Old Ring

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At the last meeting of the New York Historical Society, Mr. De Peyster,the Vice President, submitted to the Society wax impressions of a very ancient gold ring, found by an Arab laborer near the great Pyramid ot Che-I ops. The ring weighed about three English sovereigns. The tomb near which it was fdund was that of a high priest. Professor Lepsius, Chevalier Bunson, Mr. R. S. Poole, Rev. J. Leader, of Cairo, and other distinguished Egyptian scholars, agreed in considering this ring authentic, and place its date at three thousand years before Christ. The beauty of the hieroglyphic symbols engraved upon its oval face could not now be surpassed. The delicacy and sharpness of the etching could only be properly seen by a microscope. It was doubtless the royal signet, and was in keeping of the high priest; and the particular sovereign to whom it had belonged was supposed to have been the second Pharaoh of the fourth dynasty. The wax impressions were handed around among the members, and the ring itself afterwards shown by Mr. De Pey-ster. It bears mark ot having been much worn.

Scientific American Magazine Vol 8 Issue 10This article was published with the title “Old Ring” in Scientific American Magazine Vol. 8 No. 10 (), p. 74
doi:10.1038/scientificamerican11201852-74e

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