Unveiling centuries-old close contact between Viking Age Scandinavians and the Islamic civilization, a silver ring engraved with script that reads “for Allah” or “to Allah” has been discovered in Sweden. “The ring may constitute material evidence for direct interactions between Viking Age Scandinavia and the Islamic world,” researchers from Stockholm University wrote in a research published in scientific journal Scanning.Discovered in the late 1800s, the engraved ring is adorned with a violet-colored precious stone, expected to be an amethyst.
Decades after its discovery, the inscription on the stone was found to be either “for Allah” or “to Allah” in an ancient Arabic script. The antique, which was recovered at a Viking trading centre in Sweden called Birka, was found in a grave, north of Borg on the Björkö Island. With clothes and jewellery around the decomposed skeleton, the grave is believed to be of a woman whose burial dates back to 850 AD.
(www.onislam.net)
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