CIRCA 6TH-7TH CENTURY A.D.

This present example is a marriage or betrothal ring. The bezel is engraved in the centre with a depiction of a bride and groom, flanking a cross, the inscription beneath reads OMONOIA (harmony). For two similar examples in the Dumbarton Oaks collection, Washington D.C., see A. Lazaridou, Transition to Christianity, Art of Late Antiquity, 3rd-7th Century AD, 2011, p. 110, nos 59 and 60, S. Zwain explains "OMONOIA is the most frequent inscription on marriage rings of this period. In conveys the hope for concord in the bond of marriage, and it has been persuasively argued that it also funtioned as an amuletic invocation against ill-intentioned wishes for a couple's marriage".