The Decryption of the Kingmoor / Greymoor Hill Finger Ring

The inscription on the Greymoor Hill Finger Ring (British Museum #OA.10262) is enigmatic. For reasons elaborated here, the ring is identified as a sacred triumph ring. Word by word translation, the ring is inscribed with:

 

'Bless a Merciful, call him an Inheritor as declared by conquering six valleys.'

Surprisingly, the language is neither Northern nor European. As the inscribed letters indicate, it is Arabic:

 

'  ﺒﺮﻚ ﺮﺅﻮﻑ ﻟﺘﻘﺮﺃ ﻮﺮﺍﺚ ﻋﻦ ﻏﻟﺐ ﺴﺖ ﺐﻗﻌﻦ '

It translates to modern English as follows:

'Bless (the) Merciful (Lord), venerate (the) Inheritor who was attested as such by conquering six valleys.'

The Decryption Key

The key for this decryption was found on the inner side of the ring. Where the inscription clearly signs THR, a word that has meaning in the context of gold.

Inside Inscription	ᛏ	H	ᚿ
Hebrew: טהור = Pure	ט	ה	ר
Arabic: ﻄﻬﺮ = Purity	ﻄ	ﻬ	ﺮ

 

"...וְצִפִּיתָ אֹתוֹ זָהָב טָהוֹר..."

[שמות כה, יא]

"...Overlay it with pure gold..."

[Exodus 25, 11]

 

The Inscription and Its Transcription

᛭

ᚨ

ᚱ

ᛦ

ᚱ

ᛁ

ᚢ

ᚠ

ᛚ

ᛏ

ᛦ

ᚱ

ᛁ

ᚢ

ᚱ

ᛁ

ᚦ

ᚩ

ᚾ

ᚷ

ᛚ

ᚨ

ᚴ

ᛏ

ᚨ

ᛈ

v

ᚾ

+

ﺒ

ﺮ

ﻚ

ﺮ

ﺅ

ﻮ

ﻑ

ﻟ

ﺘ

ﻘ

ﺮ

ﺃ

ﻮ

ﺮ

ﻲ

ﺙ

ﻋ

ﻦ

ﻏ

ﻟ

ﺐ

ﺴ

ﺖ

ﺐ

ﻘ

ﻋ

ﻦ

 * The above transcript of the letter "I" requires some understanding of written Arabic and its vowels.

Putting the string together:

ﺒﺮﻚ ﺮﺅﻮﻑ ﻟﺘﻘﺮﺃ ﻮﺮﺍﺚ ﻋﻦ ﻏﻟﺐ ﺴﺖ ﺐﻗﻌﻦ

 

The Translation

Bless	ﺒﺮﻚ
Merciful (Ar-Ra'uf is one of God's names)	ﺮﺅﻮﻑ
call ("name him" / "honor him")	ﻟﺘﻘﺮﺃ
Inheritor	ﻮﺮﺍﺚ  / ﻮﺮﻲﺚ
as declared by	ﻋﻦ
Conquering	ﻏﻟﺐ
Six	ﺴﺖ
Valleys (Unknown form)	ﺐﻗﻌﻦ

 

Word by Word translation:

Bless a Merciful, call (him) an Inheritor as declared by conquering six valleys.

 

It translates to modern English as follows:

'Bless the Merciful (Lord), venerate (Lord) the Inheritor who was attested as such by conquering six valleys.'

 

Discussion

The short roots typical to Semite languages, the different tenses, vowels rules, and one-letter conjunctions all make it much easier to construct sentences within a random string of letters than in English. However both Hebrew, which is more flexible in spelling than Arabic, and Aramaic decryption efforts ended with too imposed translations that require imaginative, not in the dictionaries, interpretations.

For example:

ברך ריוף לתקרי אוּרִי שענג לב סט בפ ען

While the first part of the sentence is somewhat reasonable in Hebrew, the ending is not understandable.

It could be argued that besides Semite language flexibility, Arabic is rich with words – these qualities allow users to cast meaning in a random string of letters.

These points should be taken into consideration, but the following arguments prevail.

Countless attempts, by many, to produce coherent meaning by using the expected European languages failed, and so are Hebrew, Aramaic, and a combination of the two.

Hence it is reasonable that this string of letters is in a different language.

With Arabic transcription and interpretation, it is possible to construct a text which is not only perfect in syntax but, more importantly, it is contextually reasonable for an ancient gold ring dated to after the canonization of Arabic. Furthermore, the translation receives support from a theological point of view, which also reduces the chance of an accidental match;

The string of letters can be divided into strings of words. The words in this string are connected in many ways. Besides spelling, syntax, and context, that are intact word uses are in accordance with dictionary values, spelling, and meaning, whereas decryption of a random string of letters is expected to require “out of the dictionary” thinking. The fact that a canonized language is used settles with the dating of the ring in respect to the evolution of Arabic. 

Besides dating, spelling, syntax, and context, the string is in accordance with Arabic theology;

Two of God’s names are written in a manner that allows understanding of the meaning while preventing desecration by impure substances that commonly come in contact with rings. In both cases of God’s names, the known form was omitted. Instead of ‘the Merciful’ which is one of God’s names, ’a Merciful’ was written. Instead of ‘the Inheritor’, ‘an Inheritor’ with a slightly different spelling than that of God’s name. A more consistent with the transcript spelling for ﻮﺮﻲﺚ would be ﻮﺭﺍﺙ . Impurity wise ‘ﻮﺭﺍﺙ’ make the ring better suited for uses of everydayness. 

Both references to God’s names appear in the order that the common practitioner would expect. 

Idioms: The Use of ﺒﺮﻚ and the use of ﻟﺘﻘﺮﺃ are idiomatically correct.

The identification of ﺒﺮﻚ is strong. If this match with BRK is accidental, then the chances of constructing a coherent Arabic text with the rest of the 24 letters are quantifiably slim. 

For all the above reasons, an accidental match - between a string of letters and a sentence in Arabic - is highly unlikely.

Hence the inscription should be understood as follows:

Bless the Merciful (Lord), venerate the Inheritor as he was attested as such by conquering six valleys.

Speculations: 

It is possible to adjust the meaning to place, dating, and known history:

Bless (King) Rufus name him Inheritor for he was attested as such by conquering six territories.

Or:

Bless (Earl) Ranulf name him Inheritor for he was attested as such by conquering six territories.

Or:

Bless Ranulf name him Inheritor for he was attested as such by his winnings in the battle of the six marches (Tinchebray?).

 

Who was the owner of the ring?

It is reasonable to assume that the ring was in the possession of a high-ranking officer of a triumphant side. The fact that it is written in local letters may hint that this officer, or officers who had the same ring, are descendants of Christian Arabs that immigrated to Europe from lands under Islamic conquests. The shape of the letter H (in THR) could be understood as indicative to Aramaic speaking community. The combination of Aramaic and Arabic Speaking Christians indicate southward toward the Middle East rather than to Europe. Perhaps a Genetic study will prove the above speculations to be true. 

 

Q&A

 

Q1 (Jan 11, 2021): Why Arabic? Why not Hebrew or Aramaic?

1. The identification of the sound BRK, for ‘Bless’ suits Arabic (ﺒﺮﻚ - Baraka) better than Hebrew or Aramaic, Barekh (ברך), and, Brikh (בריך), respectively.

2. The identification of the sounds LTKRA or LTKRI with the meaning of ‘to read’ / ‘to be read’/’ call’ / ‘to be called’ aligns with Arabic (Baraka) better than Hebrew or Aramaic and forms a more probable pattern: BRK _ _ _ _ LTKRA _ _ _ .

3. The word ﻮﺮﺍﺚ appears in the Sarah Hodgson version of the Bible in Arabic. See Hebrews 6, 14:

“...ﺍﻥ ﻳﺮﻱ ﻮﺮﺍﺚ ﺍﻟﻤﻮﻋﺪ...”

“... “I will surely bless you and give you many descendants...” [NIV]

 

4. The word ﺮﺅﻮﻑ appears in Arabic versions of the Bible, Joel 2, 13:

“…الرَّبِّ إِلَهِكُمْ لأَنَّهُ رَؤُوفٌ…”

“…for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger …” [NIV]

 

5. The separating signs engraved in the much resembled Bramham Moor ring remind Holy Scriptures marks between verses and chapters in Arabic. Even if a citation from an extinct version of the Bible in Arabic is too speculative, a connotation is highly possible, as explained above.

6. Both words ﻮﺮﺍﺚ and ﺮﺅﻮﻑ are pretty rare. They appear only a few times in the Arabic versions of the bible. The fact that other words and roots identified here, such as ﻂﻬﺮ , and ﺒﺮﻚ , are also found nearby - reduces the chances for an accidental match that can be calculated assuming that ancient versions of the Bible in Arabic have about the same number of different words.

V. 1 Jan. 09, 2021

V. 2 Jan 10, 2021 (King Rufus and Earl Ranulf were added to speculations).

V.3 Jan 15, 2021 (Q&A 3-5 were added).

V.4 June 20, 2022 (Proofs)