Serapis
Mythology of Serapis
Picture: The enthroned Serapis
wearing the triple Atef
Crown. Detail
from late relief at Meroe.
The hybrid god Serapis was a
composite of several Egyptian and Hellenistic deities
introduced at the beginning of the Ptolemaic Period in the
reign of Ptolemy I. The god thus answered the needsof a new
age in which Greek and Egyptian religion were brought face
to face the new deity was created in form a bridge between
the two cultures. Linguistically, the god's name is a fusion
of Osiris and Apis, and a cult of Osirapis had in fact
existed in Egypt before the rule of the Ptolemies, but to
this Egyptian core were added a number of Hellenistic
deities which predominated in the god's final form. Zeus,
Helios, Dionysus, Hades and Asklepius all added aspects of
their respective cults, so that Serapis emerged as a
thoroughly Egypto-Hellenistic deity who personified the
aspects of divine majesty, the sun, fertility, the
underworld and afterlife, as well as healing. The mythology
of Serapis was, therefore, the mythology of Serapis was,
therefore, the mythology of his underlying Egyptian gods,
but the aspects of afterlife and fertility were always
primary to his nature. The consort of Serapis was said to be
Isis, the greatest Egyptian goddess in Hellenistic
times.
Iconography of Serapis
The Hellenistic elementst of
Serapis dominate the god's iconography and attributes. He
was portrayed in anthropomorphic form as a man wearing a
Greek-style robe with Greek hairstyle and full beard and
usually bearing a tall corn modius or measure on his head.
In some depictions Serapis is also given curving ram's
horns. Sometimes, as a result of the chthonic and fertility
aspects of the god and his consort Isis, the two gods were
depicted as serpents - one, with a beard, representing
Serapis.
Worship of Serapis
Picture: Picture: The hybrid
deity Serapis wearing his characteristic modius or
kalathos crown in the form of a grain measure. Panel from a
triptych of Serapis, Isis and a private citizen. Roman
Period, AD 180-200. J. Paul Getty Museum,
Malibu.
The cult center of Serapis
was the great Serapeum Temple at Alexandria which was
regarded as a wonder and a site of pilgrimage throughout the
Mediterranean world until it was destroyed by order of the
Emperor Theodosius in AD 389. Other, smaller temples and
shrines were dedicated to the god in locations throughout
Egypt, and the god's cult was spread through much of the
Graeco-Roman world by traders and converts. A Roman Period
sculpted head of the god was found in London, and a temple
of Serapis is even recorded in an inscription found at the
Roman site of Eburacum (modern York) in England, showing
that his importance was great enough to reach even the
distant areas of the Roman Empire. In Egypt itself, however,
the Egyptians never fully accepted the hybrid god and the
evidence for his popular worship is considerably less than
for other, traditional Egyptian gods.
Picture: The hybrid deity Serapis wearing his characteristic
modius or kalathos crown in the form of a grain measure. Panel
from a triptych of Serapis, Isis and a private citizen. Roman
Period, AD 180-200. J. Paul Getty Museum, Malibu.
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