cluster 'Accidentally' Found in a Backyard in Sri Lanka

The world’s largest star sapphire cluster has been found in a backyard in Sri Lanka by accident, authorities said on Tuesday. Thilak Weerasinghe, the Chairman of the National Gem and Jewellery Authority of Sri Lanka told BBC, “It is a special star sapphire specimen, probably the biggest in the world. According to Associated Press, the pomerial stone, a huge slab of travertine, was used as a sacred, military, and political perimeter marking the edge of the city proper with Rome’s outer territory. The stone was found on June 17 during excavations for a rerouted sewer under the recently restored mausoleum of Emperor Augustus, right off the central Via del Corso in Rome’s historic center.