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Related: About this forumRing brings ancient Viking, Islamic civilizations closer together
Ring brings ancient Viking, Islamic civilizations closer together
More than a century after its discovery in a ninth century womans grave, an engraved ring has revealed evidence of close contacts between Viking Age Scandinavians and the Islamic world.
Excavators of a Viking trading center in Sweden called Birka recovered the silver ring in the late 1800s. Until now, it was thought that it featured a violet amethyst engraved with Arabic-looking characters. But closer inspection with a scanning electron microscope revealed that the presumed amethyst is colored glass (an exotic material at the time), say biophysicist Sebastian Wärmländer of Stockholm University and his colleagues.
An inscription on the glass inset reads either for Allah or to Allah in an ancient Arabic script, the researchers report February 23 in Scanning.
Scandinavians traded for fancy glass objects from Egypt and Mesopotamia as early as 3,400 years ago (SN: 1/24/15, p. 8). Thus, seagoing Scandinavians could have acquired glass items from Islamic traders in the same part of the world more than 2,000 years later rather than waiting for such desirable pieces to move north through trade networks.
Excavators of a Viking trading center in Sweden called Birka recovered the silver ring in the late 1800s. Until now, it was thought that it featured a violet amethyst engraved with Arabic-looking characters. But closer inspection with a scanning electron microscope revealed that the presumed amethyst is colored glass (an exotic material at the time), say biophysicist Sebastian Wärmländer of Stockholm University and his colleagues.
An inscription on the glass inset reads either for Allah or to Allah in an ancient Arabic script, the researchers report February 23 in Scanning.
Scandinavians traded for fancy glass objects from Egypt and Mesopotamia as early as 3,400 years ago (SN: 1/24/15, p. 8). Thus, seagoing Scandinavians could have acquired glass items from Islamic traders in the same part of the world more than 2,000 years later rather than waiting for such desirable pieces to move north through trade networks.
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Ring brings ancient Viking, Islamic civilizations closer together (Original Post)
Fantastic Anarchist
Mar 2015
OP
niyad
(113,860 posts)1. fascinating
AlbertCat
(17,505 posts)2. Wait a minute! This isn't about Opera!!!
Fantastic Anarchist
(7,309 posts)3. LOL ...
Well, has the fat lady sung?
Panich52
(5,829 posts)4. Nice ring. Too bad it's glass. Thx f/ post
rogerashton
(3,920 posts)5. The Varangian Guard
were a Scandinavian unit in the armies of the Byzantine Empire. There were longships following the rivers of Ukraine down to the Black Sea and on to Constantinople, where some of them signed up -- and the Caliphate was right next door. So, sure, there must have been trade between Vikings and Muslims.
Lordquinton
(7,886 posts)6. the vikings were raiding the Islamic lands
Before the varangian guard was formed. They were on their way home from a raid and decided to raid cknstanople. They failed, but tgey ledt with a trade agreement and the guard formed from there.
wolfie001
(2,298 posts)7. Yeah, here is their graffitti