There does not appear to have been any “Rabbi’s Ring” worn as an insignia of office, although many rabbis owned and wore engraved rings, perhaps using them as signets. Of this class may be an old ring referred to the time of Judah Hanasi (175–247 A.D.), now in the Albertinus Home in Dresden, Saxony. It is set with an amethyst on which has been engraved the seven-branched candlestick, one of the adornments of the Temple and figured on the Arch of Titus, in Rome, as among the treasures borne off by the victorious Romans after the fall of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. Rabbi Judah ben Ezekiel (220–299 A.D.) had a ring showing the figure of a man’s head. The design on a ring of Rabba bar Rabbi Huna (ca. 300 A.D.) depicted a palm, while on a fifth century ring worn by another Rabbi Judah Hanasi was engraved the figure of a fish.[404]
The following principal symbolic or typical designs have been observed upon early Christian rings:[405]
The lyre, rare.
A ship, denoting the life-voyage of the Christian to the port of salvation.
An anchor, emblem of constancy and of hope.
A dove, symbolical of innocence and typical of the Holy Spirit.
Alpha and Omega, the Greek characters, first and last of the alphabet. Symbol of Christ, as in Rev. i, 8: “I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord.”
The Monogram of Christ formed of the first two Greek letters of the name Christos, the so-called Chrisma combining the X (Ch) and the P (r).
The Good Shepherd, with the lost sheep on his shoulder.
Scenes from the life of Christ.