388 
Fig. 123. A similar gem. Around the leonine head of the serpent are the uncial 
Greek characters composing his name.* 
Fig. 124. Another similar gem, very late Roman. The inscription probably means 
“Abraxas, name of God,” — -ABBESSES, NUMEN (for nomen) DAEI (for dei), 
miswritten by the ignorance of the Alexandrian seal- engraver. (Montfaucon.) 
Fig. 125. Chnuphis walking crowned with seven stars (a form afterwards much used 
by the Gnostics. See fig. 97). (Denon.) 
* “ In the beginning, earth and water, to mud condensing, united. After- 
wards a third principle was bom, a serpent with the heads of a bull and a 
lion, and in the midst the face of a god ; it had wings on its shoulders, and was 
called XporoQ ayriparoQ .” — Teste Hellanicus, quoted in Creuzer’s SymboliJc , 
pp. 81-4. See also King, C. W., The Gnostics and their Remains , 
plates v. and vii. 
