48 MYTHOLOGY AND RELIGIOUS RITES. 
we must mention the Abraxas (gems well known to all mythologians 
and antiquarians) to which the ancients attached a symbolical meaning. 
Abraxas, the name by which they are distinguished, is said by some to be 
a word composed of Greek letters, the numerical value of which was 365 ; 
others hold that it is a compound of the Egyptian words Abrac and Saa, 
which signified either the Saviour, or Mithras, the sun, if it was not meant 
for the sacred mystic word. Basilides of Alexandria, a Gnostic, who 
endeavored to connect all kinds of ancient philosophic elements with Chris- 
tianity, considered this word as the symbol of the deity from which 365 
spirits came forth by emanation. The Abraxas figure found upon these 
gems (pl. 14, jig. 30), he explained as symbolizing the seven primary 
powers of the deity, viz. the serpent’s feet, thought and reason; the cock’s 
head, wisdom and foreknowledge; the whip in the left hand of the figure, 
power; and the circular shield, equity and peace; while the trunk was the 
symbol of the eternal uncreated Father of All. The followers of Basilides 
valued gems of this kind very highly, and carried them about their persons as 
amulets. These gems must be carefully distinguished from the Abraaoides, 
for the figures upon the latter, though in the style of Abraxas, referred 
generally to something taught by the Christian gnostic sects. There were 
also some gems known as Abrawasters, which were altogether different, 
from the two already mentioned; the devices and inscriptions upon these 
always had reference to strictly Pagan subjects (pl. 7, jigs. 15-17; pl. 9, 
Jigs. 80, 31). 
IV. MYTHOLOGY OF THE BABYLONIANS, SYRIANS, AND 
PHCENICIANS. 
The mythology of these Eastern nations may be considered as the well- 
spring or fountain whence first came those corrupt streams of idolatry, 
which receiving numberless accessions in their onward course, deluged all 
the heathen world with false gods. 
The basis upon which the mythology of these three nations was founded 
was very nearly the same in all: it was a worship of nature, and particularly 
of the stars. The objects thus deified were also more or less common 
to them. If we consider their political relations and commercial inter 
course, it will appear evident that they must have exchanged with one 
another many of their religious ideas. This, together with the great want 
of copious and reliable authorities, contributes materially to the obscurity 
which still exists with regard to the essential points of difference between 
their systems. 
The supreme gods of these nations were the same, only worshipped under 
different names; and their respective cosmogonies show that their mytholo- 
gical systems must have sprung from a common source. 
The Babylonians and the Assyrians generally held that all creation had 
its origin in a shapeless chaos which moved in the beginning in primitive 
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