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An early inscribed gold ring from the Argolid
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 11 October 2013
Extract
This paper publishes a gold ring until recently in private hands in the United States. The former owners, private persons with no scholarly background, brought the ring to the present writer's attention upon learning that he had some knowledge of Greek inscriptions. The one deplorable fact is that this ring was removed from its context, so that much of its scientific value is forever lost to us. Nonetheless, the damage was done by others years ago, and its owners deserve praise for making the ring available for study. The dedicatory inscription on it is an invaluable example of early Argive script. The details of acquisition are unclear. I have been able to ascertain only that the ring was acquired in ancient Mycenae from some Greeks who claimed to have dug it up in the area. As will be seen, in all probability it comes from the Argive Heraion.
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- Copyright © The Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies 1986
References
1 This ring is now part of the collection of the J. Paul Getty Museum (accession number 85.AM264). I wish to thank S. Dow, L. H. Jeffery, A. L. Boegehold, and G. Nagy who have generously shared their expertise.
2 This diameter would fit either a man or a woman of today depending on which finger the ring was worn and the size of the hand. It would be rather small for most men and somewhat large for many women. Since the ancients were generally smaller in stature, the ring size suggests that this ring originally belonged to a man.
3 This entire discussion depends on Jeffery's, L. H. invaluable study, The local scripts of archaic Greece (Oxford 1961), particularly 151–3Google Scholar.
4 See Buck, C. D., The Greek dialects (Chicago 1955) 51 Google Scholar.
5 I owe this suggestion to L. H. Jeffery (per litteras), who adduces in support of this (possibly) added initial aspirate Argolic Βἑ (= ῆ) and Βαισκλαπιεῖ (= Αισκλαπιεῖ). See Buck (n. 4) 55.
6 Payne, H., Perachora I (Oxford 1940) 256–66, nos. I and IIIGoogle Scholar.
7 Waldstein, Charles, The Argive Heraeum II (Boston 1905) 250–64Google Scholar. A like number of bronze rings were found at the sanctuary of Hera at Perachora (Payne [n. 6] 178–80). Twenty gold rings were also found in the geometric deposit associated with the temple of Hera Akraia at Perachora ((Payne [n. 6] 73–4)). Payne comments (73): ‘With one exception, a ring of thin gold wire, these are all strips of beaten gold, the ends of which are joined not by soldering, but by folding them into each other.’ These gold rings were made especially for dedication; none is inscribed.