instruments made of “iron (?) of the South,"¶¥£= and “iron (?) of the North,”, respectively. The two gods represented by 99 are Horus and Set, whilst the two represent two different kinds of metal. These amulets were placed among the wrappings of the mummy near the head, and they were supposed to open the mouth of the deceased and obtain for him the protection of Horus and Set. XXXI.-The Steps, . With this amulet is associated the idea of resurrection, and it is also symbolic of the steps that Shu used to stand upon when he lifted up the Sky-goddess Nut from the embrace of the Earth-god Geb, and of the throne of Osiris. In the fourth section of the Vignette of Chapter X of the Book of the Dead three sets of steps are depicted. And in the Papyrus of Anhai (pl. 8) we see the mummy of the deceased lying on the top of the steps, and two figures of Khnem standing, one at its head and the other at its feet. Above, in the blue vault of heaven, are the Eight White Spheres. The amulet of the Steps is usually made of glazed faïence-green, blue or white. 1 Neolithic amulets. The Neolithic Egyptians appear to have worn models of animals and reptiles made of flint as amulets, and a few examples of these have come down to us. Thus we have the crocodile (B.M. 32117), 2 inches in length, and the hippopotamus (B.M. 43066), 3 inches in length. The latter object has a perforated projection on its back, and it is quite clear that it was worn as a pendant. The flint objects and ▷ (B.M. 32097, 54429) are also probably amulets. In every Egyptian collection of importance a large number of rings, having a gap in each, will be found; they are made of gold, red jasper, obsidian, red-glazed faïence, shell, stone and glass. Some of those made of gold have a small ring at each end for a wire to pass through (?), and they may thus have been used as ear-rings or pendants for necklaces; on the other hand, they may have been used as amulets. Some have thought that they may have served in some way as buttons. GNOSTIC AMULETS THE Egyptians in all periods of their history believed firmly in the magical powers possessed by certain stones, especially when hekau, or words of power, names of gods, and figures of supernatural beings, when in human or animal forms, were inscribed upon them. Amulets, in some form or other, were absolute necessaries of life to them, and 1 These steps were in Khemenu (Hermopolis). when they lost faith in the native varieties that were within their reach, they adopted those that they believed would give them the protection of foreign gods. The Egyptians who embraced Christianity were in this respect no different from their pre-Christian ancestors, but their amulets represented more complex beliefs than the old Egyptian amulets did, and the greater number of these were drawn from the Indian, Persian, Syrian, and Hebrew religions. Some authorities think that Gnosticism is older than Christianity, and some forms of it undoubtedly were in existence many centuries before the Christian Era. The word is derived from the Greek yvwσis, "knowledge," but the knowledge was of a special and superior kind, transcendental and celestial in character. The Egyptian Kherḥeb, & or priest who performed the sacramental ceremonies in the chapels of the Pyramids of Gîzah in the IVth dynasty, claimed to possess this transcendental knowledge in precisely the same way as did the priest of any Gnostic sect in the Ist or IInd century A.D. In most respects Gnostic amulets only reproduce ancient Egyptian ideas, with additions. The soul of the Egyptian made its way to heaven by the use of spells, prayers, the knowledge of names of power, and the use of symbolic amulets, and the soul of the Gnostic relied on precisely the same things to help his soul into heaven. But his priest helped him materially by simplifying the intricate system of magical figures and symbols and texts, and condensing their powers into a single word, or name, or figure, or symbol. Provided with a magical stone on which any one of these was cut, the Gnostic believed that all heaven was open to his soul when it left his body, and that no devil or demon could resist his will and pleasure. To this belief the Gnostic amulet wholly owes its existence. According to Gnostic teaching Christ Himself was obliged to use words of power to enable Him to descend into hell and to return to the earth, and the Gnostic endeavoured to provide himself with similar means of overcoming the Powers of darkness. This is no place to attempt to summarize the various Gnostic beliefs that are represented on the amulets, or to describe in detail every Gnostic inscription or figure, but the notes given below will indicate their general character. To those who wish to follow up the study of these most interesting but puzzling amulets, the books recommended are: (1) The Pistis Sophia, a work probably of the IInd century A.D., the Coptic text edited by Schwartze. There is a German translation by C. Schmidt (Koptisch-gnostische Schriften, Bd. I, 1905), and a good English translation by the Rev. G. Horner is now available. (2) The Coptic texts of the two "Books of Ieû," edited with a German translation by C. Schmidt, Leipzig, 1892. (3) Hilgenfeld, Ketzergeschichte des Urchristentums, Leipzig, 1884. (4) Lipsius, Der Gnosticismus, Leipzig, 1860. (5) Mansel, The Gnostic Heresies, London, 1875. (6) Liechtenhahn, Die Offenbarung im Gnosticismus, Göttingen, 1901. (7) Staehlin, Die Gnostischen Quellen. Hippolyte, Leipzig, 1890. (8) The list of Gnostic works by Harnack in his Geschichte, Parts I and II. (9) E. de Faye, Introduction, Paris, 1903. (10) Matter, Histoire Critique du Gnosticisme, 2 vols. and plates, Paris, 1828. (11) C. W. King, The Gnostics and their Remains, London, 1864. (12) Bellermann, Drei Programmen über die Abraxas-Gemmen, Berlin, 1820. There are good articles on "Gnosticism" in Ersch and Gruber's Encyclopädie (by Lipsius); in Hastings, Encyclopaedia of Religions, Vol. VI, p. 231 ff.; and in the Encyclopaedia Brit., XIth edition, Vol. XII, p. 152 ff. Gnostic amulets are made of various kinds of green stone and green plasma, green basalt, greenish-grey granite, sard, carnelian, chalcedony, haematite, and, rarely, crystal. They are usually flat and oval in shape, and from half an inch to 3 inches in length; the greater number of them have a bevelled edge, and it seems that they were mounted as bezels in rings, or set in metal frames and worn as pendants. Green stone seems to have been preferred, just as green basalt was the correct material of which to make heartscarabs. According to Galen, "Some indeed assert that a virtue of this kind is inherent in certain stones, such as is in reality possessed by the Green Jasper, which benefits the chest and mouth, if tied upon them. Some indeed set the stone in a ring, and engrave upon it a serpent with his head crowned with rays. . . . Of this material I have had ample experience, having made a necklace of such stones, and hung it round the patient's neck, descending low enough for the stones to touch the mouth of the stomach, and they proved to be of no less benefit than if they had been engraved in the manner laid down by King Nechepsos" (De Simp. Med., Book IX; King, The Gnostics, p. 74). Almost all the Gnostic amulets now available for study were found in Egypt, and chiefly in Lower Egypt and the Fayyûm. The designs on the oldest of them, which are pre-Christian, were inspired by the reliefs on monuments like the Metternich-Stele. On one we the star have the scarab, the hawk of Horus and Rā ★, the crescent moon , and the winged, bird-bodied man holding "life," †, in each hand and standing upon a crocodile and two scorpions (B.M. G. 35). This design is given a Gnostic meaning by the words cut on the reverse, IAW ABPAMA MAPI. On another we have a beetle,, within an oval formed by a snake with its tail in its mouth. The beetle is the self-existent one, Kheperà in Egyptian, and the serpent is the protector of the Sun-god and his visible emblem, the sun. The legend on the reverse is one of the well-known Gnostic legends (B.M. G. 455). On a third, a flat, heart-shaped pendant, we have on the obverse the well-known figures of Horus and Rā, each hawk-headed, and seated on a throne and holding a sceptre and f. Between them is a winged serpent EIC BAIT A TWN BIA EIC with a disk on its head, and suspended from its body. On the reverse is cut the inscription here given, which is thus rendered by C. W. King: One Bait, one Athôr, one their power, Akôri.1 Hail, Father of the World! Hail, triformed god!" The Egyptian triad referred to is probably Kheperȧ - Shu - Tefnut, but the Gnostics identified these purely Egyptian figures with triune gods of their own, and the Christians among them with the Christian Trinity (B.M. G. 1). A portion of the scene in which the deceased is represented reaping in the Elysian Fields seems to be reproduced on B.M. G. 46 and 227. On these haematite ovals the bowed figure of an aged man is seen reaping, and on the reverse of 46 is the word CXIWN, which may be connected with the Another purely Egyptian figure Egyptian sekh, || to reap. is seen on B.M. G. 69, that is, Harpokrates rising up out of a lotus. Twelve rays emerge from his head, and he holds in his left hand a whip, to the top of which a crescent moon is attached. By the flower is a lizard. On the reverse is a legend in which the well-known ABAAN AOAN, "thou art our father," surrounded by a serpent with its tail in its mouth, occurs (B.M. G. 69). Another example shows us Harpokrates in a boat, with two serpent attendants and two adorers (B.M. G. 68). In Harpokrates the Egyptians, Gnostic Christians, Gnostics and followers of Mithras saw the supreme God of heaven and earth. Below the boat is the name ABPA CAZ, "Abrasax," which will be mentioned again later on. The haematite plaque B.M. G. 139 shows an extraordinary mixture of beliefs. A naked woman is standing below a crown which is held over her head by two winged angels; on each of her hands rests a bird; before her stands a Cupid holding a looking-glass, and behind her is a jug, emblematic of purification; the inscription reads ACIC APIWPIO," the manifestation of Ariôriph." On the reverse is Harpokrates seated on a flower with four buds, which springs from a lamp with two burners formed of two phalli united at the bases. Around him are the seven planets, and triads of beetles, hawks, ibises, crocodiles, goats, and uraei, symbolic of Kheperà, Thoth, Horus, Sebek, and other Egyptian gods. Above these are the great names AW, Iaô, and ABPACAZ, Abrasax. From an Egyptian point of view the naked woman is Hathor, but to the Gnostics. SOPHIA, and to the Ophites ACHAMOTH. In the Revelation of Marcus it is said that the Supreme Quaternion came down from heaven 1 AKWPI, not AXWPI, as King prints it. |