An ancient Roman solid gold ring with Intaglio of a Crescent and Star

A D-section gold hoop with flared shoulders, elliptical plaque with inset carnelian, intaglio crescent and star motif.

The star and crescent is an iconographic symbol used in various historical contexts, but is most well known as a symbol of the Ottoman Empire. It is often considered as a symbol of Islam by extension, but this notion is denied as the religion bears no symbol. It develops in the iconography of the Hellenistic period (4th-1st centuries BCE) in the Kingdom of Pontus, the Bosporan Kingdom and notably the city of Byzantium by the 2nd century BCE. It is de conjoined representation of a crescent and a star, both of which constituent elements have a long prior history in the iconography of the Ancient Near East as representing either the Sun and Moon or the Moon and Morning Star.

Material: solid gold, 19,8K (with XRF)
Weight: 4.09 gram
Date: Roman, 1st – 2nd century AD
Measurement: overall: 22 x 21 mm, ringsize: 19 mm
Condition: Extremely fine condition

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