Serapis
Reference page: Repertory of Cults and Myths
Of Asian origin he was perhaps the god of the sea Shar-aphu. His cult was imported to Egypt where he took the name of Serapis and was associated with the cult of Osiris, brother and husband of Isis. The cult of the ancient god of the sea spread throughout the Mediterranean and its numerous temples took the name of Serapei.
In Sicily the cult of Serapis must have arrived together with that of Isis as demonstrated by the bronze coins and the inscriptions which I have mentioned when speaking of Isis and the temple which is found under the church of S. Pancrazio in Taormina. Cicero (Verrine.I.II.160) speaks of a Serapeum in a central and frequented place in Syracuse. In fact, the remains of an ancient sanctuary, with characteristics that differ from the typically Hellenic sanctuaries, have been found in Syracuse in the Acradina district (the main district of ancient Syracuse). That this sanctuary, known as "Ginnasio" because identified in the past with a Roman gymnasium, was actually a Serapeum, i.e. a temple dedicated to Serapis, would be corroborated not only by ancient literary sources of the Republican era (including that of Cicero ) which speak of the presence of a Serapeum in Syracuse, also from an inscription with a dedication to Serapis found not very far from the sanctuary. Coins from the Roman era would indicate the presence of the cult of Serapis also in Menai [Ciaceri Emanuele: Culti e Miti dell'Antica Sicilia p. 263], near present-day Mineo.
Extract from the Book ” Cults of Ancient Sicily” by Ignazio Caloggero ISBN: 9788832060102 © 2022 Centro Studi Helios srl
