Jewelry extracted from graves is hardly cause for wonder. It has been common practice throughout history for personal artefacts to be buried alongside loved ones for the afterlife. However, a ring found in the 9th century grave of a Viking woman in Birka, Sweden has piqued the interest of researchers for bearing an inscription unusual for Vikings.
'The inscription, written in the Kufic Arabic script […] common between the 8th and 10th centuries, reads “il-la-la,”' 1
An Arabic ring in a Viking grave? History never stops surprising.
So far the only ring of its kind found at a Scandinavian archaeological site, this ring is noteworthy as it '"may therefore constitute material evidence for direct interactions between Viking Age Scandinavia and the Islamic world,”' says Professor Sebastian Wärmländer of Stockholm University, a biophysicist leading the research team looking into the ring that [published their findings in the journal Scanning].2 While there are multiple written accounts of contact between the two worlds, physical evidence is hard to come by, and most of the accounts have questionable authenticity. What makes this ring remarkable isn't just the clear Arabic provenance, but the fact that it is in mint condition.
'“On this ring the filing marks are still present on the metal surface” says Wärmländer' 3
How did a ring created in the heart of the Muslim world travel all the way to Sweden without being used? Perhaps it was a wedding gift. Perhaps it was looted. Perhaps, it got left behind by a traveler. Whatever its story, the ancient world was a lot more connected that we are led to believe.
1 https://www.history.com/news/islamic-ring-found-in-9th-century-viking-grave
2 https://www.thenational.ae/world/when-the-arabs-met-the-vikings-new-discovery-suggests-ancient-links-1.125718
3 https://www.livescience.com/50161-for-allah-inscription-found-on-viking-era-ring.html