Engagement Ring In Finland 51

Engagement Ring In Finland.

By Aamir mannan.

Although the ancient Egyptians are sometimes credited with having invented the engagement ring,[1] and the ancient Greeks with having adopted the tradition,[2] the history of the engagement ring can only be reliably traced as far back as ancient Rome.[3][4][5]

In many countries, engagement rings are placed on the finger nearest the little finger on the left hand. At one time it was believed that this finger contained a vein (the vena amoris) that led to the heart. This idea was popularized by Henry Swinburne in A treatise of Spousals, or Matrimonial Contracts (1686).[6] The story seems to have its origin in the ancient Roman book Attic Nights by Aulus Gellius quoting Apion's Aegyptiacorum, where the alleged vein was originally a nervus (a word that can be translated either as "nerve" or "sinew").[7]

The popular belief that an engagement ring was originally part of the bride price which represented purchase and ownership of the bride,[8] has been called into question by contemporary scholarship.[4]:42 note 105

In the second century BC, the Roman bride-to-be was given two rings, a gold one which she wore in public, and one made of iron which she wore at home while attending to household duties. At one time Roman citizens wore rings made of iron. In later years senators who served as ambassadors were given gold seal rings for official use when abroad. Later the privilege of wearing gold rings was extended to other public officials, then to the knights, later to all freeborn, and finally under Justinian, to freedmen. For several centuries it was the custom for Romans to wear iron rings at home, gold rings in public. During this period a girl or woman might receive two engagement rings, one of iron and one of