Mystic South

The Greco-Egyptian god Serapis was very popular in Classical and Late Antiquity, with temples and adherents throughout Egypt and the wider Mediterranean; but he is little known among Pagans today. Evidence of his worship spans seven centuries during Classical and Late Antiquity. Originally known by the Egyptian name "Osiris-Apis", he was the sacred Apis bull which, after his sacrifice, spiritually fused with the river and underworld deity Osiris. After the Macedonian conquest of Egypt in 323 B.C.E., and the god's reception by Ptolemy I Soter in 286 B.C.E., he was known in Attic Greek as "Sarapis", which was the most common spelling until the Roman conquest of 30 B.C.E. The Koine Greek, and Latin Serapis, was his name from that time forward. His original cultus ended with the destruction of the Serapeum of Alexandria in 391 C.E. With a wealth of primary sources and current scholarship available, Greco-Egyptian and Roman reconstructionist Pagans who sense a calling from Serapis have much to draw upon. In my view, the only obstacle to a widespread revived cult is a lack of familiarity. In this paper I will trace the evolution of his cultus by surveying primary sources and more recent scholarship, and examine contemporary examples of his reconstructed worship.