Serāpis
or
Sarāpis (
Σάραπις;
Egyptian,
Asarhapi=Osiris-Apis). The Egyptian god
Osiris (q.v.), in the character of god of the lower world; his
corresponding incarnation as the god of the upper world was the bull Apis. (See
Apis.) His worship was first independently developed in the
time of the Ptolemies in Alexandria, the most beautiful ornament of which city was the
magnif
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Serapis. (Vatican.)
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icent temple of Serapis, the Serapeum. By the elimination of foreign elements, the
conception of the god was so widely extended as to include the Egyptian Osiris, the Greek
Pluto, the Greek god of healing, Asclepius, and Zeus-Iupiter. This new worship (together with
the cult of Isis) rapidly spread from Egypt over the Asiatic coast, the Greek islands, and
Greece itself, and found a firm footing even in Rome and Italy, in spite of repeated
interference on the part of the State. Under the Empire, particularly in the time of Hadrian,
it extended throughout the Roman world. (See
Isis.)
There was a fine temple to Serapis at Puteoli, of which remains still exist.
Serapis was especially worshipped as a god of healing, and with his temples were connected
dream-oracles that were much resorted to. He was represented, like Pluto, with an animal by
his side, having the head of a dog, lion, or wolf, and a serpent coiled round its body. As
Zeus-Serapis he is to be seen in the colossal bust in the Vatican, with a
modius, or corn-measure, the symbol of the lower world, upon his head.
