A Christian talismanic ring in the British Museum is set with a red jasper upon which is engraved, in Greek characters : ihcoyc oeoy yioc thpe, " Jesus son of God, preserve (me)."14
To jasper at all times has been accorded a high rank among talismanic
stones, more especially to the green and red varieties, the latter
being particularly favored where protection was sought against death
from wounds or hemorrhage.
Oriental
Christian rings include many unusual types. The British Museum has one
of gold, with engraved and nielloed ornament ; on the flat octagonal
hoop is depicted the Annunciation, in the rigid, hieratic style of
Byzantine art. The Virgin is seated on a high-backed chair; before her
stands the archangel Gabriel. The hoop bears as inscription the first
words of the angel's
greeting, in Greek Characters Xàtpe κεχαριτωμένη 6 Κύριος
μετά oli> (Luke
i, 28: " Hail thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee.").
This ring is believed to belong to the seventh century a.D., and is a very characteristic example of the type.15
Three
Merovingian rings found in August, 1885, on the skeleton finger of a
woman, at Aigusy, dept. Aisne, offer proof that in this period many
rings were sometimes worn on a single finger. The upper and lower are
plain silver rings, but the central one, of bronze, has a circular
bezel on which is engraved a cross, with, at its angles, the nails of
the Passion. Another ring, from the same locality, with a cross of
simpler form engraved on the chaton was found attached to a chain. Both
ring and chain are of bronze, the ring, presumably
14 King, " The Gnostics," London, 1864, p. 139.
15
O. M. Dalton, " Franks Bequest, Catalogue of the Finger Rings, Early
Christian, Byzantine, Teutonic, Mediaeval and Later [British Museum],"
London, 1912, p. 7, No. 39.
17
