Theseus Ring

Theseus Ring
Bull-leaping on a different Minoan gold signet ring, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford
Material	Gold
Height	1.8 cm
Width	2.7 cm
Created	c. 1450 BC
Discovered	c. 1955 Athens, Attica, Greece
Present location	Oxford, England, United Kingdom

The Theseus Ring is a gold signet ring that dates back to the 15th-century BC, in the Mycenaean period, though the subject is typical of Minoan art. The ring is gold and measures 2.7 x 1.8 cm. On the ring is a depiction of a bull-leaping scene, which includes a lion to the left and what may be a tree on the right. It comes from the area of Anafiotika in the Plaka, the ancient city center of Athens, where it was found in a pile of earth during building operations. It now belongs to the National Archaeological Museum of Athens.^[1] There is no assertion that the ring actually belonged to Theseus, whose myth includes a gold ring.

The antiquity of the Theseus Ring was debated after its discovery in the Plaka district of Athens in the 1950s. For a while it was dismissed as a fake, but as of 2006, the ring has been identified as an authentic 15th century BC artifact. The Greek press had reported the discovery of a gold signet ring, and the National Archaeological Museum of Athens wanted to purchase it for 75,000 euros from the woman who owned it. After an examination by a panel of experts at the Cultural Ministry, the piece was declared to be genuine.