Silver swivel ring with glazed steatite scarab in a gold setting

Period:: Archaic

Date:: 7th–early 5th century B.C.

Culture:: Cypriot or Phoenician

Medium:: Silver, steatite

Dimensions:: Other: 1 3/8 in. (3.5 cm)

Classification:: Gems

Credit Line:: The Cesnola Collection, Purchased by subscription, 1874–76

Accession Number:: 74.51.4180

On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 171

Swivel ring with Egyptian glazed steatite scarab with double footed ankh sign between crowned uraeus snakes.

The type of ring is Phoenician in origin. Both the scarab and the technique of glazing steatite are connected with Egypt. Like the pendants with scarabs, the swivel rings were very widely distributed.

From Cyprus

Cesnola, Luigi Palma di. 1877. Cyprus: Its Ancient Cities, Tombs, and Temples. A Narrative of Researches and Excavations During Ten Years' Residence in That Island. pl. xxvi, 6, London: John Murray.

Myres, John L. 1914. Handbook of the Cesnola Collection of Antiquities from Cyprus. no. 4180, p. 418, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Timelines
The Eastern Mediterranean, 1000 B.C.–1 A.D.

Department

Greek and Roman Art (17,341)

Object Type / Material

Geographic Location