Decorated Ring

Spiral-Shaped Ring With Decoration. Urartian Period. The abundance of rings found in excavations in Urartian centers indicates that Urartian society used rings intensively in daily life. In addition to simple and plain examples, decorated rings with snake and dragon heads, as seen in bracelets, decorative pins and amulets, recalls religious functions in addition to aesthetic concerns. The use of similar figures such as dragon and snake heads on rings, bracelets and arm bands, recalls modern jewelry sets. Groups of rings attached together as chains were among the finds.It is difficult to guess for what purpose they were arranged together in this fashion. However, the owner of the rings might have wanted to collect all the rings he/she had used throughout his/her life. The different sizes of rings, appropriate for both children and adults, found within the same chain supports this argument. Bracelets, arm bands, earrings and spirals arranged in a similar way were encountered in the studies we conducted in various museums.