IX.—On Gnostic Gems. By John Yonge Akerman, Esq., F.S.A. In a Letter to John Payne Collier, Esq., Treasurer

Extract

I beg to submit to the Society of Antiquaries some impressions and drawings of Gnostic Gems, chiefly bearing the usual figures and characters, on the former of which I venture to make a few observations. I think we shall not err much in assigning the origin of these amulets to Alexandria, in Egypt, the hot-bed of Gnostic superstition, and the birth-place of more than two of the leaders of this abominable sect. As far as we can judge from the style of their workmanship and the form of the characters, the greater part belong to a period later than the days of the Antonines.