There's a surprising message on this ancient Viking ring

(Image credit: Twitter/Science News)

last updated 16 March 2015

Archaeologists found an engraved ring in a ninth century woman's grave more than a hundred years ago, but only recently has its significance come to light.

The ring was thought to be violet amethyst, engraved with Arabic characters. But recent research using a scanning electron microscope has revealed that the stone is actually colored glass, which would have been an exotic material to Viking-age Scandinavians.

The study, published in the journal Scanning, reveals that the Scandinavians were in contact with the Islamic world, explain researchers from Stockholm University. The inscription translates to either "for Allah" or "to Allah." Scandinavians began trading with Egypt and Mesopotamia for glass objects as many as 3,400 years ago, Science News explains, and the glass inscription may be proof that later, they began trading directly with Islamic cultures for glass objects, too.