Ring, AKM597, The Aga Khan Museum

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AKM597, Ring
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Ring, AKM597, The Aga Khan Museum

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RING

Accession Number: AKM597

Place: Egypt

Dimensions: Height 3.1cm

Date: 11th century

Materials and Technique: gold; filigree and granulation

Executed with exceptional skill, this golden ring offers an eloquent testament to the
craftsmanship of Fatimid artisans as well as the opulence of Fatimid tastes. Typical of
Fatimid rings, it does not have a gemstone at its bezel. Instead, it is decorated with elaborate
patterns in metal wire (filigree), further embellished with granulated beads of gold
(granulation). Its unusual shape—what art historian Marian Wenzel likened to a stirrup[1] —is
shared by a handful of other rings in such international collections as the Khalili Collection,
London; the al-Sabah Collection in Kuwait; and the Harari Collection, now at the L. A.
Memorial Mayer Institute for Islamic Art in Jerusalem.[2] Wenzel suggested two types of
Fatimid rings, the other being those with rectangular bezels (see AKM948.2).

Further Reading

Ruling from the capital city of Cairo, the Fatimid dynasty (909–1171) derived their name from
Fatima, daughter of the Prophet Muhammad. Their territory stretched across North Africa,
and at its maximum extent included areas as far east as the Levant and Hijaz. The Empire
maintained important trade relations within Africa as well as with empires around the Indian
Ocean and Mediterranean Sea. The Fatimids formed an especially important relationship
with the nearby Byzantine Empire (ca. 330–1453), and some Fatimid jewellery has very
distinct links to Byzantine objects (see AKM594).

The Fatimids obtained gold from a number of sources, including nearby mines in Nubia
(modern-day Sudan), as well as the Kingdom of Ghana. In other cases, Fatimid artisans
melted down and repurposed older jewellery, a probable fate for many Fatimid pieces which

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Ring, AKM597, The Aga Khan Museum

no longer exist today. The infamous looting of the treasury of Fatimid caliph al-Mustansir
(1036–94) around 1070 resulted in an irreplaceable loss of many riches from this period.

The type of filigree used on this ring is called mushhabbak (latticework) in 12th-century
trousseau lists from the Cairo Geniza, a trove of medieval manuscript fragments found in the
Ben Ezra Synagogue in Fustat or Old Cairo, Egypt, that indicate prices, terminology, and
production details about the goldsmithing and jewellery industry documents.[3] While filigree
remained an important element of Fatimid jewellery, the use of granulation eventually fell to
the wayside, something that scholar Marc Rosenberg referred to as “the battle of granulation
and filigree” in which the latter eventually prevailed.[4] This analysis suggests that this ring is
among the earliest of Fatimid jewel types.

— Courtney Stewart

Notes
[1] Marian Wenzel, Ornament and Amulet: Rings of the Islamic Lands (New York: Nour
Foundation in association with Azimuth Editions and Oxford University Press, 1993), 199,
42–43.
[2] L.A. Memorial Mayer Institute for Islamic Art (no. J29 and J30) Khalili Collection, JLY
1846, 1847, 1878.
[3] Marilyn Jenkins-Madina, The Glory of Byzantium (New York: The Metropolitan Museum of
Art, 1997), 419–20, quoting Goitein, A Mediterranean Society: The Jewish Communities of
the Arab World As Portrayed in the Documents of the Cairo Geniza, vol. 4, 211 –12.
[4] Marilyn Jenkins, “Fatimid Jewelry, Its Subtypes and Influences,” Ars Orientalis, vol. 18
(1988), 40, quoting Marc Rosenberg, “Abteilung: Granulation,” Geschichte der
Goldschmiedekunst auf Technischer Grundlage, vol. 3 (Frankfurt, 1918), 96–103.

References
Barrucand, Marianne.  L'egypte Fatimide: Son Art Et Son Histoire : Actes Du Colloque Organisé À
Paris Les 28, 29 Et 30 Mai 1998. Paris: Presses de l'université de Paris-Sorbonne, 1998, 197–217.
ISBN: 9782840501626
Bloom, Jonathan M.  Arts of the City Victorious. New Haven and London: Yale University Press,
2007. ISBN: 9780300135428
Content, Derek J.  Islamic Rings and Gems: The Benjamin Zucker Collection. London: Philip
Wilson Publishers, 1987. ISBN: 9780856673337
Ekhtiar, Maryam, Sheila R. Canby, Navina Haidar, and Priscilla P. Soucek, eds. Masterpieces from

https://agakhanmuseum.org/collection/artifact/ring-akm597[2/13/2021 10:33:12 PM]

Ring, AKM597, The Aga Khan Museum

the Department of Islamic Art in The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1st ed. New York: The
Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2011. ISBN 9781588394347
Goitein, Shelomoh D.  A Mediterranean Society: The Jewish Communities of the Arab World As
Portrayed in the Documents of the Cairo Geniza. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1999.
ISBN: 9780520221581
Jenkins-Madina, Marilyn, and Manuel Keene.  Islamic Jewelry in the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1983. ISBN: 9780870993268
Jenkins-Madina, Marilyn. "Fatimid Jewelry, Its Subtypes and Influences."  Ars Orientalis, vol. 18
(1988), 40, 45, ill. figs. 51, 5b.
O'Kane, Bernard.  The Treasures of Islamic Art in the Museums of Cairo. Cairo: American
University in Cairo Press, 2006. ISBN: 9789774248603
Rosenberg, Marc. “Abteilung: Granulation.”  Geschichte der Goldschmiedekunst auf Technischer
Grundlage, vol. 3. Frankfurt: 1918, 96–103.
Spink, Michael and Jack Ogden.  The Art of Adornment; Jewellery of the Islamic Lands. Part I and
Part II. London: Nour Foundation, 2013.  ISBN: 9781874780861
Trésors Fatimides du Caire  Exposition Présentée à l'Institut du Monde Arabe du 28 Avril au 30
Aout 1998. Paris: Institut du Monde Arabe, 1998. ISBN: 9782843060113
Wenzel, Marian.  Ornament and Amulet: Rings of the Islamic Lands. New York: Nour Foundation
in association with Azimuth Editions and Oxford University Press, 1993. ISBN: 9780197276143

Note: This online resource is reviewed and updated on an ongoing basis.

We are committed to improving this
information and will revise and update knowledge about this object as it becomes available.

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