2009 Press Releases

UCC Expert Called in by British Museum
25.09.2009

Anglo-Saxon expert, Professor Elisabeth Okasha of University College Cork has been called in by the British Museum to help analyse one piece of the Staffordshire hoard, one of the most exciting archaeological finds ever discovered in Britain.

The find was discovered by a British metal detector enthusiast last July on private land. Mr Terry Herbert then alerted the local liaison officer of the Portable Antiquities Scheme. Following examination it was revealed that the Anglo-Saxon hoard containing gold and silver artifacts, was one of the most remarkable ever discovered.

Professor Okasha was asked by the British Museum to analyse a particular artifact made of gold alloy which contained an inscription.  She discovered that although it is not an exact quotation, it is probably a rendering of a well-known Vulgate text.  In her appraisal she said: “The inscribed text is clearly a rendering of the well-known Vulgate text, appearing in this form in Numbers 10, 35: cumque elevaretur arca dicebat Moses surge Domine et dissipentur inimici tui et fugiant qui oderunt te a facie tua ‘When he had lifted up the ark, Moses said “Rise up, Lord, and may your enemies be dispersed and those who hate you be driven from your face”’.

While dating the inscribed text was not easy, Professor Okasha said the indications were it was probably 8th or 9th century.  

Professor Okasha, a renowned expert on the Anglo-Saxon period has published widely in this area particularly in the area of Anglo-Saxon epigraphy.

The find is so important that the British Museum is planning to hold a special seminar on it next year attended by experts in the field.  In the initial discovery, Mr Herbert bagged some 244 artifacts and subsequently a further 571 bags of artifacts were removed from the site.   

 Picture:  Professor Elisabeth Okasha



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