A B R 



A B R 



proving fojnewhat on the explication, makes it rcprefent as 



below, 



A A Pater A I 



B Ben Filius B 2 



P Rouah-hakadofli Spir. Sandlus P jco 



A avSfii-Kraj homines A i 



C ri;^i» falvans C 200 



A eyiu per facrum A I 



S ?uXw lignum 2 60 



Abratas is alfo iifed, among Antiquarla, for a fpecies 

 of graven gem, on wiiich the word abraxas is ufually in- 

 fcribed ; fuppofjd to have been worn by the ancient GnoiHcs, 

 Bafilidians, and Cavpocratians, as an amulet or talifman 

 againft difeales. 



If the above explication of the meaning of the term 

 ah'dxas be juft, we can eafily account fur the introduflion 

 of this praftice. In the fyftem of ancient mythology, 

 Apollo and the Sun were the fame, and Apollo was the 

 god of healing. Hence, in the true fpirit of hieroglyphics 

 and m)^thology, thefe gems were undoubtedly ufed by the 

 heathens, and probably by feme fuperilltious chrlliians, 

 who being lately converted, retained a relifa for their former 

 abfurdities, as amulets, or charms, to drive away agues and 

 other difeafes ; and this alfo gave rife to the ufe of the word 

 Abrasadabra for the fame puq^ofe. It is not unlikely that 

 fuch were found among the orthodox as well as among the 

 Eafdidians and other reputed heretics. 



Ahraxafis aj'e of divers figures and fizes : fometimes in 

 that of rings to be worn on the finger ; in which form they 

 were fuppofed of great efficacy for driving away flies. 



jibraxafes are frequent in the cabinets of the curious : a 

 coUeftion of them, as complete as poflible, has been much 

 defired by fevei-al. There is a fine one in the abbey of S. Gene- 

 vieve, which h.-3 occafioned much inquiry. They are chiefly 

 of the third centuiy ; mofl: of them feem to have come from 

 Egypt, whence they are of confiderable ufe for explaining the 

 antiquities of that countiy. But they are much too numer- 

 ous and too coftly to have been the produftion and polfcflion 

 of the chriftians of the three firil centuries, though they 

 had all taken delijjht in fuch things. 



Macaiius, Chilliet, Capello, and Montfaucon, have writ- 

 ten exprefsly on abraxafcs; the latter has given 36 plates of 

 them, well filled, and he has divided them, for the fake of 

 order and perfpicuity, into feven different clatTes. 



Alraxafes have fometimes no other infcription befide the 

 word; but more ufually fome fymbol annexed to it. Befide 

 which, we fometimes find other marks and words adjoined ; 

 as the names of faints, angels, apoftles, and th.e ineffable 

 name Jehovah itfelf, either at length, or in the abbreviature 

 lAfJ ; fometimes the words o-a^ao9', A^ovaj, Eloai, or the 

 name? of other gods; as Mithras, or Mithra| ; jyj^gj^, 

 Semes, Sol; Avoufi,-; ti? Zeuj SspaCTi;, or Serapis, the one Jupi- 

 ter ; and the like. Sometimes we obferve Ifis fitting on a lotus, 

 or Apis, furrounded with ftars ; Ofiris, Serapis, harpocrates, 

 Canopus ; the cock, the dog, the lion, the ape, and the 

 fphinx, which are well known fymbols of heathen deities ; 

 fometimes monflrous compofitions of animals, obfcene images. 

 Phalli, and Ithyphalli ; in a word, evei-y kind of thing which 

 the Egyptians placed among their gods. The graving of 

 alraxaj'es is not uniform, rarely good ; the reverfe, on which 

 is the word, is faid to be fometimes of a lower and a more 

 modem tafte than the face. The charafters are ufually 

 Greek, fometimes Hebrew, Coptic, or Hetrurian ; and 

 fometimes of a mongrel kind, forged as it fhould feem on pur- 

 pofe to make tlieir import impenetrable. It is difputed, 



whether or not the Veronica or Montreuil, or the Granite 

 obelifl<, mentioned by Gori, be alraxafcs. 



Dr. Lardner, who, with an indullry and accuracy fur 

 which he was dillinguiflied, and by wliich he ha:; eminently 

 ferved the caufe of chriliianity, has examined the particular 

 claffes of thefe gems given by Monlfavicon, and cicarlv 

 proved tliat tliey are of heathcnifli origin. Many of the 

 figures and infcriptions on them are exceedingly obfcene and 

 idolatrous, and could not be the production of any ChrilUan 

 feel whatever ; but they muft be pagan, and for the molt 

 part Egyptian. To this purpofe, Beaufobre {^ub'i fupra, 

 cap. 4.) obferves, that it is altogether incredible, that a led, 

 which made profefhon of chriliianity, fliould have adopted 

 the monflers adored by the Egyptians ; or that a man who 

 boalted of deriving his dodlrine from Matthias, and from an 

 inteqjreter of St. Peter, and wlio received the gofpels and 

 the epilllcs of St. Paul, fhould make images of^the deity ; 

 at a time when chriftians had the moil exceflive avcrfion to 

 all forts of images, even the mofl innocent. This learned 

 writer has alfo urged a variety of irrefragable arguments 

 againil the opinion of thofe, who maintain that thefe gems 

 were the invention of the Bafilidians. From many of the 

 figures themfelves, produced by ChiiB^t, it appears that 

 they are pagan, and of Egyptian origin, and could not be- 

 long to any fedl of chriflians; and as for thofe gems, which 

 have the names of Abraham, Ifaac, or Jacob on them, or 

 the God of thefe patriarchs, or the words, Sabaoth, Adonai, 

 or Eloai, thefe, he fays, are the inventions of the Cabba- 

 liils, or of the Egyptian magicians ; and he has thus dedu- 

 ced, from his obfervations on Chifflet's figures, the fame con 

 clufion, whish Dr. Lardner has di-awn from thofe of Mont- 

 faucon. As for the names of angels, which Montfaucon 

 aflerts (Pal. Grsc. I. ii. c. 8. p. 177.) to have been in ufe 

 among the Bafilidians, it is evident, that thofe which he 

 mentions were derived from the Ophites, as Origen (Cont. 

 Celf. 1. V. p. 295. ed. Cantab, opp. i. p. 653. D. Bencd.) 

 plainly informs us. After an elaborate invelligation of this 

 controverted fubjeft, Dr. Lardner concludes in v/ords fimilar 

 to thofe of Beaufobre; i. That Abraxas was not the god 

 of the Bafilidians. 2. That this name fignifies nothing but 

 the f'.m, which was never worfhipped by them. 3. That the 

 figures, both in Chifflet and Montfaucon, are, for the moft 

 part, Egyptian. 4. That there is no kind of proof that 

 any of them belonged to the BafJidians. 5. That thofe 

 which have lao, Sabaoth, &c. upon them, were the works 

 of magicians, who never made any profcffion of chriliianity. 

 6. That fome of thefe figures derived their origin from the 

 SiMONiANS and Ophites, who were not Chriflians cither 

 in belief or profeflion. Sec Lardner's Works, vol. ix. p. 

 290 — 364. 



ABREAST, a Marine term, cxprefTing the fituation of 

 two or more fhips, that lie with their fides parallel to each 

 other, and their heads equally advanced. But if their fides 

 be not parallel, then that flilp, which is in a line with the 

 beam of the other, is faid to be alr'oji of her. When the 

 fine of battle at fea is formed ahrcajl, the whole fquadron 

 advances uniformly, the fhips being equally dillant from, 

 and parallel to each other ; fo that the length of each fhip 

 forms a right angle with the extent of the fquadron, or line 

 abreajl. See Line. Ahrcajl, within the fhip, denotes on a 

 line with the beam, or by the fide of any objeft aboard. 



Abreajl of any place, means off or direflly oppofite to it. 



ABREIRO, in Geo^rajihy, a fmaU town of Tralos- 

 Montes in Portugal, in a diflriifl, which, according to Buf- 

 ching, confiftsof oneparifli. W. long. 7-" 10'. N. lat. 41° 20'. 



ABRETTENE, in Antimt Geography, a dillrift of 

 Myfia in Afia. Hence, according to Strabo (Geog. torn. ii. 



p. 861.), 



