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| Serapis | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Marble bust of Serapis wearing a modius | |||||||||
| Name in hieroglyphs |
wsjr-ḥp Koinē Greek: Σέραπις | ||||||||
| Major cult center | Serapeum of Alexandria | ||||||||
| Part of a series on |
| Ancient Egyptian religion |
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Serapis or Sarapis is a Graeco-Egyptian god. A syncretic deity derived from the worship of the Egyptian Osiris and Apis,[1] Serapis was extensively popularized in the third century BC on the orders of Greek Pharaoh Ptolemy I Soter,[2] as a means to unify the Greek and Egyptian subjects of the Ptolemaic Kingdom.
The cultus of Serapis was spread as a matter of deliberate policy by subsequent Ptolemaic kings. Serapis continued to increase in popularity during the Roman Empire, often replacing Osiris as the consort of Isis in temples outside Egypt. Alongside his Egyptian roots he gained attributes from other deities, such as chthonic powers linked to the Greek Hades and Demeter, and benevolence derived from associations with Dionysus.
- ^ Youtie, H. (1948). "The kline of Serapis". The Harvard Theological Review. 41: 9–29. doi:10.1017/S0017816000019325. S2CID 154333290.
- ^ "Sarapis". The New Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 10 (15th ed.). Chicago, IL: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. 1992. p. 447.