A bright blue faience finger ring. The elliptical bezel is moulded with a series of somewhat stylised hieroglyphs which read Amun-ra is Lord, a powerful religious invocation.
 
Egyptian New Kingdom Amarna period: Circa 1336-1327 B.C.
 
Condition: As is often the case, the hoop has been repaired in a couple of places, although the pieces are original to the same ring. Otherwise in fine condition generally.
Maximum width: 19.7 mms (0.78 ins)
 
Provenance: Ex London gallery; previously in a home counties UK collection circa 1930-1940.
 
Early in his reign, Akhenaten banned the worship of Amun and chipped his name off monuments. This ring likely dates to the very end of the Amarna period (under Tutankhamun or Ankhesenamun) when the royal court abandoned the city, rejected the Aten heresy, and officially restored the cult of Amun-Ra.
 
Amarna faience rings were predominantly intended as "festival favors" or amuletic protection rather than secure official stamps.
 
Their inscriptions fall into three major categories: Royal Names (Cartouches) which contain prenomens or names of Amarna rulers like Amenhotep III (Nebmaatre), Akhenaten (Neferkheperure-Waenre), Nefertiti, and Tutankhamun (Nebkheperure); Divine and amuletic symbols such as the Wedjat (Eye of Horus), Ankh (life), or Nefer (beauty/goodness) to shield the wearer from malicious forces; Naturalist Ideograms: Rings featuring lotus flowers, mandrake fruits, or Tilapia fish motifs. These symbols directly represent new life, rebirth, and fertility within the short-lived Amarna religious shift.
 
'These faience rings were manufactured from two separate clay moulds, as evidenced by the hundred recovered from excavations at the site of Amarna. faience paste was pressed into separate moulds for the bezel and the shank, and the resulting pieces were joined together with a slurry of the core material. Glaze was then applied and the whole ring fired.' (F. Friedman (ed.), Gifts from the Nile, Ancient Egyptian Faience, London, 1998).