THE EGYPTIAN FOUNDATIONS OF GNOSTIC THOUGHT

12 syzygies (pairs of aeons)
The last female aeon Pistis Sophia
6 aeons ruled by Jabraoth (who has been redeemed)
[Realm of visible Cosmos]
6 aeons ruled by Sabaoth Adamas (unredeemed)
with 12 zodiac spirits
5 great Archontes:
Kronos, Ares, Hermes, Aphrodite, Zeus
[Realm of Air]
5 great Archontes:
Paraplech, Aethiopica, Hekate, Paredron Tupson,
Iaksthanabas, ruling over
360 Archontes of Adamas
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
Zone 8
Beneath The Middle
The firmament (with innumerable spirits)
The Earth
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – -
Zone 9
The Underworld:
Orcus ruled over by Ariel
Chaos ruled over by the lion-headed Ialdabaoth
(along with Persephone and Adonis)
The Outer Darkness (a great dragon encircling the earth
with its tail in its mouth)
12 chambers of punishment
The Vorlage was written in Coptic 28
; in this case the Sahidic dialect points
towards a southern religious community although, as a later redaction, it is hardly
conclusive. Towards the end of the work a vehement disclaimer is put forward to the
effect that the group condemns the Gnostic libertines. Thomas asks about those who
mix semen and female menstrual blood with lentils to eat; Jesus responds: “Truly I
say that this sin surpasses every sin and every iniquity” etc. 29
This might be in
response to the charges raised by Epiphanius against the Gnostic libertines of Egypt in
his Panarion, written about 375. The appearance of the Coptic BAINCHOOCH and
numerous other magical connections detailed in Chapter 5, place the composition of
the Urtext anywhere back to the first century B.C.E.
28
“Our book, as it stands, has an Egyptian, non-Greek origin,” in F.C. Burkitt, “Pistis Sophia,”
JTS 23 (1921/22): 274; and “Pistis Sophia and the Coptic Language,”JTS 27 (1925/26): 148
in which the author rejects the linguistic analysis of Carl Schmidt that Coptic, not Greek,
was the language of composition. Carl Schmidt, Pistis Sophia, em gnostisches
Originalwerke (Leipzig, 1925).
29
Coptic transcription from NHS, vol. IX, 762.