Handbook of archaeology, Egyptian - Greek - Etruscan - Roman . in serpents insteadof legs. By the side of the god, besides the word Abraxas, is alsoengraved the name Iao, which would seem, as well as the namesAdonai, Sabaoth, frequently engraved on these gems, to be othertitles of the sun god. Abraxas, the supreme deity or good spirit, andSeth, or the god of evil, are the representatives of the two antago-nistic principles in nature, according to the Gnostic doctrines. In theGnostic creed, the author of evil was regarded as the creator of theworld, and was considered as the being with whom men
Handbook of archaeology, Egyptian - Greek - Etruscan - Roman . in serpents insteadof legs. By the side of the god, besides the word Abraxas, is alsoengraved the name Iao, which would seem, as well as the namesAdonai, Sabaoth, frequently engraved on these gems, to be othertitles of the sun god. Abraxas, the supreme deity or good spirit, andSeth, or the god of evil, are the representatives of the two antago-nistic principles in nature, according to the Gnostic doctrines. In theGnostic creed, the author of evil was regarded as the creator of theworld, and was considered as the being with whom men have chieflyto do, either in this world or in the next. According to the Gnosticview, matter was essentially evil, consequently the supreme deity,or author of good, could not be its author. grafito may, therefore, be of that period. These proskunemata are frequentlyfound in Egypt. They usually were votive sentences, and were inscribed onwalls by the worshipper to indicate his respects for the deity and to solicit hisprotection. 302 HANDBOOK OF CUPID AND BUTTERFLY, Gem. RINGS. Signet-rings may be considered as the earliest kind of useful orna-ment known to the ancients. Their use dates from the earliestperiods. Originally rings bore the signet or seal of the owner, butin later times they were worn more as ornaments than articles ofuse; and to such a pitch was passion for ornament carried by theancients, that it is recorded of some that they loaded their handswith rings. The earliest mention of signet-rings is in the Bible, when Tamarreceives a signet-ring from Judah as a token of recognition; andwhen Pharaoh took off the ring from his hand and put it uponJosephs hand, thereby investing him with delegated most ancient known ring is supposed to be that in the posses-sion of Dr. Abbot, of Cairo. It is thus described by him : Thisremarkable piece of antiquity is in the highest state of preservation,and was found at Ghizeh, in a tomb near the excavation o
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