SACRED ISLAMIC RING - YEMEN UNREST - FLASHBACK -

YEMEN: Back in the early 1960's the Soviets had incited a revolt by South Yemen against the Imam (King) of Yemen, Mohammad El-Badr and had sent him for refuge into the caves of North Yemen among loyal Shia mountain tribes, who backed the descendant of the founder of the Shia sect of Islam, Imam Ali, whose son Zeid had found refuge (along with his father?) in Yemen and was an ancestor of the ruling El-Badr family.



With Soviet fighter bombers coming daily out of Egyptian airports (mostly Aden) and attacking North Yemen towns, at 8 a.m. exactly (you could set your watch by the start of the raids), His Majesty Imam Mohammad El-Badr's refuge in a multiple cave headquarters and domicile complex allowed him to resist Soviet attempts to assassinate him and replace his Islamic rule.



Stating that he could be buried in the caves, any day, by a bomb and the sacred ring given by the Prophet Mohammad to his son-in-law Imam Ali and handed down in the family, might thus disappear forever, he gifted it to a visitor on condition the visitor take it away with him on leaving Yemen and take it to a Shia country and promise to protect it.



The Sacred Ring has been hidden since then and the current unrest in Yemen has triggered a flashback in the aging owner of the ring, who has provided pictures of it under condition of anonymity, to share them with the world.



In Christian context, it would be similar to holding a ring of Jesus Christ.



The stone is an unique cabuchon Agate that forms a perfect stone "eyeball", with a perfectly placed iris in the center of the eyeball. The silver setting is for a large hand but has probably been changed to suit one or more previous Yemeni royals.



In those old days, precious jewels like diamonds, rubies or emeralds, were kept stored as wealth and only Agates and similarly semi-precious stones like turquoise were used as decoration by men.



As an aside, this kind of "blind man's eye" Agate was superstitiously reputed in the Arab world to be able to perceive poison in food or drink and that if placed in the food or drink would "leap out" if poison were present so such a perfect stone would have been highly prized.





RING AS IT APPEARS IN NORMAL LIGHT





CLOSE UP IN NORMAL LIGHT





RING WITH LIGHT SHONE THROUGH THE BACK





CLOSE UP OF RING WITH LIGHT SHONE THROUGH THE BACK