- For other usages, see Serapis (disambiguation)
The Hellenistic-Egyptian god Serapis and his attributes.
Serapis (in older scholarship Sarapis) was a Hellenistic-Egyptian god in Antiquity. Under Ptolemy Soter, efforts were made to
integrate Egyptian religion with that of their hellenic rulers. Ptolemy's policy was to find a deity that should win the
reverence alike of both groups, despite the curses of the Egyptian priests against the gods of the previous foreign rulers (i.e
Set who was lauded by the Hyksos). Alexander the Great had attempted to use Amun for this purpose, but he
was more prominent in Upper Egypt, but was not so popular with those in Lower Egypt, where the Greeks had stronger influence. The Greeks had little respect for animal-headed
figures, and so a Greek-style anthromorphic statue was chosen as the idol, and proclaimed as the equivalent of the highly popular Apis. It was named Aser-hapi (i.e. Osiris-Apis), which became Serapis,
and was said to be Osiris in full, rather than just his Ka
(life force).
History
The earliest mention of a Serapis is in the disputed death scene of Alexander, from the royal diaries (Arrian, Anabasis, VII. 26). Here, Serapis has a temple at Babylon,
and is of such importance that he alone is named as being consulted on behalf of the dying king. His presence in Babylon would
radically alter perceptions of the mythologies of this era, though fortunately it has been discovered that the unconnected
Babylonian god Ea (Enki) was titled Serapsi, meaning king of the deep, and it is
possibly this Serapsi which is referred to in the diaries. The significance of this Serapsi in the hellenic psyche, due to
its involvement in Alexander's death, may have also contributed to the choice of Osiris-Apis as the chief Ptolemaic
god.
Mouldmade lamp with a bust of Serapis, flanked by a crescent moon and star. Roman, made in Ephesus 100-150. Said to be from
Egypt.
British Museum.
According to Plutarch, Ptolemy stole the statue from Sinope,
having been instructed in a dream by the unknown god, to bring the statue to
Alexandria, where the statue was pronounced to be Serapis by two religious experts. One of
the experts was the one of the Eumolpidae, the ancient family from whose members the
hierophant of the Eleusinian Mysteries had been
chosen since before history, and the other was the scholarly Egyptian priest Manetho, which gave
weight to the judgement both for the Egyptians and the Greeks.
Plutarch may not however be correct, as some Egyptologists allege that the Sinope in the tale is really the hill of
Sinopeion, a name given to the site of the already existing Serapeum at Memphis. Also, according to Tacitus, Serapis (i.e. Apis explicitly
identified as Osiris in full) had been the god of the village of Rhakotis, before it suddenly
expanded into the great capital of Alexandria.
The statue suitably depicted a figure resembling Hades or Pluto, both being kings of the Greek underworld,
and was shown enthroned with the modius, which is a basket/grain-measure, on his head, since it was a Greek
symbol for the land of the dead. He also held a sceptre in his
hand indicating his rulership, with Cerberus, gatekeeper of the underworld, resting at his
feet, and it also had what appeared to be a serpent at its base, fitting the
Egyptian symbol of rulership, the uraeus.
With his (i.e. Osiris') wife Isis, and their son (at this point in history) Horus (in the form of Harpocrates), Serapis won an important place in the Greek world, reaching
Ancient Rome, with Anubis being identified as Cerberus. In
Rome, Serapis was worshiped in the Iseum Campense, the sanctuary of the goddess Isis located in the Campus Martius and built during the Second Triumvirate. The
Roman cults of Isis and Serapis gained in popularity late in the first century thanks to the god's role in the miracles that the
imperial usurper Vespasian experienced in the city of Alexandria, where he stayed prior to his return to Rome as emperor in 70 AD. From
the Flavian Dynasty on, Serapis sometimes appeared on imperial coinage with the reigning
emperor. The great cult survived until 385, when early Christians destroyed the Serapeum of Alexandria, and subsequently the cult
was forbidden by the Theodosian decree.
A letter ascribed in the Augustan History to the Emperor Hadrian refers to the worship of Serapis by residents of Egypt who described themselves as Christians, and Christian worship by those claiming to worship Serapis, suggesting a great confusion of the
cults and practices:
The land of Egypt, the praises of which you have been recounting to me, my dear Servianus, I have found to be wholly
light-minded, unstable, and blown about by every breath of rumour. There those who worship Serapis are, in fact, Christians, and
those who call themselves bishops of Christ are, in fact, devotees of Serapis. There is no chief of the Jewish synagogue, no Samaritan, no Christian presbyter, who is not an astrologer, a soothsayer, or an anointer. Even the Patriarch himself, when he comes to
Egypt, is forced by some to worship Serapis, by others to worship Christ. (Augustan History, Firmus et al. 8)
References
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