The word “ring,” _tabba-ath_, appears once in Genesis (xli: 42), the ring given by Pharaoh to Joseph; six times in Esther iii: 10, 12; viii: 2, 8 (bis), 10, the ring of Ahasuerus. In the New Testament the ring is mentioned once in Luke xv: 22, the ring given the Prodigal Son; and once in the Epistle of James, ii: 2. The word “rings,” as finger-rings, occurs in Exodus xxxv: 22, of the offerings of the people of Israel in the desert; in Numbers xxxi: 50; in Canticles v: 14 (this is probably to be rendered “rods”),[598] and in Isaiah iii: 21. That rings should be so rarely alluded to in the Old Testament might seem to prove that they were not as extensively worn in the land of Israel as some have assumed. The finest ancient Hebrew signet is said to be one of the time of Jeroboam II, King of Israel (790–749? B.C.), found at Megiddo. This is the seal of Shemai, the King’s Minister of State. It is of jasper and bears the finely engraved figure of a lion. The form is oval and the seal measures 3.7 by 2.7 cm.[599] INDEX A Aah-hotep, Queen, signet of, 117 Abbots’ rings, 280 Abbott, Dr., Egyptian collection of, 118 Abbesses’ rings, 280 Aberdeen, Earl of, 339 Achametis, on dreams of rings, 298 Add-a-link ring, 93 Adjustable rings, 93 Adler, Cyrus, viii Ælian, 32 African rings, 64, 83, 84, 328 Agate, 81, 87, 335 Agincourt, rings found on battlefield of, 165 _Agla_ motto on healing rings, 339 Agricola, Johannes, on healing rings, 351 Ahasuerus, signet of, 116 Ahlstan, Bishop of Sherbourne, ring of, 271 Albert, Prince, 225 Albertus Magnus, on virtues of talismans, 311 Alexander the Great, signet of, 123 Alfonso X, Lapidario of, 304, 305 Alfonso XIII, old usage said to have been observed at marriage of, 213 Alliot, Hector, viii Amber, 104, 341 entire rings of, 104 Ambrose, St., 128 Amelia, Princess, Memorial ring of, 43 Amenhotep IV (Akhenaten), ring of, 67 American Museum of Natural History, 65 American rings, 17–30, 47, 84, 85, 108 Amethyst, 34, 50, 73, 86, 111, 125, 126, 158, 227, 252, 279, 328, 335 Andalusite, 86 Anglo-Saxon rings, 195 of Bishop Ahlstan, 271 of Ethelswith, 173, 174 of Ethelwulf, 173, 174 Anhalt, princess of, magic ring of, 316, 317 Annay, Sir William d’, ring given to by Richard Cœur-de-Lion, 177 Anne, St., betrothal ring of, 261 Anne of Denmark, 189 Antiochus IV, Epiphanes, signet of, 125 Antoninus Pius, head of, on signet, 140 _Anularius_, a ring-maker, 16 Anuli natalitii, 15 _Anulus pronubus_, 193 Apollonius of Tyana, magic rings of, 296, 325 Aquamarine, 158 Aquinas, St. Thomas, 211 Arabic rings, Mohammed’s seal, 141 with carnelians, 141 mottoes and devices on, 142 Archæological Institute, London, 73