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ENGRA VING ON PRECIOUS STONES.
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Some idea of the relative proportion of the different precious
stones used for this purpose may be obtained from the following list copied from the inventory of the Mertens-Schaffhausen collection, which comprised 1475 gems : — |
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Mawe says the carnelian, onyx, agate, etc., could not be engraved by any stone except the diamond. This is an error,
since they have been cut by the corundum·, and, according to some writers, by copper tools tempered to excessive hardness, an art not understood at the present time. It is a question with some antiquaries whether the diamond was known to the ancient Mexicans, yet they engraved on hard stones. Gnostic gems. — The Gnostics combined both pagan and
Christian ideas in their system, which has been very fully represented on engraved gems, and as Alexandria was the nursery of Gnosticism, the larger part of what are called Gnostic gems are of Egyptian origin. The worship of the Egyptian god Abraxas, and the Persian
god, Mithras, — both representing Phcebus, or the sun-god, — was introduced into this system, hence the title Abraxas has been applied to the entire class of Gnostic gems. Abraxas, thought to be identical with Serapis, combines
various attributes and is represented with the head of a cock or a lion, a human body, and legs composed of serpents. He bears the scourge, the royal emblem of Egypt, and a shield, and was lord of all inferior spirits. The letters when employed as Greek numerals make the number three hundred and sixty-five, |
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