Name

The name of Serapis is derived from Osiris and the bull Apis, who had a cult at Memphis , Serapis also came to be identified with Asclepius, the god of healing.

Shape

He was represented with the form of a man with five strips of hair on his forehead

Cult

Alexandria was the cult center of God Serapis. After the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC, his successor,Ptolmy I, intended to make a bridge between the Greek and Egyptian religion in a new age, in which their respective gods were bought face to face with each other, so that both Egyptians and Greeks could find union in a specific supreme entity. Serapis was that deity who unite the Greek and Egyptian population of the city

Serapis won an important place in the Greek world, reaching ancient Rome with Anubis being identified as Cerberus. The great cult survived until 385 AD, when early Christians destroyed the Serapeum of Alexandria and subsequently the cult was forbidden by the Theodosiom decree

Information

He has a triad consists of him, his wife Isis and their son Harpocratis.

God Serapis was an invented god. He was a composite of several Egyptian and Hellenistic deities who was introduced to the world at the beginning of the Ptolmic period in Egypt during the reign of Ptolmy I , though his legacy lasted well into the Roman period

The cult of this combination god, named Osirapis (or Userhapi, Asar-Hapi), had existed in Egypt prior to the rule of the Ptolemies. Osirapis was basically the sacred bull of Memphis after its death. According to the hieroglyphic texts,which were found on stelae, and other objects in the Serapum at Saqqara , established long before the Greek Period, Apis is called "the life of Osiris, the lord of heaven, Tem {with} his horns {in} his head." and he is said to "give life, strength, health, to thy nostrils for ever."

The earliest mention of a Serapis is in the authentic death scene of Alexander, from the royal diaries Here, Serapis has a temple at Babylon , and is of such importance that he alone is named as being consulted on behalf of the dying king. His presence in Babylon would radically alter perceptions of the mythologies of this era, though fortunately, it has been discovered that the unconnected Bablyonian god Ea was titled Serapsi, meaning kng of the dead , and it is this Serapsi which is referred to in the diaries. The significance of this Serapsi in the hellenic psyche, due to its involvement in Alexander's death, may have also contributed to the choice of Osiris - Apis as the chief Ptolemaic god