FORMS OF RINGS AND MATERIALS 97
ing
the musical instrument might seem to indicate that it was some form of
lyre, on which the ring could be used as a kind of plectrum, rather
than a flute or other wind-instrument.
Rings made entirely of a precious stone substance were not uncommon in the time of Rameses III ( 1202-1170 b.c.) and
later Egyptian sovereigns, but there is no evidence of their having
been made at a more remote period. The prejudice against burying rings
with the dead does not seem to have affected the Egyptians, for in a
number of cases rings have been found on the fingers of mummies.41
The
sardonyx was a favorite stone with the Romans of the Imperial Age, as
is proved by the frequent allusions to it by the poets of this time. Of
a celebrated player on the lyre, Juvenal (50-130 a.D.) says that as his hand passed over the strings the whole instrument was lighted up by the sheen of his many sardonyx rings.44 Such a ring was regarded as a most appropriate birthday gift.45
Another passage relates that the advocate Paulus, in order to render
his address before the court more impressive, wore upon his hand a fine
onyx ring which he had borrowed from a friend especially for this
occasion.46 Indeed, so highly was the stone prized that it was called the first of gems (gemma princeps sar-donychus) and ivory caskets were regarded as fit receptacles for sardonyxes.47 The value of rings set with
41
Sir J. Gardner Wilkinson, " Manners and Customs of the Ancient
Egyptians," revised by Samuel Birch, New York, 1879, vol. ii, p. 340,
note by Birch.
44 Juvenal, sat. vi, 1, 382.
45 Persius, sat. i, 1,16.
48 Juvenal, sat. vii, 11, 143, 144. 47 Idem, sat. xiii, 11, 138, 139. 7
