‘This ring went through a great journey in time and space’

Was an ancient European ring found in Israel used as a wedding band depicting the Temple?

Unearthed at Huqoq, the artifact may represent the missing link between 1,300-year-old Merovingian rings and popular medieval Jewish nuptial bands, new research shows

During the 2018 season excavation at the Huqoq synagogue in North Israel, archaeologists uncovered a hoard of medieval coins and jewelry, including an architectural silver ring likely made between the 6th and 8th centuries in Western Europe. (Jim Haberman)
During the 2018 season excavation at the Huqoq synagogue in North Israel, archaeologists uncovered a hoard of medieval coins and jewelry, including an architectural silver ring likely made between the 6th and 8th centuries in Western Europe. (Jim Haberman)

A rare silver ring unearthed in Israel might represent the missing link between the so-called Merovingian architectural rings manufactured in the 6th-8th centuries CE in Western Europe and Jewish wedding bands featuring miniature buildings, which started to be popular in the late Middle Ages, Prof. Dennis Mizzi of the University of Malta told The Times of Israel.

The ring was discovered in 2018 in the remains of a late medieval synagogue at Huqoq, a site in the Galilee that was excavated between 2011 and 2023 under the direction of Prof. Jodi Magness of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, assisted by Mizzi. The artifact was found as part of an impressive hoard of silver and gold coins.

“The ring from Huqoq can be described as an architectural ring because its band is topped by a miniature building, which consists of a domed structure sitting on an arched structure,” Mizzi said over a video call ahead of an upcoming academic conference where he will present the preliminary results of his research for the first time.

“The ring’s band features spiral groove motifs and granulation, creating a sort of beaded decoration,” he added.

Mizzi explained that researchers are familiar with several similar rings, including an almost exact replica of the Huqoq ring in gold, which he believes was probably made in the same workshop.

“Some of the rings were uncovered in archaeological excavations in modern-day France, Belgium, and Germany, in tombs from the Merovingian period,” said Mizzi. “Others, including the identical gold ring, belong to private collections and we do not have information about their origin. The Huqoq ring is the first such ring ever discovered in archaeological excavations in Israel.”

Rings can only be dated based on their manufacturing technique or the archaeological context of their find — if known.

“Discovering a ring that in all likelihood was manufactured in Western Europe in the Merovingian period amid a trove of 14th-15th century coins next to a medieval synagogue in Israel has been fascinating,” Mizzi noted.

The location where the ring was found proves that the artifact was still in circulation in the 15th century, centuries after it was originally made. What happened over that period remains a mystery, but in his research, Mizzi has come up with some suggestions.

During the 2018 season excavation at the Huqoq synagogue in north Israel, archaeologists uncovered a hoard of medieval coins and jewelry, including an architectural silver ring likely made between the 6th and 8th centuries in Western Europe. In the image, Dr. Dennis Mizzi, assistant director of the Huqoq Excavation Project, and his team with the hoard right before its removal. (Jim Haberman)

“Anthropologists speak about the social biography of objects,” said Mizzi. “The ring we found at Huqoq has a very long social biography.”

The ring likely switched owners several times, according to the researcher.

“What we know is that, at some point, it was removed from Western Europe and brought to the Galilee, and finally, deposited next to the synagogue at Huqoq,” Mizzi said. “The ring went through a great journey in time and space.”

The archaeologists uncovered the 14th-century structure at Huqoq on top of the remains of a late-Roman synagogue. Magness and Mizzi argue that, during that period, the original building that had been abandoned was expanded and repurposed as a synagogue — the only one ever discovered in Israel from that time.

The hoard of coins was discovered next to a collapsed wall. It contained over 360 gold and silver coins, mainly from the Venetian Republic and the Mamluk Sultanate, which ruled over the Levant between the mid-13th century and the 16th century. Some of the coins were pierced and repurposed as pendants. A pair of earrings was also found in the hoard.

By the 14th century, Huqoq had come to be regarded as the burial place of the biblical prophet Habakkuk, drawing Jewish, Muslim, and Christian pilgrims from near and far.

“We know that pilgrims deposit votive objects, including jewelry and coins, and therefore, a pilgrimage economy might offer a good explanation of how the ring made its way to Huqoq,” said Mizzi.

During the 2018 season excavation at the Huqoq synagogue in north Israel, archaeologists uncovered a hoard of medieval coins. (Tal Rogovsky)

Intense commercial exchanges between Europe and the Levant also existed at the time, which could have also played a role in the ring’s journey.

Mizzi suggests that the final location of the ring might not have been by chance for another reason.

In the 14th and 15th centuries, wedding bands with an architectural bezel became popular among Jewish couples.

“The rings we know of from that period are more elaborate and are engraved with the Hebrew words ‘mazal tov,’ or an abbreviation of it. Therefore, they are significantly different from the Huqoq ring,” Mizzi said, referring to the congratulatory Hebrew phrase that literally means “good luck.”

However, Mizzi pointed out that some scholars previously suggested that the Merovingian rings could have inspired the late-medieval Jewish wedding bands.

During the 2018 season excavation at the Huqoq synagogue in North Israel, archaeologists uncovered a hoard of medieval coins and jewelry, including an architectural silver ring likely made between the 6th and 8th centuries in Western Europe. In the picture, the ring before it was cleaned. (Tal Rogovski)

“I want to be very cautious because it is only a hypothesis, but perhaps the Huqoq ring could be the link we were missing between these two types of artifacts,” he said. “Perhaps, over the centuries, our Merovingian silver ring was repurposed as a Jewish wedding band.”

Mizzi also bases his theory on another feature of the ring: its decorating structure.

“When people see a dome surmounting an arched structure, they immediately think of the Dome of the Rock,” he said, referring to the Muslim shrine built by the Umayyad caliph in the late 7th century on top of the hill in Jerusalem where the Jewish Temple used to stand.

“What is interesting is that from at least the 11th century, both Jewish and Christian sources depicted the Jewish Temple as very similar to the Dome of the Rock, an arched structure topped by a dome,” Mizzi added.

During the 2018 season excavation at the Huqoq synagogue in North Israel, archaeologists uncovered a hoard of medieval coins and jewelry. Aerial view of the Huqoq site in 2023 (Griffin Higher Photography)

According to the scholar, similar illustrations appear in several manuscripts, including in some ketubot, or Jewish marriage contracts.

“While many Merovingian rings were made before the Dome of the Rock even existed, it is not far-fetched to think that someone could have found this ring very suitable to be used as a Jewish wedding band, considering that its main decoration could have been taken as portraying the Temple,” said Mizzi.

(From left) Matthew Grey, Jodi Magness, and Jocelyn Burney at the Huqoq excavations in Israel in 2023. (Jim Haberman)

“Let us also not forget that the theme of the Temple is very present in the Jewish wedding ceremony, part of which commemorates its destruction,” he added.

Mizzi emphasized that his hypothesis remains merely an interpretation of the data available about the ring.

During the 2018 season excavation at the Huqoq synagogue in North Israel, archaeologists uncovered a hoard of medieval coins. (Google maps)

“However, if the ring was indeed repurposed as a Jewish wedding band after its creation, that would explain why we found it in a Jewish context in medieval Galilee,” he concluded, adding that the research is still in progress.

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