| Object Number | 29-221-179 |
| Current Location | Collections Storage |
| Provenience | Near East |
| Section | Near Eastern |
| Materials | Gold |
| Technique | Inscribed |
| Description | Octagonal bezel with Arabic Inscription from the Koran. Additional inscription on shank believed to be Yemen Arabic dialect. Sommerville: Fine gold - Arab talismanic ring - The four sections around the center tablet contain the names of four archangels: Ezraeel or Asrayl. Gebraeel or Jebrayl. Esrapheel or Israfyl. Mikaeel or Mikayl. The inscriptions on the upper part of the shank of the ring, on each side, are like those mystic words found at the commencement of chapters of the Koran, which every Mahometan can pronounce, but which they cannot explain. They were given as sacred words by Mahomet, and have their significance to the faithful. The other inscriptions on the shank and on the centre tablet are believed to be Himyaritic, the language spoken by the Arabs in Yemen and surrounding districts, which continued to be used for three centuries after the advent of Mahomet, when, through the spread of Islam, it gradually was supplanted by the Arabic. |
| Height | 1.6 cm |
| Width | 2 cm |
| Depth | 2 cm |
| Credit Line | Bequest of Maxwell Sommerville, 1904 |
| Other Number | 1701 - Sommerville Amulet/Talisman Number | 179 - Sommerville Number |
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