Side by side with Christianity there also sprang up in Egypt, under Roman rule, a number of sects to which the title “Gnostic” has been given. They derived many of their views and beliefs from the religion of the ancient Egyptians, and they admitted into their system many of the old gods, _e.g._, Khnemu, Ptaḥ, Rā, Ȧmen, Thoth, Osiris, etc. The founders of =Gnosticism=, a word derived from the Greek _gnosis_, “knowledge,” claimed to possess a =superiority of knowledge= in respect of things divine and celestial, and they regarded the knowledge of God as the truest perfection of knowledge. The characteristic god of the Gnostics was =Abrasax=, or =Abraxas=, and he represented the ONE who embraced ALL within himself. They attributed magical properties to stones, which, when cut into certain forms, and inscribed with legends, or mystic names, words, and letters, afforded, they thought, protection against moral and physical evil. An unusually fine collection of =Gnostic Gems= and =Amulets= is exhibited in Table-case N, in the Fourth Egyptian Room: No. =1= speaks of the “Father of the World, the God in Three Forms”; No. =18= shows us the lion-headed serpent =Knoumis= and the mystic symbol [symbol]; No. =25= makes the Osiris-Christ to be Jah of the Hebrews, and also Alpha and Omega; Nos. =36=, =37=, and =44= have figures of =Abraxas= cut upon them; No. =87= mentions Solomon’s Seal, No. =110=, the six Archangels; and of peculiar interest are No. =231=, engraved with a representation of the =Crucifixion=, and No =469=, engraved with a representation of the =Birth of Christ=. THE ARAB PERIOD. A.D. 640-1517.