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Egyptian Antiquities :
Roman Period : Gnostic Serpentine Seal
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Gnostic Serpentine Seal - FJ.1543
Origin: Alexandria, Egypt
Circa: 300
AD
to 600
AD
Dimensions:
1" (2.5cm) high
x 1.25" (3.2cm) wide
Collection: Egyptian
Style: Gnostic
Medium: Serpentine
Condition: Very Fine
$2,500.00
Location: United States
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| Description |
Gnosticism (from Greek gnosis, knowledge)
refers to a diverse, syncretistic religious
movement consisting of various belief systems
generally united in the teaching that humans are
divine souls trapped in a material world created
by an imperfect spirit, the demiurge, who is
frequently identified with the Abrahamic God.
The demiurge, who is often depicted as an
embodiment of evil, at other times as simply
imperfect and as benevolent as its inadequacy
allows, exists alongside another remote and
unknowable supreme being that embodies good.
In order to free oneself from the inferior material
world, one needs gnosis, or esoteric spiritual
knowledge available only to a learned elite. Jesus
of Nazareth is identified by some (though not all)
Gnostic sects as an embodiment of the supreme
being who became incarnate to bring gnosis to
the Earth.
Gnosticism was popular in the Mediterranean
and middle eastern regions in the first centuries
of the common era, but it was
suppressed[citation needed] as a dualistic heresy
in areas controlled by the Roman Empire when
Christianity became its official religion in the
fourth century. Conversion to Islam greatly
reduced the remaining number of Gnostics
throughout the middle ages, though a few
isolated communities continue to exist to the
present.
- (FJ.1543)
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