Lot 885
Thumb ring of a Nubian archer, Late Period, mid- to late 1st millennium B.C.
Works of Art, Antiquities & Ancient Art | A109kua | Live auction | 1190 Lots
Description
Archer's thumb ring, conically ground on the exterior with a cylindrical bore in the centre, minimally widened towards the openings. Outer diameter at the two ends 3.5 cm and 5 cm. Diameter of the central bore 2.4 cm. Height 3 cm. The material a specific diorite variety, as known from examples of the same type in the Louvre (inventory no. E14974) or the National Museums Liverpool (inventory no. 49.47.822). The rings served Nubian archers in Egyptian service as protection when drawing the bowstring. Nubians served in the Egyptian army from the second half of the 3rd millennium. During the Late Period, Nubians (known as Kushites) ruled Egypt during the 25th Dynasty (744 to 656 B.C.). A bronze statue of a Kushite King of the Kingdom of Meroe in present-day Sudan from the 1st century B.C. depicts the ruler wearing a thumb ring of identical form, which also identifies him as a military Führer (Sudanese National Museum in Khartoum – found in the 70s on the Nile island of Argo in northern Sudan). Comparable rings of the same type dating from the last centuries before Christ come from the necropolises of the Kushite capital Meroe. Near-perfect condition with only minimal chipping (more elegant in form and better preserved than the piece in the Louvre). CULTURAL ASSET!Provenance: From the private collection of M. K. in Belgium. Compiled in the 1970s.
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