Golden Ring

This is a golden ring inscribed with Hittite Luffic Hieroglyphic script. It reads: “The free woman.”

The term ‘Hieroglyph’ is used for all the scripts which tend to picture forms as opposed to sounds - such as the Hieroglyphs of Maya, Inca, as well as the Egyptian. The kind of Hieroglyphs used on this ring belongs to the Hittites, an ancient civilization based in Anatolia, north of Syria. The curious inscription opens the field for many questions: Is the ring dedicated to a free Hittite woman who lived in Ugarit? Or is it a gift to an Ugarit woman from a Hittite? Read more about this object on the UNESCO Museums for Intercultural Dialogue website.