SCANNING VOL. 9999, 1±7 (2015) © Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Analysis and Interpretation of a Unique Arabic Finger Ring from the Town of ,

1,2 3 4 5 SEBASTIAN K.T.S. WAÈ RMLAÈ NDER, LINDA WAÊ HLANDER, RAGNAR SAAGE, KHODADAD REZAKHANI, 6 7 SAIED A. HAMID HASSAN, AND MICHAEL NEIû 1Division of Biophysics, Arrhenius Laboratories, Stockholm University, Sweden 2UCLA/Getty Conservation Programme, Cotsen Institute of Archaeology, UCLA, Los Angeles, California 3Swedish History Museum, Stockholm, Sweden 4Department of Archaeology, University of Tartu, Estonia 5Institute of Iranian Studies, Freie UniversitaÈt Berlin, Germany 6Supreme Council of Antiquities, Ministry of Antiquities, Cairo, Egypt 7Department of Archaeology and Ancient History, Uppsala University, Sweden

Summary: In this work we used non-destructive SEM imaging and EDS analysis to characterize the material Key words: scanning electron microscopy (SEM), composition of an Arabic ®nger ring, which was found archaeology, Allah, Ku®c Arabic, Islamic jewelry in a 9th c. woman's grave at the Viking Age (A.D. 793± 1066) trading center of Birka, Sweden. The ring is set with a violet stone inscribed with Arabic Ku®c writing, here interpreted as reading ªil-la-lahº, i.e. ªFor/to Introduction Allahº. The stone was previously thought to be an amethyst, but the current results show it to be coloured Birka, often considered Sweden's ®rst town, had a glass. The ring has been cast in a high-grade silver alloy strategic location on the island BjoÈrkoÈ, 25 km west of (94.5/5.5 Ag/Cu) and retains the post-casting marks modern-day Stockholm (Ambrosiani, 2012). Archaeo- from the ®ling done to remove ¯ash and mold lines. logical excavations of Birka have unearthed numerous Thus, the ring has rarely been worn, and likely passed objects from distant places, testifying to Birka's from the silversmith to the woman buried at Birka with importance as a trading center during the Viking Age few owners in between. The ring may therefore (A.D. 793±1066) (cf. HaÈgg, '83; Jansson, '85a, '88; constitute material evidence for direct interactions Duczko, '97; Ambrosiani and Gustin, 2003; Sindbñk between Viking Age and the Islamic 2012; Ambrosiani, 2013). One of the most signi®cant world. Being the only ring with an Arabic inscription ®nds is an Arabic-style ®nger ring (Fig. 1), found by found at a Scandinavian archaeological site, it is a archaeologist Hjalmar Stolpe during the 1872±1895 unique object among Swedish Viking Age material. The excavations of the Birka grave ®elds. This ring is now technical analysis presented here provides a better housed at the Swedish History Museum in Stockholm, understanding of the properties and background of this where the inventory catalogue describes it as being of intriguing piece of jewelry. SCANNING 9999:XX±XX, gilded silver, set with a violet amethyst inscribed with 2015. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. the word ªAllahº in Arabic Ku®c writing. Even though a few rings of similar design have been encountered at Birka and other archaeological sites (Jansson, '88), this Contract grant sponsor: Helge Ax:son Johnson Foundation. is the only Viking Age ring with an Arabic inscription Contract grant sponsor: Berit Wallenberg Foundation. found in Scandinavia, which affords it a unique status. ÃAddress for reprints: Sebastian K.T.S. WaÈrmlaÈnder, Division of Biophysics, Arrhenius Laboratories, Stockholm University, 106 91 However, a proper technical analysis of the ring has so Stockholm, Sweden. far not been carried out, and its material composition has Email: [email protected] been questioned. It was recently decided that a replica of Received 18 September 2014; Accepted with revision 29 December the ring should be made, and this provided us with an 2014 opportunity to examine the ring using non-destructive methods. Here, we present the results of this inves- DOI: 10.1002/sca.21189 Published online XX Month Year in Wiley Online Library tigation, which mainly is based on SEM±EDS imaging (wileyonlinelibrary.com). and elemental analysis. 2 SCANNING VOL. 9999, 9999 (2015)

 Fig 1. Photographs of the studied ring, by Ragnar Saage and by Christer Ahlin at the Swedish History Museum. Black line is 1 cm.

Materials culture in Asia Minor. At Birka, it was not used as a ®nger-ring, but had been made into a decorative amulet The ring was found in grave 515 (Swedish History together with an added silver bead (Fig. S5). Other Birka Museum; SHM 34000, Bj 515; FID 106842), located in ®nds include a similar ring missing a stone, and a stone grave ®eld 2 A north of Borg on the BjoÈrkoÈ Island. The of carnelian thought to belong to a ring (Fig. S6). Rings grave contained a rectangular wooden cof®n, and of this Arabic type have furthermore been encountered although the skeleton was completely decomposed, in trading posts in Eastern Europe, such as Polom, the clothes, jewelry, an equal-armed brooch, and two Poltava, and Verchnee Saltovo (Arne, '14, Figs. 326± characteristic oval brooches of type P 27b (Jansson, 328), and in what appears to be a male grave in the '85b) show it to be a female burial dating to circa AD Tankeevka cemetery in Tatarstan (Androshchuk, 2013 850. The ring was encountered where the woman's chest Fig. 81:4). These other rings do however not carry would have been, slightly below the right oval brooch inscriptions. During the Viking Age rings with Arabic and next to a pair of scissors (Arbman, '55). From the writing are rather uncommon in Europe, and only a left oval brooch a needle case was hanging in a chain, handful have so far been encountered (Roman Kovalev, and it seems possible that also the ring and the scissors personal communication). The Birka ring is the only one had been attached to the (right) oval brooch, i.e. with a found in Scandinavia, and because of its engraving, it now-lost string. Yet, as the burial position of the woman has often been interpreted as a signet ring (Arne, '14; is unknown, it is also possible that she was laid to rest Arbman, '40; '55; Aiken and Arwidsson, '86). with her hands on her chest, and with the ring on one of her ®ngers. Between the two brooches was a row of Methods beads made from glass, rock crystal, and carnelian (Fig. S1). The last two materials could originate from The ring was examined with a standard optical India or Caucasus, although also Yemen was known for stereomicroscope (E. Leitz GmbH) as well as with a its carnelian (Danielsson, '73; Arrhenius, '78; Jansson table-top Hitachi TM-3000 scanning electron micro- '85b, cat. no 15). In addition, some of the glass beads scope (SEM), operating at 15 kV and equipped for have a foreign appearance, and were likely imported. elemental analysis (SEM±EDS). The SEM investigation The woman's brooches and clothing are however typical was done without coating the object, using high vacuum Scandinavian. The clothing included an undergarment (10À 5 Torr) for the metal surface analysis, and low of ¯ax and a garment of blue wool, likely dyed with vacuum (10À 3 Torr) for the analysis of the stone (to woad (Geijer, '38; HaÈgg, '74; Jansson, '85b). avoid charge build-up). SEM-EDS data was recorded The ring is a normal-size ®nger ring, measuring for ®ve minutes at each measured point. Multiple 19 mm in outer shank diameter and 26 mm from the photographs of the ring, taken from different angles with bottom of the shank to the top of the stone. It is made of a digital SLR camera (Canon EOS 600D), were stitched white metal, set with a pink/violet stone with an Arabic together into a 3D model using the Agisoft PhotoScan inscription (Fig. 1 and S2). The overall design, with four software (Agisoft LLC, Russia). low prongs holding the oval cabochon-cut stone, is also Arabic (Arne, '14; Jansson, '88). Three other rings of this design have been found at Birka: one as a stray ®nd Results in the Black Earth, and the other two in graves Bj 526 and 791 (Figs. S3±5). The ring in the latter grave Photographs of the ring are shown in Fig. 1, and a 3D displays ¯ower ornamentation typical for the Seljuk model of the ring is shown in Fig. S8. Digital 3D models WaÈrmlaÈnder et al.: Analysis of an Arabic finger ring from Viking Age Birka, Sweden 3 have previously proven useful for visualizing intricate surface-etching or destructive cross-section sampling. details (Neiû et al., 2014) and for accurate metric The dendritic patterns of this microstructure (Berthelon, measurements (Sholts et al., 2011) of archaeological 2007) allow us to conclude that the ring was cast without material. The current 3D model is included to give the further manipulation (as expected). The metal surface reader a better visual understanding of the ring. SEM furthermore exhibits ubiquitous parallel striations images of details of the ring are shown in Fig. 2. (Fig. 2). These striations arguably originate from ®ling Remnants of organic material are present in the crevices carried out to remove ¯ash and mold lines after the under the stone (Fig. 2), which is not uncommon in casting, and the presence of ®le marks on the prong tops archaeologically excavated objects. The ring shank is (Fig. 2) indicates that the ®ling took place before the broken in three places, and the parts have been clumsily stone was set (otherwise the stone would have been glued together. SEM-EDS analysis showed the joins to damaged). Together with the absence of gold on the contain only organic material ± no traces of soldering metal surface (i.e., the SEM-EDS results), the ®le marks material were observed. It is not clear whether the ring clearly show that the previous description of the ring as was broken when it was unearthed in the late 1800's, but gilded was mistaken: if the surface had been gilt and the it might have been. The appearance of the glue is not gold layer had worn away, also the ®le markings would consistent with 1,000-year old animal glue, which be gone. But the metal surface displays no wear, and as anyway would be too weak to hold small metal parts. the original ®le marks are still in place, this ring has Most likely it is a modern polymer adhesive, although no never been much used. documentation regarding such repairs has been found. For the stone, SEM±EDS analysis identi®ed the The alloy was found to consist of 94.5% Ag and 5.5% Cu elements O (70.4%), Si (20.6%), Na (3.7%), Mg (2.5%), (Fig. 3 and Table 1). Also Cl and S were detected, Ca (0.8%), K (0.7%), and Al (0.7%) (Fig. S7). This is a indicating the presence of the common silver corrosion composition typical for soda-lime glass, even though the products AgCl and AgS. This is consistent with the amount of oxygen is at the high end (this might relate to blackened metal surface. No gold was detected on the the calibration of the table-top SEM). Examination metal surface. In many places natural interdendritic under a light microscope revealed numerous spherical surface corrosion in the eutectic reveals the micro- air bubbles inside the stone. Such bubbles are typical for structure of the material (Fig. 2), alleviating the need for manufactured glass, but unheard of in natural crystalline

Fig 2. SEM images of details of the ring (recorded by S.W.). Upper left: Shank surface covered with ®le marks. Upper right: Close-up of dendritic microstructure revealed by interdendritic corrosion, showing that the alloy was not manipulated after casting. Lower left: File marks are present also on the prongs, indicating that the ®ling was done before the stone was set. Lower right: Organic material is present in the crevices under the stone, which is typical for archaeological objects. 4 SCANNING VOL. 9999, 9999 (2015)

Fig 3. SEM-EDS spectrum for the ring surface. Data was recorded without sample-coating for ®ve minutes at 15 kV, using a table-top Hitachi TM-3000 SEM. The resulting elemental composition is shown in Table 1. materials (they might be found in e.g. amorphous hardness of 5.5±6.5. It is therefore not surprising that the volcanic rock). We conclude that the stone is not an stone displays more wear than the silver mounting. amethyst, as previously thought, but consists of When jewelry was inscribed in ancient times, the gem- coloured glass. The colouring agent(s) is unknown, as cutters usually preferred slightly harder quartz-based the elements responsible for the violet hue appear to be materials such as agate, amethyst, and onyx (King, below the detection limit of the employed SEM 2003; Schumann, 2011), all of which have a Mohs instrument. Further elucidation of the colouring agents hardness around 7. Considering that the inscription is would likely require destructive analysis. In difference located on top of the stone, it is actually quite well from the metal, the stone displays moderate use-wear in preserved, which is in line with the ring body displaying the form of scratches and dents. This could be inter- minimal use-wear. preted as the stone being older than the mounting ± The inscription is written in a lapidary form of Arabic perhaps the stone was reused from an older piece of Ku®c script (Figs. 1, 4, and S2). This angular script was jewelry? On the other hand, the stone is the most developed in the 7th c., dominated Arabic writing in the exposed part of a ring, and here it is made from a 8th±10th c., and waned in popularity during the 12th c. relatively soft material, i.e. glass with a typical Mohs when it was replaced by the cursive Naskh style. In our

TABLE 1 Elemental composition of the ring surface, analyzed with SEM-EDS (cf. Fig. 3). The results are interpreted as a 94.5/5.5 Ag/Cu alloy displaying AgS and AgCl2 corrosion. Al, Na, P, Si, and Mg are typical earth elements, and are commonly found on the surface of archaeologically excavated objects.

Element AN Series Net unn. [wt.%] C norm. [wt.%] C Atom. [at.%] C Error [%] Silver 47 L-series 222622 81.42 84.42 63.54 2.6 Chlorine 17 K-series 28205 5.96 6.18 14.15 0.2 Copper 29 K-series 2187 2.79 2.89 3.70 0.1 Sulfur 16 K-series 11877 2.41 2.49 6.32 0.1 Aluminium 13 K-series 4283 1.22 1.27 3.81 0.1 Sodium 11 K-series 1718 0.94 0.97 3.44 0.1 Phosphorus 15 K-series 4183 0.92 0.95 2.50 0.1 Silicon 14 K-series 1816 0.43 0.45 1.30 0.0 Magnesium 12 K-series 983 0.36 0.37 1.25 0.0 Total: 96.46 100.00 100.00 WaÈrmlaÈnder et al.: Analysis of an Arabic finger ring from Viking Age Birka, Sweden 5 For the stone, we must remember that even though coloured glass might today be perceived as a ªfakeº material of lower value, this was not necessarily so in the past. Even though glass production began around 5,000 years ago in the Levant (Nicholson and Shaw, 2000; Glover et al., 2003), it was still an exotic material in Viking Age Scandinavia. Judging by archaeological ®nds from pre-historic Scandinavian workshops, it Fig 4. The Arabic inscription in the stone, engraved with early appears that the craftsmen had learned the basics of Ku®c characters. From right to left it appears to read ªAL__LLHº, glass-working, but did not yet master glass-production which we interpret as ªil-la-lahº, i.e. ªFor/to Allahº. Compare (Callmer, '77; Glover et al., 2003; WaÈrmlaÈnder et al., Figs. 1 and S2. 2010). Glass was consequently a prestigious material that had to be imported, either as ready-made objects case, the angular style and the absence of a shidda sign such as bottles and beakers, or as rods or shattered indicates an early version of Ku®c, which is consistent fragments that the local artisans could work into highly with the grave at Birka dating to around AD 850. From valued colourful beads. Even if the woman in grave 515 right to left, the characters appear to read ªAL__LL- knew that the stone in her ring was made from glass, she [H?]º. Considering the normal stylistic writing of the would not have considered it ªfakeº. word Allah (Arabic for God) as ALLH, the last part of For the ring body, the presence of original ®ling the inscription seems to invoke the Islamic high deity. marks is in stark contrast to most objects in the Birka That said, the elongated middle section and the extra graves, where the standard copper-alloy jewelry almost stroke representing a third ªLº are problematic. always displays some degree of wear. Grave goods in Presently, we interpret the inscription as ILLLH, to be expensive silver were relatively uncommon during the read il-la-lah, i.e. ªFor/to (the approval) of the Godº. Viking Age, and a proper use-wear study of the existing Several regional variations of Arabic spelling and silver jewelry still needs to be carried out. The most writing are however known to exist, and it is furthermore common silver objects in the Birka grave ®elds are possible that the inscription was written ± or copied ± by coins, all of which were imported: the ®rst indigenous someone with an incomplete understanding of Arabic Swedish coins were minted in A.D. 995 in the city of writing. Consequently, alternative interpretations of the Sigtuna, i.e. just after Birka had been abandoned engraving are possible. For example, if a missing line is (Malmer, 2002; 2010). Many of the coins at Birka assumed, the letters could be read as ªINsϼLLHº, i.e. came from the Caliphate, and had high proportions of ªInshallahº (ªgod-willingº). The missing dots for N and silver, mainly provided by the rich silver mines in sÏ would then be explained by the normal conventions of Panjshir, Afghanistan (Negmatov, '99). Such silver lapidary Ku®c. Most likely, we will never know the coins were frequently used as raw material by exact meaning behind the inscription, or where and why Scandinavian silver smiths (Kovalev, 2002; Eniosova it was done. For the present investigation, it is enough to and Mitoyan, 2011; Boytrup et al, 2013). Given its note that its Arabic/Islamic nature clearly links the ring Arabic style, the high silver content in the studied ring is and the stone to the cultural sphere of the Caliphate. therefore not unexpected. In difference from the ring, though, the Arabic silver coins that found their way to Discussion and Conclusions Viking Age Scandinavia were usually worn and torn (Gullbekk, 2012; HoveÂn, '85) from passing many hands Our analysis shows that the studied ring consists of a along the established trade routes (Noonan, '89; '90; high-quality (94.5%) non-gilded silver alloy, set with a Rezakhani 2010). stone of coloured soda-lime glass with an Arabic When items retaining fresh production marks are inscription reading some version of the word ªAllahº. encountered in excavated graves, it can be speculated Thus, the previous description of this item as a signet that they were purpose-manufactured as grave offerings ring consisting of gilded silver set with an amethyst was by local craftsmen (cf. Trotzig, '69). In our case though, not entirely correct. This raises the question whether the we know that the ring was produced far outside absence of expensive materials in the ring (from a Scandinavia, and being buried in the Birka grave ®elds modern point of view) demotes its historic importance was hardly the main rationale behind its production. We or value? The simple answer is: not at all. The can only guess what purpose the ring originally was signi®cance of this ring has never been based on its meant to serve, although it was likely not intended for purported material composition, but on its connection to everyday use. The previously suggested idea that it was the Islamic world. This connection is now not only a signet ring (Arne, '14; Arbman, '40; '55; Aiken and con®rmed, but actually strengthened due to the mint Arwidsson, '86) should probably be discarded: even condition of the ring's metal body, as will be discussed though engraved rings were often used for such purposes below. in societies where most people could not read or write 6 SCANNING VOL. 9999, 9999 (2015) and where written signatures had no legal status, it jeweller Christian Bolin at W.A. Bolin, Stockholm, would be unusual to employ a god's name as your seal. helped with the examination of the ring and the stone. Although harder than wax (as used in seals), glass is The study was ®nanced by grants from Helge Ax:son furthermore not an ideal material for a signet ring, Johnson Foundation and Berit Wallenberg Foundation although in this case such use would be compatible with to S.W., while R.S received support from the European the stone displaying much more wear than the metal Union through the European Regional Development body. The lack of wear on the silver surface suggests that Fund (Center of Excellence CECT) and from the the ring passed from the Arabic silversmith who made it European Social Fund's Doctoral Studies and Inter- to the woman in grave 515 with few, if any, owners in nationalisation Programme DoRa, which is carried out between. Even though the decomposed state of the by Foundation Archimedes. bones in the grave precludes any biochemical analysis, which otherwise could have shed light on the geographic References or ethnic origin of the buried woman, it is not impossible that the woman herself, or someone close to her, might Aiken E, Arwidsson G. 1986. Armringe, ArmbuÈgel und Finger- have visited - or even originate from - the Caliphate or its ringe. In: Arwidsson G editor., Birka II:2, Systematische surrounding regions. Analysen der GraÈberfunde. Stockholm, Sweden: Kungl. Such long-distance travelling during the Viking Age Vitterhets-, historie,- och antikvitetsakademien. 73±76. Ambrosiani B, Gustin I. 2003. Islamic links to Birka during the is of course mentioned both on Swedish rune stones and Viking Age. In: Musin RN editor., Velikie Volschskie Putie in Mediaeval written texts (Birkeland, '54; Androsh- II. Kazan, Russia. 27±36. chuk, 2012; Mikkelsen 2012; Montgomery, 2012; Ambrosiani B. 2012. Birka. 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