APOSPHRAGISMA (from απο, and σφραγιζω, I seal), in Antiquity, the figure or impression of a seal. It was forbidden among the ancients to have the figure or image of God on their rings and seals. To this purpose the precept of Pythagoras, Εν δακτυλίοις ικανα Θνω μη σφραγισμην! But in process of time this was little regarded; it was usual enough to have the figures of Egyptian and other deities, as well as of heroes, monsters, friends, ancestors, and even brutes, on their daetyli or ring-seals.