This site uses cookies to offer you a better browsing experience.
Find out more on how we use cookies in our privacy policy.

 
Monumentum

Intaglio of Abraxas and Mithras

Gnostic amulet found in the ancient Agora of Athens, depicting Abraxas on one side and a Mithraic inscription on the other.
Gnostic Amulet from the Athenian Agora

Gnostic Amulet from the Athenian Agora
King, Antique Gems and Rings 

 
The New Mithraeum
1 Nov 2022
Updated on Sep 2023

The full article is reserved for our members.

Log in or create a free account to access the entire site.

An amulet of the Gnostic or syncretistic type in green jasper was one of the many objects of minor art which came to light during the excavations of the athenian Agora in 1932. Dr. T. L. Shear, who conducted the excavations, and who has kindly allowed me to publish the amulet, reports that it was found in an unstratified deposit. The common design on the obverse is a hybrid of which the head and neck are those of a cock, the trunk and arms human, while the extremities are serpentine, symmetrically arranged in side view. The human torso wears a close-fitting cuirass over a sleeved Persian (?)