★ Very interesting ★

Byzantine Gnostic lead tessera (3.10g, 13mm) Egypt uncertain.(Circa 2nd-4th centuries).
Obv: Anguipede (Iao Abrasax) right, holding whip and shield.
Rev: IAω
Elsen 124 Vide: Aquila Numismatics Auc. 5 Lot 65.
The Gigantomachy was a well-known theme, symbolic of the struggle between order and chaos. Following the defeat and imprisonment of the Titans, Gaea brought forth twenty-four anguipede Giants, including Porphyrion, to wreak vengeance on the Olympians; while Porphyrion was attacking Juno, Jupiter struck him with a thunderbolt. Hercules would finish him off with an arrow.
The Anguiped (Latin: angui, 'snake'; ped-, 'foot') is a kind of divinity that is often found on magical amulets from the Greco-Roman period, and is characterized by having serpents for legs. Abraxas, the most common kind of Anguiped, is depicted as a creature with the head of a rooster and snakes for legs, symbolism thought to be of Persian origin. Sometimes inscribed below is Iao, a form of the Tetragrammaton – the four letters used to represent the name of the God of Judaism. Such amulets, as well as the repeated usage of the name Iao in magical papyri, curse tablets, gems, and other amulets, provide evidence of syncretic cults combining elements of Judaism with paganism. In the Talmud, people who turned away from Judaism to such cults are referred to as minim – often translated as "heretics" or "apostates".