Signet Ring with Name of King Akhenaten

Description This heavy gold signet ring bears the throne name of the Egyptian pharaoh Akhenaten (1351-1334 BC). It was cast in one piece; the deeper parts of the hieroglyphics were cut into the model before casting and the finer details chased onto it afterwards. The hieroglyphs on the bezel of the ring are not consistent with the style of the Amarna Period (particularly the shape of the kheper-beetle, as well as the nefer-sign next to it). The ring was bought in Cairo in 1929 and it is possible that it was produced in Egypt in the time of the excavations at Amarna (capital of Akhentaten in Middle Egypt) in the early 20th century or shortly after.

Conservation

Date	Description	Narrative
10/08/1974	Treatment	cleaned
6/21/1977	Treatment	cleaned
10/19/1978	Examination	examined for condition

Exhibitions

• Jewelry - Ancient to Modern. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. 1979-1980.
• Bedazzled: 5,000 Years of Jewelry from the Walters Art Museum. Frist Center for the Visual Arts, Nashville; The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota; The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore. 2006-2009.
• Bedazzled: 5,000 Years of Jewelry. El Paso Museum of Art, El Paso. 2010.

Provenance Maurice Nahman, Cairo [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1929, by purchase; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.

Credit Acquired by Henry Walters, 1929