Description:  Mummified right hand of an adult female. The hand is broken off at the wrist but otherwise complete; fingernails on the first and second fingers are fully preserved, while part of the fingernail on the little finger is still present. Only fragments of the bandaging/wrapping fabric remain, so that the skin is exposed over most of the hand. Bone and muscle fibres are visible at the wrist.

A ring is worn on the little finger. Of this ring, only a blue faience plaque is preserved: although the finger is almost completely devoid of mummy wrappings, there is no trace of the band, which may perhaps have been made of string or a thin loop of metal which has since degraded or been lost. The plaque is almost rectangular, but has two slightly curved edges; the exposed surface is uninscribed. There is a black residue around the plaque. A small amount of the mummy bandaging extends beneath the plaque; it is perhaps possible that this, together with the absence of a band and the presence of the black residue, indicates that the plaque is in fact an amulet or decorative adornment affixed to the hand after mummification.

Inscriptions / Translations:  Uninscribed

Bibliography:  On finger rings, see for example:
C. Andrews, ‘Ancient Egyptian Jewellery’, London, 1990, 163-169.
A. Wilkinson, ‘Ancient Egyptian Jewellery’, London 1971, esp. 128-134.
For information on the CT-scanning of this and other mummified remains in the Eton Myers Collection, see the Nicholas Reeves web site.

Notes:  Rings with a rectangular plaque bezel became popular during the New Kingdom (Wilkinson 1971: 129).

A downloadable 3D Model is available here.

1 Related People & Organizations