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ALEXANDRIA (Ancient city) EGYPT
Serapis or Sarapis (Sarapis; Egyptian, Asarhapi=Osiris-Apis). The Egyptian god
Osiris, in the character of god of the lower world; his corresponding incarnation
as the god of the upper world was the bull Apis. His worship was first independently
developed in the time of the Ptolemies in Alexandria, the most beautiful ornament
of which city was the magnificent 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. 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.
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