The circular bezel of this ring is engraved with the image of an eagle with outstretched wings. Between the eagle’s wings is a cruciform monogram of a man’s name, Kosmas. Not only a symbol of imperial power, the eagle was also meaningful in the Christian context where it symbolized salvation and Christ’s resurrection.
Provenance
- Said to have been found at Mersina, Cilicia. George Zacos (1911–1983), Istanbul; purchased from Zacos by Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, Washington, DC, 1956.
Selected Bibliography
- M. C. Ross, Jewelry, Enamels, and Art of the Migration Period, vol. 2 of Catalogue of the Byzantine and Early Mediaeval Antiquities in the Dumbarton Oaks Collection (Washington, DC, 1965; 2nd ed. with addendum by S. A. Boyd and S. R. Zwirn, 2005), 60–61, no. 70, plate 45.
More Exhibit Items
Roman, 240–244; bronze; 38 mm, 57.27 g. BZC.1948.11
Late Roman, early 4th century; porphyry; 16.3 × 13 × 12.6 cm (6 7/16 × 5 1/8 × 4 15/16 in.). BZ.1963.5
Late Roman, 288–296; gold; 5.104–5.564 g.
Late Roman, 293–295; gold; 34 mm, 27.0 g. BZC.1950.5
Early Byzantine, 4th–6th century; terra-cotta; 18 cm (7 1/16 in.). BZ.1959.49
Early Byzantine, 4th–6th century; gold, rock crystal; 3 cm (1 3/16 in.). BZ.1964.12
Early Byzantine, ca. 7th century; gold; 2.3 cm (15/16 in.). BZ.1956.27