Seljuk ring discovered in Viking-era grave has Arabic inscription
Source: ancient-origins.net
A silver ring from a Viking-era grave in Birka, Sweden, has a distinctive history: it is the first ring with Arabic inscription from that era found in Scandinavia.
The ring, which has an inscription that says “To Allah” or “For Allah” in Kufic Arabic, is physical evidence suggesting there was direct contact between the Vikings of Sweden and the Muslim world, in this case the Seljuks of Asia Minor.
The woman’s grave dates to about 850 AD. Also found in the woman’s grave were items from India, the Caucasus or Yemen and possibly other locales. Archaeologists think the ring may be a signet ring that was used to mark or stamp documents.
The ring is relatively recent compared to some objects from the East found in Scandinavia. Ancient Origins reported in December 2014 that scientists working in Denmark unearthed glass blue beads crafted in an ancient Egyptian workshop for King Tutankhamun that made its way north to Europe 3,400 years ago. The find suggested there was contact between the two regions long ago via possible ancient trade routes. Those beads too were from graves of women.
The Seljuk ring is the first ring with Arabic writing found in a Viking-era grave.
“Even though a few rings of similar design have been encountered at Birka and other archaeological sites, this is the only Viking Age ring with an Arabic inscription found in Scandinavia, which affords it a unique status,” wrote the authors in their report on the find in the journal Scanning (A PDF file of the article is here.) “The ring has been cast in a high-grade silver alloy (94.5/5.5 Ag/Cu) and retains the post-casting marks from the filing done to remove flash and mold lines. Thus, the ring has rarely been worn and likely passed from the silversmith to the woman buried at Birka with few owners in between. The ring may therefore constitute material evidence for direct interactions between Viking Age Scandinavia and the Islamic world. Being the only ring with an Arabic inscription found at a Scandinavian archaeological site it is a unique object among Swedish Viking Age material.”
The grave fields at Birka, on Björkö Island 25 km (15.5 miles) west of Stockholm, were first excavated in the late 1800s. Archaeologists have found many valuable items in the cemeteries of Birka, including in the grave where the ring was found. Birka has been called Sweden’s first town.
The woman’s skeleton was completely decomposed, but her clothing was intact and she was buried with jewelry, arm brooches, scissors and the ring and other materials. She may have been buried with her hands crossed on her chest because the ring was found near where her chest would have been. It may have been attached to the brooches with a string, now lost.
“Between the two brooches was a row of beads made from glass, rock crystal and carnelian,” the authors wrote. “The last two materials could originate from India or Caucasus, although also Yemen was known for its carnelian. In addition some of the glass beads have a foreign appearance, and were likely imported. The woman's brooches and clothing are however typical Scandinavian. The clothing included an undergarment of flax and a garment of blue wool likely dyed with woad.” Woad is a plant from which blue dye is derived.
For more than a century scientists thought the ring was made of amethyst, but recent analysis with high-powered microscopes shows it is made of colored glass, which was rare at that time. Two other rings of similar design, also thought to be from the Seljuk culture of Asia Minor (now Turkey), have been found in the Birka Viking graves. Similar rings have been found in Eastern Europe and Tatarstan. Though glass, the ring was probably considered valuable as glass was rare in Scandinavia then and had to be imported, as bottles, beakers or rods that could be reworked into beads.
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