Monumentum
Intaglio of Abraxas with Mithras inscription
Gnostic amulet found Ancient Agora of Athens depicting Abraxas on one side and a mithraic inscription on the other
The New Mithraeum
1 Nov 2022
Updated on 29 Apr 2023
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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.