Category:
Personal equipment, jewelry, finger rings
Date:
Byzantine Period, late 6th to early 8th cent. CE
Provenance:
Lower Egypt (Excavations of the year 2000)
Material(s):
Non-organic material, metal, gold
Length:
3.81 cm;
Width:
1.74 cm;
Depth:
1.08 cm;
Weight:
8.38 gr
Hall:
Submerged Antiquities, showcase M1
Description
A golden Ring made of a wrought band with an ornament in the form of a small oil lamp, the oil lamp has a double spout and an onion-shaped lid attached to the body with a hinge, the oil lamp has a drop-shaped mirror.
Gold
In the Coptic period, and since the beginning of their civilization, Egyptians made jewelry and tools from different kinds of metals such as gold, silver, copper, and bronze which were more frequently used. Gold was present in a free state; the remainder had to be extracted from ores. Crushing and casting of the ore, and shaping of the ingots were carried out on site, it could be hammered hot or cold, casting made it possible to create small objects with complex shapes.
The information given here is subject to modification/update as a result of ongoing research.
References
- Ägyptens versunkene Schätze: 5. April 2007-27. Januar 2008, Kunst- und Ausstellungshalle der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, Bonn (Heidelberg: Vernissage, 2007): 249, 364.
- "Metal Work", in The Coptic Encyclopedia, edited by: Atiya, Aziz S. Vol. 5 (New York, NY: Macmillan, 1991).
- Damian Robinson and Andrew Wilson, eds., Alexandria and the North-Western Delta: Joint Conference Proceedings of Alexandria: City and Harbour (Oxford 2004) and the Trade and Topography of Egypt's North-West Delta, 8th Century BC to 8th Century AD (Berlin 2006), Oxford Centre for Maritime Archaeology Monograph 5 (Oxford: Oxford Centre for Maritime Archaeology. Institute of Archaeology, 2010): 235-236.
- Franck Goddio and Manfred Clauss, eds., Egypt’s Sunken Treasures, photographs by Christoph Gerigk (London: Prestel, 2006): 285, 413.
- Franck Goddio and David Fabre, Trésors engloutis d’Égypte, photographs by Christoph Gerigk (Milan: 5 Continents, 2006): 172-173, 286.
- Franck Goddio, The Topography and Excavation of Heracleion-Thonis and East Canopus, 1996-2006, Oxford Centre for Maritime Archaeology Monograph 1 (Oxford: Oxford Centre for Maritime Archaeology. Institute of Archaeology, 2007): 39.
- Zahi A. Hawass and Franck Goddio, Cleopatra: The Search of the Last Queen of Egypt (Washington, DC: National Geographic Society, 2010): 197.
- Mona Serry, ed., Bibliotheca Alexandrina: Antiquities Museum, introduction by Ismail Serageldin (Alexandria: Bibliotheca Alexandrina. Antiquities Museum, 2015): 302, 339.