G^ ACCOUNTS; ETC., OF THE BRITISH MUSEUM. 



By Purchase. 

 I. — Objects in gold. 



1. Finger-ring with engraved design on bezel, representing 

 an Apis-bull on a sacred barge. Cyprus. 



2. Tablet with magic inscription of five lines in Greek 

 verse, containing the name of Caecilia Secundina, possibly a 

 daughter of the younger Pliny (C. Plinius Gaecilius Secundus). 

 Rome, near San Paolo fuori le Mura. 



II. — Engraved gems, &c. 



1. Green plasma scaraboid, with intaglio of a warrior 

 bending downwards, a fine example of Greek gem-engraving 

 of the fifth century B.C. Cyprus. 



2. Haematite lentoid seal, engraved with the figure of a 

 man with horse's head, conjoined with two dogs, in the style 

 of the " Island Gems " of the Mycenaean period, of which this 

 is almost the fi^rst example found in Cyprus. Cyprus. 



3. Porcelain scarab, with sacred disc, scarabaeus, and utask 

 ("misunderstood), a copy of a sixth dynasty type. Enhomi, 

 Cyprus. 



4. Porcelain scarab with name of Thothmes III. Maroni, 

 Cyprus. 



5. Porcelain scarab with representation of a king oftering 

 Mat the ankh or sign of life. Cyprus. 



6. Porcelain scarab with name of Men-xeper-Rd. Cyprus. 



7. Glass grotesque figure, coloured white, with details in 

 blue, yellow, and brown. Amathus, Cyprus. 



8. Sardonyx cameo of semi-oval shape and exceptional 

 size, measuring 8| by 6 inches. The subject is a pair of 

 Imperial busts confronted. The Emperor (on the right) wears 

 a wreath of ilex and acorns, and on his brow is a ram's horn ; 

 the wreath, characteristic of the Dodonean Zeus, and the horn, 

 representative of Zeus Amnion, indicate that the Emperor is 

 here figured as Zeus, or rather his Egyptian counterpart, 

 Ammon. The Empress wears a similar wreath, twined with 

 ears of wheat, and other emblems of Demeter and Persephone. 

 She also wears a sphendone, which is more appropriate to 

 Hera, while her dress in front is fastened in a peculiar knot 

 known as the nodus Isiacus, a fashion usually seen in the 

 classical type of Isis. These Imperial personages may there- 

 fore be rega,rded as here represented in the character of the 

 two deities, Ammon and Isis. At one time they were 

 described as Didius Julianus and Manila Scantilla ; a more 

 recent identification, supported by Bernoulli (Romische 

 Ikonographie, ii, pt. 3, p. 249) is Julian the Apostate and his 

 wife Helena, whose busts, confronted and Vv^ith the attributes 

 of Isis and Serapis, appear on coins struck by them at 

 Alexandria. The relief is kept flat so as to make as much 

 use as possible of the two layers of sard and onyx. This 

 grand gem, one of the five largest cameos in existence, was 

 acquired by the Duke of Marlborough from a Marquis de 



