 The most important extant treatise by Iamblichus, however, is the Reply of Master Abamon to Porphyry’s Letter to Anebo, and Solutions to the Difficulties Contained Therein (abbreviated to Reply to Porphyry and traditionally known as De mysteriis Ægyptiorum since Marsilio Ficino’s original Latin translation: see SS-2013: ix–xxi). The work is a defense of Pagan religious practice (sacrifice, prayer, divination etc.) against the objections raised by Porphyry, and to serve this purpose it introduces several philosophical developments on the divine nature and orders, as well as the pretensions of the human soul. The whole debate is framed with a fictional Egyptian scenario: Porphyry had raised his objections in an epistle addressed to Anebo, an Egyptian priest, while Iamblichus wrote his reply under the assumed guise of the Egyptian prophet Abamon. While it had limited direct transmission (the only ancient testimonium being Proclus, In Timaeum I, 386.8–13 [D-1973: Fr. 38], although Taormina (2014) expressed reservations), its importance as a touchstone against which one can safely compare what can be gathered from other sources is invaluable.