A tender and beautiful allusion to a religious ring is contained in the account of the life and death of St. Marcina the Younger (ca. 330–379 A.D.), by her brother St. Gregory Nyassa. When, after the death of this pious daughter of Basil the Great, her body was being prepared for burial, there was found, suspended by a cord from her neck and resting just over her heart, an iron ring. On its chaton was engraved a cross, and in a hollow space beneath was secreted a small fragment of the True Cross. This ring the brother removed, declaring that it should be his precious heritage, the more sacred that it recalled the cross of Christ, not only by its engraved design, but still more by the priceless memento placed beneath this.[409] An antique ivory ring found at Arles in France bears inscriptions denoting that it had been designed for use as a Gnostic amulet, and illustrating the peculiar eclecticism of Gnostic belief. The monogram of Christ appears here between the two Greek letters Α and Ω, symbolizing the beginning and the end[410]; added to this is the name ABRAΣAX (Abrasax, Abraxas), the favorite designation of the Creative Energy among the Gnostics.[411] A Christian talismanic ring in the British Museum is set with a red jasper upon which is engraved, in Greek characters: IHCOYC OEOY YIOC THPE, “Jesus son of God, preserve (me).”[412] To jasper at all times has been accorded a high rank among talismanic stones, more especially to the green and red varieties, the latter being particularly favored where protection was sought against death from wounds or hemorrhage. Oriental Christian rings include many unusual types. The British Museum has one of gold, with engraved and nielloed ornament; on the flat octagonal hoop is depicted the Annunciation, in the rigid, hieratic style of Byzantine art. The Virgin is seated on a high-backed chair; before her stands the archangel Gabriel. The hoop bears as inscription the first words of the angel’s greeting, in Greek characters Χἄιρε κεχαριτωμένη ό Κύριος μετἀ σὸυ (Luke i, 28: “Hail thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee.”). This ring is believed to belong to the seventh century A.D., and is a very characteristic example of the type.[413]