Rings Were Placed in Greek and Roman Cremation Urns

The meaning of rings in ancient times placed in cinerary urns and the engraved gold ring found by Maffei

Rings have been discovered in the cinerary urns of the Greeks. These could hardly have got there through the fire which consumed the body, for vessels still containing aromatic liquids have also been discovered in the urns. It is very possible they were tokens of affection deposited by relations and friends. Such remembrances (as we shall see) are found in the graves of early Roman Christians. The idea that rings in Roman urns were secretly and piously placed there, is strengthened by the fact that it was contrary to the laws of Rome to bury gold with the dead. There was one exception to this rule, which appears odd enough to readers of the nineteenth century, namely, a clause which permitted the burial of such gold as fastened false teeth in the mouth of the deceased, thus sparing the children and friends of the dead the painful task of pulling from their heads the artificial teeth which they had been accustomed to wear. It seems strange to find that these expedients of vanity or convenience were practised in Rome nearly two thousand years ago. Maffei gives a description and enlarged illustration of a gold ring bearing a cornelian, whereon is cut the story of Bellerophon upon his winged horse, about to attack the chimera; and also a small but exquisite urn of porphyry, which contained funeral ashes and this ring. These were found in the garden of Pallas, freed man of Claudius; and Maffei reasonably makes out that the ring had belonged to him. Bellerophon is said to have been a native of Corinth, and Pallas was from that city. Nero became emperor mainly through Pallas, and yet he sacrificed the latter to be master of his great riches. These relics thus possess much interest. Although a freed man, merely as such, had no right to wear a gold ring, yet Pallas gained the office of Praetor, and so was entitled to one. In Plutarch's Galba, the freed man of the latter was honored with the privilege of wearing the gold ring for bringing news of the revolt against Nero.  . . .

Seal Rings and the Scarabaeus

Seals and their evolution into ring seals, the form of the scarabaeus, and the signet ring as a work of art.

It is thought that seal-rings were an invention of the Lacedemonians, (Lacedaemonia, is one of the peripheral units of Greece) who, not content with locking their coffers, added a seal; for which purpose they made use of worm-eaten wood, with which they impressed wax or soft wood; and after this they learned to engrave seals.

Cylinders, squares and pyramids were forms used for seals prior to the adoption of ring-seals. These settled with the Greeks into the scarabaeus or beetle, that is to say, a stone something like the half of a walnut, with its convexity wrought into the form of a beetle, while the flat under surface contained the inscription for the seal. The Greeks retained this derivable form until they thought of dispensing with the body of the beetle, only preserving for the inscription the flat oval which the base presented, and which they ultimately set in rings. This shows how ring-seals came into form. Many of the Egyptian and other ring-seals are on swivel, and we are of the opinion that the idea of this convenient form originated with perforated cylindrical and other seals, which were, with a string passed through them, worn around the neck or from the wrist. 

Photo courtesy of Guillaume Blanchard, July 2004

The sculpture of signets was, probably, the first use of gem engraving, and this was derived from the common source of all the arts, India. Signets of lapis lazuli and emerald have been found with Sanscrit inscriptions, presumed to be of an antiquity beyond all record. The natural transmission of the arts was from India to Egypt, and our collections abound with intaglio and cameo hieroglyphics, figures of Isis, Osiris, the lotus, the crocodile, and the whole symbolic Egyptian mythology wrought upon jaspers, emeralds, basalts, bloodstones, turquoises, etc. Mechanical skill attained a great excellence at an early period. The stones of the Jewish highpriests' breast-plate were engraved with the names of the twelve tribes, and of those stones one was a diamond (?). The Greek gems generally exhibit the figure nude; the Romans, draped. The Greeks were chiefly intaglios.
It is generally understood that the ancients greatly excelled the moderns in gem engraving, and that the art has never been carried to the highest perfection in modern times. Mr. Henry Weigall, however, states that "this supposition is erroneous, and has probably arisen from the fact of travelers supposing that the collections of gems and impressions that they have made in Italy are exclusively the works of Italian artists; such, however, is not the case, and I have myself had the satisfaction of pointing out to many such collectors, that the most admired specimens in their collections were the works of English artists."

Rings Found in Mythology

Rings in Greek mythology, and writings about the origin of rings.

Ring with the sign "Present to Kleta" third quarter of the 4th century B.C., Thessaloniki Archaeological Museum

We not only find rings in the most ancient times, but we also trace them in mythology.
Fish, in antediluvian period, were intelligent, had fine musical perception and were even affectionate. Thus, in relation to Theseus, the Athenian prince: Minos happened to load Theseus with reproaches, especially on account of his birth; and told him, that, if he were the son of Neptune, he would have no difficulty in going to the bottom of the sea; and then threw a ring in to banter him. The Athenian prince plunged in, and might have been food for fishes, had they not, in the shape of dolphins, taken him upon their backs, as they had done Arion, and conveyed him to the palace of Amphitrite. It is not said whether she, as Neptune's wife, had a right to the jetsam, flotsam, and lagan, to the sweepings or stray jewelry of the ocean; but she was able to hand Theseus the ring, and also to give him a crown, which he presented to the ill-used lady Ariadne, and it was afterwards placed among the stars.

And, coupled with mythology, we have, according to the ancients, the origin of the ring. Jupiter, from revenge, caused Strength, Force and Vulcan to chain his cousin-german Prometheus to the frosty Caucasus, where a vulture, all the livelong day, banqueted his fill on the black viands of his hot liver. The god had sworn to keep Prometheus there (according to Hesiod) eternally; but other authors give only thirty thousand years as the limit. He who had punished did, for reasons, forgive; but as Jupiter had sworn to keep Prometheus bound for the space of time mentioned, he, in order not to violate his oath, commanded that Prometheus should always wear upon his finger an iron ring, to or in which should be fastened a small fragment of Caucasus, so that it might be true, in a certain sense, that Prometheus still continued bound to that rock. Thus, as we have said, came the idea of the first ring, and, we may add, the insertion of a stone.

While some writers, under this story, connect Prometheus with the first ring, Pliny still says that the inventor of it is not known, and observes that it was used by the Babylonians, Chaldeans, Persians and Greeks, although, as he thinks, the latter were unacquainted with it at the time of the Trojan war, as Homer does not mention it.

It has however been said that Dschemid, who made known the solar year, introduced the use of the ring.

Touching Pliny's notion of the antiquity of rings, there is, in Southey's "Commonplace Book," (second series,) the following quotation from "Treasurie of Auncient and Moderne Times," (1619:) "But the good olde man Plinie cannot overreach us with his idle arguments and conjectures, for we read in Genesis that Joseph, who lived above five hundred yeares before the warres of Troy, having expounded the dreame of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, was, by the sayde prince, made superintendent over his kingdom, and for his safer possession in that estate, he took off his ring from his hand and put it upon Joseph's hand.". . . "In Moses's time, which was more than foure hundred yeares before Troy warres, wee find rings to be then in use; for we reade that they were comprehended in the ornaments which Aaron the high priest should weare, and they of his posteritie afterward, as also it was avouched by Josephus. Whereby appeareth plainly, that the use of rings was much more ancient than Plinie reporteth them in his conjectures: but as he was a Pagan, and ignorant in sacred writings, so it is no marvell if these things went beyond his knowledge."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_ring#Mythology_and_folklore 
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"Ring Money" in Ancient Times

The difference between rings and ring-money, which were actually coins shaped like rings and used in ancient Egypt and ancient Britain.

In examining ancient rings, care must be taken not to confuse them with coins made in the shape of rings.

The fresco paintings in the tombs of Egypt exhibit people bringing, as tribute, to the foot of the throne of Pharaoh, bags of gold and silver rings, at a period before the exodus of the Israelites. Great quantities of ring-money have been found in different countries, including Ireland. 

The ancient Britons had them. That these rings were used for money, is confirmed by the fact that, on being weighted, by far the greater number of them appear to be exact multiples of a certain standard unit. Layard mentions that Dr. Lepsius has recently published a bas relief, from an Egyptian tomb, representing a man weighing rings of gold and silver, with weights in the form of a bull's head; and Layard also gives a seeming outline of the subject, (although its description speaks of "weights in the form of a seated lion.") It is presumed that these rings are intended for ring-money; the fact of weighing them strengthens this idea; and see Wilkinson's Popular Account of the Ancient Egyptians, (revised,) ii. 148-9.  .

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The Significance of Finger Rings

Rings as symbols and the interest aroused by rings belonging to celebrities, such as Shakespeare and tales about Ulf the Dane's ring

A circle, known as a finger-ring, has been an object of ornament and of use for thousands of years. Indeed, the time when it was first fashioned and worn is so far in the past that it alone shines there; all around is ashes or darkness.

This little perfect figure may seem to be a trifling matter on which to found an essay; and yet we shall find it connected with history and poetry. It is, indeed, a small link, although it has bound together millions for better for worse, for richer for poorer, more securely than could the shackle wrought for a felon. An impression from it may have saved or lost a kingdom. It is made the symbol of power; and has been a mark of slavery. Love has placed it where a vein was supposed to vibrate in the heart. Affection and friendship have wrought it into a rememberance; and it has passed into the grave upon the finger of the beloved one.

And, though the ring itself may be stranger to us, and might never have belonged to ancestor, friend or companion, yet there can be even a general interest about such a slight article. For instance, a few years ago a ring was found which had belonged to Shakspeare, and must have been a gift: for the true-lover's knot is there. Who would not desire to possess, who would not like even to see the relic? There is reason to suppose that this ring was the gift of Anne Hathaway, she "who had as much virtue as could die." And we must be allowed to indulge in the idea that it was pressing Shakspeare's finger when those lines were inscribed

"To the idol of mine eyes and the delight of my heart, Anne Hathaway:"

"Talk not of gems, the orient list,

The diamond, topaz, amethyst,

The emerald mild, the ruby gay:

Talk of my gem, Anne Hathaway!

She hath a way, with her bright eye,

Their various lustre to defy,

The jewel she, and the foil they,

So sweet to look Anne hath a way.

She hath a way,

Anne Hathaway,

To shame bright gems Anne hath a way."

A 13th century portrait of Cnut the Great. It shows him as a king of Christendom

We shall find many interesting stories connected with rings. By way of illustration, here is one:

In a battle between Edmund the Anglo-Saxon and Canute the Dane, the army of the latter was defeated and fled; and one of its principal captains, Ulf, lost his way in the woods. After wandering all night, he met, at day break, a young peasant driving a herd of oxen, whom he saluted and asked his name. "I am Godwin, the son of Ulfnoth," said the young peasant, "and thou art a Dane." Thus obliged to confess who he was, Ulf begged the young Saxon to show him his way to the Severn, where the Danish ships were at anchor. "It is foolish in a Dane," replied the peasant, "to expect such a service from a Saxon; and, besides, the way is long, and the country people are all in arms."

The Danish chief drew off a gold ring from his finger and gave it to the shepherd as an inducement to be his guide. The young Saxon looked at it for an instant with great earnestness, and then returned it, saying, "I will take nothing from thee, but I will try to conduct thee." Leading him to his father's cottage, he concealed him there during the day; and when night came on, they prepared to depart together. As they were going, the old peasant said to Ulf, "This is my only son Godwin, who risks his life for thee. He cannot return among his countrymen again; take him, therefore, and present him to thy king, Canute, that he may enter into his service." The Dane promised, and kept his word. The young Saxon peasant was well received in the Danish camp; and rising from step to step by the force of his talents, he afterwards became known over all England as the great Earl Godwin. He might have been monarch; while his sweet and beautiful daughter Edith or Ethels with did marry King Edward. "Godwin," the people said in their songs, contrasting the firmness of the father with the sweetness of the daughter, "is the parent of Edith, as the thorn is of the rose."
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