Nomos AG
obolos 22 6 Mar 2022
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EGYPT. Uncertain. Circa 3rd-4th century AD. Gnostic Tessera (Lead, 19 mm, 2.45 g, 9 h). IAω Abrasax facing, with the head of a rooster and snakes for legs, holding a whip in his right hand and a shield with his left. Rev. ABP- ACAΞ in two lines; above, star within crescent. Cf. CBd-2613. Cf. Nauman 52 (2017), 254 var. Elsen 124 (2015), 404 and Rauch MBS 8 (2004), 685. A most unusual and interesting Gnostic talisman. Very fine.
This interesting tessera depicts the Basilidian Gnostic deity Abrasax, a god whose precise significance is uncertain. In one tradition, he is the All-Being, but he was not viewed in this way universally. The Catholic Church considers him a demon (see J. Collin de Plancy, Infernal Dictionary, 1818), stemming from the heretical teachings of Basilides, an early Christian Gnostic teacher from Alexandria who taught during the reign of Hadrian (117-138), and who claimed to have inherited his teachings from the apostle Saint Matthias.
This interesting tessera depicts the Basilidian Gnostic deity Abrasax, a god whose precise significance is uncertain. In one tradition, he is the All-Being, but he was not viewed in this way universally. The Catholic Church considers him a demon (see J. Collin de Plancy, Infernal Dictionary, 1818), stemming from the heretical teachings of Basilides, an early Christian Gnostic teacher from Alexandria who taught during the reign of Hadrian (117-138), and who claimed to have inherited his teachings from the apostle Saint Matthias.