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Details
LOT 0772
Byzantine Bronze Inscribed Ring
CIRCA 7TH CENTURY A.D.
3/4 in. (4.30 grams, 21.70 mm overall, 19.70 mm internal diameter (approximate size British Q, USA 8, Europe 17.49, Japan 16)).
With flat-section expanding hoop, scrolls and leaf motifs to shoulders; oval bezel with three lines of Greek inscription reciting Κ[ΥΡI]Ε ΒΟΗΘΗI ΑΗΑ (= Lord helps A...A). [No Reserve]
Provenance
Acquired in the 1980s-1990s.
Property of a Nottinghamshire gentleman.
Literature
Cf. Wamser, L., Die Welt von Byzanz - Europas Östliches Erbe, München, 2004, item 668, for type.
Footnotes
The inscription on the ring is the typical invocatory formula Kyrie boethei N., which calls directly upon the Lord for help; this form, beside the one calling the Virgin for help as well (Theotokos boethei), is common in the inscriptions of the Eastern Roman Empire.
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