Bible Myths and their Parallels in other Religions by T. W. Doane

6. That, the chief doctrines of the Gnostic Christians "had been held

for centuries before their time in many of the cities in Asia Minor. There, it is probable, they first came into existence as 'Mystæ,' _upon the establishment of a direct intercourse with India_ under the Seleucidæ and the Ptolemies."