The Alfred Jewel is a piece of Anglo-Saxon goldsmithing work made of enamel and quartz enclosed in gold, discovered in 1693 in North Petherton, Somerset, England. It has been dated to the late 9th century, in the reign of Alfred the Great, and is inscribed AELFRED MEC HEHT GEWYRCAN, meaning Alfred ordered me made. It is now generally accepted that the jewel functioned as the handle for a pointer stick used to follow words when reading a book, and it is now one of the most popular exhibits at the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford.
Facts
Year CreatedDated by the source to the late 9th century, in the reign of Alfred the Great (871-899); 890 recorded as a representative year within that documented range, not a precise date. MediumEnamel and quartz enclosed in gold 1 LocationAshmolean Museum, Oxford 1 Connections
In Form
Source Alfred Jewel (Wikipedia)
In Genre
Entity-backed identity for the genre enum value this work already carries, resolved to an arts art-form by an explicit value-to-entity map (phase 3 bucket conversion, docs\design_entity_backed_browse_buckets_20260928.md). The genre fact itself, with its own citation, stays on the work unchanged.
In the Other Atlases
- Also in Geography Atlas: Oxford, located there.
Sources
1. Alfred Jewel (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia Foundationlead section
It has been dated to the late 9th century, in the reign of Alfred the Great
Lead section, dating clause
It has been dated to the late 9th century, in the reign of Alfred the Great
Lead section, first sentence
The Alfred Jewel is a piece of Anglo-Saxon goldsmithing work made of enamel and quartz enclosed in gold.
Lead section, museum sentence
is now one of the most popular exhibits at the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford
- Wikipedia article: work classified by its own real-world art form
In Form: Decorative Arts, lead paragraph
The Alfred Jewel is a piece of Anglo-Saxon goldsmithing work made of enamel and quartz enclosed in gold. It was discovered in 1693, in North Petherton, Somerset, England and is now one of the most popular exhibits at the Ashmolean
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