Skip Navigation

Collection Menu
<em>The Cheops Ring</em>, ca. 664-404 B.C.E. Gold, Height 13/16 in., 0.5 lb. (2.1 cm, 0.2kg). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 37.734E. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 37.734E_PS6.jpg)
The Cheops Ring, ca. 664-404 B.C.E. Gold, Height 13/16 in., 0.5 lb. (2.1 cm, 0.2kg). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 37.734E. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 37.734E_PS6.jpg)
<em>The Cheops Ring</em>, ca. 664-404 B.C.E. Gold, Height 13/16 in., 0.5 lb. (2.1 cm, 0.2kg). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 37.734E. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 37.734E_PS6.jpg)

The Cheops Ring, ca. 664-404 B.C.E. Gold, Height 13/16 in., 0.5 lb. (2.1 cm, 0.2kg). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 37.734E. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 37.734E_PS6.jpg)

<em>The Cheops Ring</em>, ca. 664-404 B.C.E. Gold, Height 13/16 in., 0.5 lb. (2.1 cm, 0.2kg). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 37.734E. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 37.734E_SL3.jpg)

The Cheops Ring, ca. 664-404 B.C.E. Gold, Height 13/16 in., 0.5 lb. (2.1 cm, 0.2kg). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 37.734E. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 37.734E_SL3.jpg)

<em>The Cheops Ring</em>, ca. 664-404 B.C.E. Gold, Height 13/16 in., 0.5 lb. (2.1 cm, 0.2kg). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 37.734E. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.37.734E_wwg8.jpg)

The Cheops Ring, ca. 664-404 B.C.E. Gold, Height 13/16 in., 0.5 lb. (2.1 cm, 0.2kg). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 37.734E. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.37.734E_wwg8.jpg)

<em>The Cheops Ring</em>, ca. 664-404 B.C.E. Gold, Height 13/16 in., 0.5 lb. (2.1 cm, 0.2kg). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 37.734E. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 37.734E_NegC_SL4.jpg)

The Cheops Ring, ca. 664-404 B.C.E. Gold, Height 13/16 in., 0.5 lb. (2.1 cm, 0.2kg). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 37.734E. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 37.734E_NegC_SL4.jpg)

<em>The Cheops Ring</em>, ca. 664-404 B.C.E. Gold, Height 13/16 in., 0.5 lb. (2.1 cm, 0.2kg). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 37.734E. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 37.734E_NegG_SL4.jpg)

The Cheops Ring, ca. 664-404 B.C.E. Gold, Height 13/16 in., 0.5 lb. (2.1 cm, 0.2kg). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 37.734E. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 37.734E_NegG_SL4.jpg)

<em>The Cheops Ring</em>, ca. 664-404 B.C.E. Gold, Height 13/16 in., 0.5 lb. (2.1 cm, 0.2kg). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 37.734E. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: , 37.720E_37.725E_37.728E_37.729E_37.731E_37.733E_37.734E_GrpB_SL4.jpg)

The Cheops Ring, ca. 664-404 B.C.E. Gold, Height 13/16 in., 0.5 lb. (2.1 cm, 0.2kg). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 37.734E. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: , 37.720E_37.725E_37.728E_37.729E_37.731E_37.733E_37.734E_GrpB_SL4.jpg)

<em>The Cheops Ring</em>, ca. 664-404 B.C.E. Gold, Height 13/16 in., 0.5 lb. (2.1 cm, 0.2kg). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 37.734E. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 37.734E_NegH_SL4.jpg)

The Cheops Ring, ca. 664-404 B.C.E. Gold, Height 13/16 in., 0.5 lb. (2.1 cm, 0.2kg). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 37.734E. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 37.734E_NegH_SL4.jpg)

DOWNLOAD

The Cheops Ring

Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art

On View: 19th Dynasty to Roman Period, Martha A. and Robert S. Rubin Gallery, 3rd Floor

Because this ring bears a cartouche of King Khufu of Dynasty IV, known later to the Greeks as Cheops, it was once world famous as the actual signet ring of the builder of the Great Pyramid at Giza. The inscription, however, shows that it really belonged to a man named Neferibre who was a priest in the cults of Isis and the deified Cheops at Giza two thousand years after Cheops died. The ring is unusually heavy and is made of gold more than twenty-one karats pure.

MEDIUM Gold
  • Possible Place Collected: Giza, Egypt
    • DATES ca. 664-404 B.C.E.
    DYNASTY XXVI Dynasty to XXVII Dynasty
    PERIOD Late Period
    DIMENSIONS Height 13/16 in., 0.5 lb. (2.1 cm, 0.2kg) Bezel: Width 11/16 x Length 15/16 in. (1.8 x 2.5 cm)  (show scale)
    COLLECTIONS Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art
    MUSEUM LOCATION This item is on view on the 19th Dynasty to Roman Period, Martha A. and Robert S. Rubin Gallery, 3rd Floor
    EXHIBITIONS
    ACCESSION NUMBER 37.734E
    CREDIT LINE Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund
    RIGHTS STATEMENT Creative Commons-BY
    You may download and use Brooklyn Museum images of this three-dimensional work in accordance with a Creative Commons license. Fair use, as understood under the United States Copyright Act, may also apply. Please include caption information from this page and credit the Brooklyn Museum. If you need a high resolution file, please fill out our online application form (charges apply). For further information about copyright, we recommend resources at the United States Library of Congress, Cornell University, Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, and Copyright Watch. For more information about the Museum's rights project, including how rights types are assigned, please see our blog posts on copyright. If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact copyright@brooklynmuseum.org.
    CAPTION The Cheops Ring, ca. 664-404 B.C.E. Gold, Height 13/16 in., 0.5 lb. (2.1 cm, 0.2kg). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 37.734E. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 37.734E_PS6.jpg)
    IMAGE overall, 37.734E_PS6.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2011
    "CUR" at the beginning of an image file name means that the image was created by a curatorial staff member. These study images may be digital point-and-shoot photographs, when we don\'t yet have high-quality studio photography, or they may be scans of older negatives, slides, or photographic prints, providing historical documentation of the object.
    CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION Gold signet ring of a "Priest of Isis of Cheops" i.e. a priest of the temple of Isis at Giza. The bezel is oval shaped with the inscribed area being slightly raised leaving an oval border. The priest's name is Neferbire.
    RECORD COMPLETENESS
    Not every record you will find here is complete. More information is available for some works than for others, and some entries have been updated more recently. Records are frequently reviewed and revised, and we welcome any additional information you might have.
    <em>The Cheops Ring</em>, ca. 664-404 B.C.E. Gold, Height 13/16 in., 0.5 lb. (2.1 cm, 0.2kg). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 37.734E. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 37.734E_PS6.jpg)

    TAGS

    26th-27th Dynasty
    Accessory
    Cartouche
    Cast Metal
    Chased
    Deity
    Dynasty 26
    Dynasty 27
    Egypt
    egyptian
    Female
    Giza, Egypt
    Goddess
    gold
    Henry Abbott Collection
    hieroglyphs
    Inscribed
    Isis
    jewelry
    Khufu
    King Khufu
    Late Period
    New York Historical Society Collection
    Old Kingdom
    Priest
    Priest of Isis
    ring
    signet ring
    Soldered
    XXVI Dynasty
    XXVII Dynasty

    TAGS

    26th-27th Dynasty
    Accessory
    Cartouche
    Cast Metal
    Chased
    Deity
    Dynasty 26
    Dynasty 27
    Egypt
    egyptian
    Female
    Giza, Egypt
    Goddess
    gold
    Henry Abbott Collection
    hieroglyphs
    Inscribed
    Isis
    jewelry
    Khufu
    King Khufu
    Late Period
    New York Historical Society Collection
    Old Kingdom
    Priest
    Priest of Isis
    ring
    signet ring
    Soldered
    XXVI Dynasty
    XXVII Dynasty
    + Add Tag

    RELATED OBJECTS

    Dish Tweezers Portrait of a Gentleman Portrait of a Lady Mrs. Joseph Kelly Dish in the Form of a Trussed Duck Model Food Offering of Trussed Duck Relief of Ramses II Double Kohl Tube with Applicator Figure of the Goddess Nephthys Fragment of a Winged Sun Disk Shabty of Seti I Cartonnage Funerary Assembly Statuette of a Female Acrobat Necklace Recumbent Lion Statue of Ity-sen Sarcophagus Relief of Men Presenting Cattle Block Statue of Harsiese, a Priest of Amun and Min Statue of a Priest of Amun Swamp Scene Stela of Setju Shabty of Psamtek Ushabti of Psamtek Kneeling Statue of Nesbanebdjedet Signet Ring Bearing the Name of Amunhotep II Ring of Ramesses IV Relief with Netherworld Deities Fragmentary Head of A King, probably Ramesses II Portrait of a Lady as Mary Magdalen Cast of the Left Hand of Ann Cartlidge Tyndale Wreath Thin Disk Disk Ornament Head in Repousse Small Disk Gorgon Head in Repoussé Head from a Sarcophagus Lid Sculptor’s Model of a Royal Head Bowl Nose Ring Pin Pin Undulation Ring Mnaieion -- Octadrachm (100 Mina Coin) of Ptolemy II