Scandinavian visitors to the famous Hagia Sophia Mosque in Istanbul are always entertained, if not a little proud, to learn that one of the most prized objects is a piece of graffiti left by one of their ancestors.
In the 10th century, when the city was known as Constantinople, Halvdan and Are carved their names into a stone ledge in the mosque … and into immortality.
The Vikings were certainly known for visiting Constantinople at the time, and other sources mention that the emperor of Byzantium here employed some as his bodyguards.
Unique for Denmark!
Well, now a discovery in a West Jutland field makes historians wonder if the bodyguards may have returned home full of treasures.
A gold earring, which experts believe was originally made in Egypt, was recently unveiled by metal detector hobbyist Frants Bird Vestergaard in Bøvling near Lemvig.
According to Peter Pentz from the National Museum, there are only 10-12 similar pieces, and certainly none in a country like Denmark.
Maybe a gift …
Pentz speculates that the earring may have been a gift given by the Byzantine emperor to his Danish Viking bodyguard, or possibly brought back by a returned Christian pilgrim.
Pentz is pretty sure the earring is made in Cairo. “Other similar crescent-shaped earrings we have in museum collections come from there,” he told DR.
The earring would also have been worn on a headband – by both men and women.
So it could have belonged to Halvdan or Are! Strange things have happened!