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Head of Serapis with zodiac

Serapis: God of Fertility and the Afterlife that United Greeks and Egyptians

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Serapis (also called Sarapis) was a deity invented by the Ptolemies, and was meant to bridge the gap between their Egyptian and Greek subjects. The Ptolemies were one of the successors of Alexander the Great, and ruled over Egypt until it was conquered by the Romans in 30 BC. As the Ptolemies were a foreign dynasty, and had both Greek and Egyptian subjects, they needed to take measures to solidify their rule. One of these was the invention of the Greco-Egyptian deity Serapis.

Serapis and Osirapis: Appealing to the Egyptians

The man responsible for the creation of Serapis was Ptolemy I, one of Alexander the Great’s most capable generals, and the founder of the Ptolemaic Dynasty.

The name of this god is said to have been a fusion of the Egyptian deity Osiris and the sacred Apis bull. Prior to the coming of the Ptolemies, the cults of these two deities had already merged and a combined god, Osirapis, was worshipped by the Egyptians. Osirapis may be said to have represented the essence of ancient Egyptian religion at the time. Thus, by using these deities as the core of Serapis, the Egyptian subjects of Ptolemaic Egypt could easily identify familiar elements in the new deity.

Bust of Osiris-Apis (Osirapis) Vatican Museums.

Bust of Osiris-Apis (Osirapis) Vatican Museums. (Wikimedia Commons)

Serapis Gains Greek Attributes

In order to appeal to their Greek subjects, a number of Greek deities were added to this Egyptian core. These deities included Zeus, Helios, Dionysus, Hades and Asklepius. By doing so, the attributes of these deities were also added to Serapis. For instance, Serapis gained divine majesty from association with Zeus and became associated with the sun through Helios.

The attributes that were primary to the nature of this new deity, however, were fertility and the afterlife. These were given to Serapis by adding Dionysus and Hades respectively. Incidentally, the aspects of fertility and the afterlife have been long associated with the Egyptian deity Osiris as well.

Head of Serapis from a 12 foot (3.7 meter) tall statue found off the coast of Alexandria.

Head of Serapis from a 12 foot (3.7 meter) tall statue found off the coast of Alexandria. (Wikimedia Commons)

Serapis’ Strong Hellenistic Elements

Although both Egyptian and Greek deities were used to create Serapis, the deity’s final form was predominantly Greek. This can be seen in the iconography of Serapis, which was full of Hellenistic elements.

For a start, Serapis was an anthropomorphic deity, unlike the gods of the Egyptian pantheon, who were often portrayed as zoomorphic beings. Additionally, Serapis was depicted as a man wearing a Greek style robe with a Greek hairstyle and a full beard. Incidentally, Egyptian gods are usually not represented as having full beards (the god Bes is one exception).

Bust of Serapis with a full beard (3rd Century AD)

Bust of Serapis with a full beard (3rd Century AD), Louvre Museum (Wikimedia Commons)

On top of Serapis’ head is a basket or a tall, dry corn measure (called a modius by modern scholars.) This was meant to symbolize his fertility attributes and also show his association with Osiris. Occasionally, Serapis may be portrayed as having a pair of curved ram’s horns. There are also instances where the guardian of the Underworld, the three-headed dog Cerberus, is placed at his feet.

Hellenistic Serapis with Cerberus at his side.

Hellenistic Serapis with Cerberus at his side. (Wikimedia Commons)

The Rise and Fall of a Cult That Crossed Egyptian Borders

The cult of Serapis was a huge success for the Ptolemaic Dynasty, and various temples were built in Egypt for his worship. The main temple was in the Ptolemaic capital, Alexandria. According to the geographer Strabo, the Serapeum in Alexandria stood in the west of the city. Although it was an important site throughout the Mediterranean, it was “almost abandoned on account of the construction of the new buildings at Nicopolis” by the time Strabo wrote his Geography. Nevertheless, the building existed until 389 AD when it was destroyed by order of the emperor Theodosius.

Pope Theophilus standing on a Serapeum, showing the Christian conquest over the ancient cult.

Pope Theophilus standing on a Serapeum, showing the Christian conquest over the ancient cult. (5th Century) Goleniscev Papyrus (Wikimedia Commons)

Strabo also mentions other temples to Serapis in Egypt. For instance, the Serapeum in Canopus is recorded to be renowned for curing the sick:

“It contains the temple of Serapis, which is honored with great reverence and effects such cures that even the most reputable men believe in it and sleep in it – themselves on their own behalf or others for them.”

Another Serapeum is recorded by Strabo to be found in the city of Memphis. Nonetheless, the cult of Serapis, though created by the Ptolemies for a specifically Greco-Egyptian context, gained some popularity beyond the borders of Egypt as well. This is evident in a number of temples dedicated to Serapis that have been found in Italy and Turkey.

There is also evidence that Serapis made his way to Roman Britain. A foundation stone for a Temple of Serapis was found in 1770 in Yorkshire. The stone names a legate of the 6th Roman Legion, Claudius Hieronymianus, as one of the builders. And archaeologists working in Hampshire in 2017 found that Serapis was one of the three gods who had temples dedicated to them at the site by the cruel Roman Emperor Nero. Nero probably had the temple built to impress the power of Rome upon the people his army conquered.

The God Serapis was, for a time, not only appealing to the original audience, but to others as well.

Ruins of a Serapeum, Alexandria, Egypt

Ruins of a Serapeum, Alexandria, Egypt (Wikimedia Commons)

Featured image: Head of Serapis with zodiac (Wikimedia Commons)

By Ḏḥwty

References

Dunn, J., 2013. Serapis (Sarapis). [Online]
Available at: http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/serapis.htm

Strabo, Geography [Online]

[Jones, H. L. (trans.), 1917-32. Strabo’s Geography.]

Available at: http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Strabo/home.html

www.egyptianmyths.net, 2014. Serapis (Sarapis). [Online]
Available at: http://www.egyptianmyths.net/serapis.htm

www.sacred-destinations.com, 2015. Serapeum, Alexandria. [Online]
Available at: http://www.sacred-destinations.com/egypt/alexandria-serapeum

www.touregypt.net, 2013. The Serapeum. [Online]
Available at: http://www.touregypt.net/serapeum.htm

 

Comments

PRAISE THE GODS ...

Worth reading article! The Greeks and Egyptians totally manage the style and trend related to the Romans IN 30 BC, and the other facts as well.
Beards were one of the greatest asset with the men. These pictures show wonderful history of past bearded men and make today's man more encouraged to grow beards.
http://www.beard-growth.com/ growing beards is in trend now and will be carried here after as well.

The Egyptians, Greeks and other Near Eastern civilizations tended to conflate their beliefs and gods anyway. You are correct in that it was probably for shows of power and dominance, however this was also the time of Ptolemy, so sadly Egypt had already been captured.

Hi I just want comment I don't agree with the idea of God created to unite! In Ancient Egypt they had their own Gods & at that time Greeks were becoming a power. So the Egyptians were basically forced to give up their image of God for an image that gave the Greek conquerors all the more power they desired!
So it wasn't about "unifying" people it was about dominating the people BY force because other temples were SHUT DOWN to FORCE people to take on Serapis the foreign God that the native Egyptian did NOT recognize.

dhwty's picture

Wu

Wu Mingren (‘Dhwty’) has a Bachelor of Arts in Ancient History and Archaeology. Although his primary interest is in the ancient civilizations of the Near East, he is also interested in other geographical regions, as well as other time periods.... Read More

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