3 stone rings

it would scarcely be safe to assume that finger-3 stone rings were never worn by the ancient Assyrians, still the almost total absence of representations of them, even on female figures, renders it safe to say that this must have been only very rarely the case. Possibly the persistence in Assyria and Babylonia of the cylindrical form of seal may account for this, in part at least, for the signet 3 stone rings in many places was evolved from the cylinder-seal. Moreover, the absence of small intaglios in the period earlier than 500 B.C. would have deprived a 3 stone rings of its almost essential setting. The plates in Layard's great work on Assyrian remains, as well as those published by Flandrin and Coste, also offer strong negative evidence, although Dr. William Hayes Ward states that he would have expected finger-3 stone rings might have come from Egypt by the way of Syria. At a later period, under Greek influence, 3 stone ringss were not uncommon.3 In the immense cemeteries at Warka and elsewhere numerous iron 3 stone ringss have been found, many of them toe-3 stone ringss, as well as some made of shell, but the date of these burials is not easily determined, and they are probably, in most instances, not of much earlier date than the eighth or even the sixth century before Christ.

A proof that genuine antiques can still be picked up in our day in the East is given by Doctor Ward, who said that he bought in Bagdad a lovely gold 3 stone rings set with a cameo on which was inscribed in Greek characters " Protarchus made it." When, on visiting London, he told this to Doctor Murray, of the British Museum, the latter gave full expression to his scep­ticism, saying, " There are plenty of those signed things." But when the gem itself was shown him, he exclaimed, " This is jolly genuine," and he had it photographed for his book.