Ring of Nestor

The Ring of Nestor is a gold signet ring first described by the archaeologist Arthur Evans in 1925. According to Evans, it was made on Minoan Crete in the Late Bronze Age and discovered in a Mycenaean tholos tomb near the ancient site of Pylos in Messenia, in southwest Greece. The ring has a crowded and complex design, including human figures as well as real and mythical animals, and has been interpreted as indicating aspects of Minoan religion. Evans considered it to show scenes from the underworld, and to illustrate connections between Minoan belief and ancient Egyptian religion. It is currently held by the Ashmolean Museum at the University of Oxford, to which Evans gifted it in 1939.

Since its discovery, the ring's authenticity has been debated, with several scholars considering it a modern fake, and others defending it as a genuinely ancient artefact. Arguments in both directions have been made on the grounds of iconographical consistency with other Minoan artworks, and based upon the potential role of Émile Gilliéron fils, an art restorer, suspected forger, and prolific collaborator of Evans's, in the ring's discovery. Other arguments for authenticity include the wear evident upon the ring and microscopic analysis of its engraving technique, while circumstantial evidence against it has been adduced from Evans's convoluted story of its origins and the fortuitous connections between its iconography and Evans's own ideas about the links between Minoan and Egyptian religion. The ring was removed from display at the Ashmolean in the 20th century, but returned to public view in 1995.