​The Byzantine Cross Signet

Period: 6th – 8th Century AD (Byzantine / Early Medieval)

​Original Material: Gilded Copper Alloy

​Find Location: Kent, UK

Style: Circular bezel with incised cruciform (cross) motif and linear shoulders

Significance of the Design:

• This ring features a classic Cruciform Signet, a hallmark of Byzantine administrative and religious life. The central cross is not merely decorative; in the Byzantine world, it served as a powerful phylactery  – a protective charm intended to safeguard the wearer through divine grace. The incised lines emanating from the centre of the cross represent the “Light of the World,” a common iconographic theme in Eastern Christian art.

  
  

  The discovery of such a piece in Kent is highly significant. During the 6th and 7th centuries, Kent was the gateway for the re-introduction of Christianity to Anglo-Saxon England. This ring likely belonged to a high-ranking cleric, a traveling merchant, or a diplomatic envoy from the Mediterranean. The linear-grooved shoulders of the band are a specific Byzantine stylistic trait, designed to draw the eye toward the sacred symbol on the bezel, signalling the wearer’s faith and sophisticated international connections.

The Find: 

Found by a detectorist in Kent, this ring still retains traces of its original mercury gilding, which would have once given it the appearance of solid gold. Its presence in the soil of South East England is a testament to the “Byzantine Silk Road” that brought luxury goods, spices, and religious artifacts from Constantinople to the courts of the Kentish kings. The wear on the gilding suggests it was a cherished object, used for decades to seal personal correspondence or as a tactile aid for prayer.