Antique jewelry glossary

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Gnostic seals

Seals used by the believers in Gnosticism, a philosophical and religious movement that developed in the Roman era and was based on different elements of various religions, primarly the belief that salvation was dependent on knowledge (gnosis).

It spread in the 2nd century AD to Gaul, Germany, and Britain, using emblems and iconography of the Egyptian religion and the Mithraic creed. The seals were carved as talismans and as a means of mutual recognition, depicting such deities as Abraxas, Anubis, and Horus, along with planetary symbols and inscriptions.

From: An Illustrated Dictionary of Jewelry, autor: Harold Newman, publishers: Thames and Hudson