Intaglio of Abraxas and Mithras

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 (?) t…