Gold Serapeum plaque, Greek with Egyptian heiroglyphs. Serapis was the official chief god of Hellenistic Egypt. His cult was introduced by Ptolemy I, the founder of the Ptolemaic dynasty which ruled over Egypt after Alexander the Great. Ptolemy wished to unite the native Egyptians and the Greek colonists under his authority and that of a common God in order to establish a greater interior unity, which was necessary to turn Egypt into a powerful Hellenistic state. Because the Greeks were not interested in the traditional Egyptian animal gods, Serapis was represented in a human form like the Gre
Gold Serapeum plaque, Greek with Egyptian heiroglyphs. Serapis was the official chief god of Hellenistic Egypt. His cult was introduced by Ptolemy I, the founder of the Ptolemaic dynasty which ruled over Egypt after Alexander the Great. Ptolemy wished to unite the native Egyptians and the Greek colonists under his authority and that of a common God in order to establish a greater interior unity, which was necessary to turn Egypt into a powerful Hellenistic state. Because the Greeks were not interested in the traditional Egyptian animal gods, Serapis was represented in a human form like the Greek Gods. The Serapeum of Alexandria in the Ptolemaic Kingdom was a ancient Greek temple built by Ptolemy III (reigned 246-222 BCE). Excavations at the site of the column of Diocletian in 1944 yielded the foundation deposits of the Serapeion. These are two sets of ten plaques, one each of gold, silver, bronze, Egyptian faience, sun-dried Nile mud, and five of opaque glass. The inscription that Ptolemy III built the Serapeion, in Greek and Egyptian, marks all plaques; evidence suggests that Parmeniskos was assigned as architect. The Serapeum in Alexandria was destroyed by a Christian mob or Roman soldiers in 391 AD.
Size: 5400px × 2532px
Photo credit: © Photo Researchers / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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