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The Fate of Serapis: a Paradigm for Transformations in the Culture and Art of Late Roman Egypt Ann M

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The Fate of Serapis: a Paradigm for Transformations in the Culture and Art of Late Roman Egypt Ann M The Fate of Serapis: A Paradigm for Transformations in the Culture and Art of Late Roman Egypt Ann M. Nicgorski Egyptian interactions with the Greco-Roman world began as early as the third quarter of the seventh century BCE when the pharaoh Psammetichus I opened the land to Greek mercenaries, traders, and colonists (Hdt. 2.152–54).1 Yet it was not until after the conquest of Egypt by Alexander the Great in 332 BCE that Egypt was transformed into a much more cosmopolitan and integral part of the Mediterranean world. After his death, Ptolemy I Soter, one of Alexander’s generals, succeeded to power in Egypt (r. 323–283 BCE). He established Greek as the official language and moved the capital to the newly founded city of Alexan- dria. Although the rulers of the Ptolemaic dynasty generally supported traditional Egyptian culture and religion, they also opened the land to broader Hellenistic influences. In 30 BCE, Egypt officially became part of the Roman Empire, when Octavian defeated Mark Antony and Cleopatra VII at the Battle of Actium. Greek language, culture, and art, however, con- tinued to have a strong impact in Roman Egypt, and espe- cially on the development of early Christianity in the late Roman to early Byzantine era. A fascinating path into these complex cultural dynamics is offered by the tale of the rise and fall of the cult of the syncretistic god Serapis in Alex- andria, who came to be regarded as a bringer of the annual Nile flood and as a supplier of fertility and prosperity to the land. In particular, the creation and transformation of the image of the god himself, during the Ptolemaic and Roman periods, reflects the traditions of both ancient Egyptian and Greco-Roman art. Such hybrid and polysemous imagery, of- ten referencing the key theme of abundance, also became a characteristic expression of the heterogeneous culture of late Roman Egypt, as clearly reflected in the sculpted reliefs and textiles dating from the fourth to the sixth century CE that are included in this exhibition. The precise origin of the god Serapis remains uncertain, but his name clearly derives from Apis, the sacred bull-god of Memphis, and Osiris, the Egyptian god of the under- 10.1. Apis bull, from the Serapeum, Memphis, 30th world.2 As the hypostasis Oserapis or Osiris-Apis, this Egyp- dynasty/378–341 BCE, limestone. Louvre, Paris, N 390. 153 Ann M. Nicgorski tian bull-deity may well have been encountered by Alexander in the vicinity of Alexandria and worshipped as Serapis (fig. 10.1).3 More certain is that Ptolemy I became a major proponent of the cult of Serapis, perhaps to help unify the native Egyptian and Greek populations.4 He was responsible for devising a new Hel- lenized image of Serapis in fully human form, that of a bearded male in the prime of his life, a hybrid image with rich syncre- tistic associations particularly with Zeus, Asklepios, Helios, and Hades. In Alexandria’s Serapeum, built during the time of Ptolemy III (r. 246–222 BCE), there was a cult statue of Serapis attributed to a sculptor named Bryaxis (by Clement of Alexan- dria, Protr. 4.48.1–3). Generally Zeus-like in appearance, Serapis was probably seated, wearing a Greek chiton and himation and holding a scepter, with the three-headed Cerberus at his side, similar to an example found at Ostia (fig. 10.2). Additionally, in the Roman period, Serapis often had a bifurcate beard and five distinct locks falling onto his forehead.5 Another typical aspect of his iconography is the conical container, usually identified as a kalathos or modius (grain measure) that crowns his head, as seen in the remarkable painted icon of Serapis from Roman Egypt (fig. 10.3).6 Serapis became the chief god of Alexandria in the Hellenis- tic period, a supreme deity (like Zeus), a powerful god of heal- ing (like Asklepios), and a god associated with the fertility of st nd 10.2. Statuette of Serapis, Ostia, 1 –2 the earth (like Helios), as well as the boundary between life and century CE, marble. Museo Ostiense, 1125. death (like Hades).7 He was a new consort of the powerful Egyp- tian mother goddess Isis, and the father of her son, Harpocrates (previously Horus, son of Osiris). As such, he was a god of abun- dance and renewed life, who also came to be worshipped as a bringer of the annual Nile flood, which made the land prosper. One of the god’s most famous attributes was the ceremonial Nile Cubit, a portable nilometer, which was housed in his temple (the Serapeum) in Alexandria. The cult of Serapis, together with Isis and Harpocrates, was extremely popular in Roman times and it spread throughout the empire, where Serapis was regarded also as an oracular god and a protector of travelers by sea, perhaps because of his association with the great port of Alexandria.8 It is probably because of this strong connection with the Hellenistic city of Alexandria that Serapis never achieved the same degree of popularity with the native Egyptians, who continued their devo- tions to the ancient god Osiris, the true consort of Isis.9 Beginning in the Flavian period (69–96 CE), the god Serapis was closely associated with the Roman imperial cult, as he had been earlier in the development of the Ptolemaic ruler cult. As a guarantor of power, he was one of the few deities who might appear together with the image of the ruling emperor on widely distributed imperial coinage (fig. 10.4).10 Therefore, when the first Christian emperor, Constantine the Great, ordered the transfer of the Nile Cubit from the Serapeum to an unnamed 10.3. Triptych panel with Serapis, Romano- Christian church in Alexandria (c. 325 CE), he sent a powerful Egyptian, c. 100 CE, tempera on wood panel. J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, 74.AP.2. message severing the ancient ties with the god. The local popula- 154 The Fate of Serapis: A Paradigm for Transformations in the Culture and Art of Late Roman Egypt tion feared that disaster would ensue and that the Nile waters would not rise, but the inun- dation did in fact arrive and continued to take place regularly thereafter (Socrates, Hist. Eccl. 1.18).11 As Christianity became more estab- lished in Egypt and in Alexandria, tensions rose and ultimately violence erupted between the worshippers of Serapis and the followers of the new Christian religion. In 391 CE pagans 10.4. Billon tetradrachm of Vespasian with bust of Serapis, minted occupied the Serapeum in Alexandria, using in Alexandria, 70/71 CE. Yale University Art Gallery, Gift of Dr. it as a stronghold to launch violent attacks Sidney Peerless, 2001.87.3627. against Christians; they were incited to this action by reports that Theophilus, Patriarch of Alexandria (353–412 CE), had desecrated cultic objects in a pagan temple. In this same year, Emperor Theodosius I issued a decree prohibiting sacrifices and visits to the pagan temples in Rome and Alexandria. Conse- quently the Serapeum and its cult statue were destroyed.12 However, according to Sozomen’s church history written around 440 CE (Hist. Eccl. 7.15): It is said that when the temple was being demolished, some stones were found, on which were hieroglyphic characters in the form of a cross [i.e., ankh signs], which on being submitted to the inspection of the learned, were interpreted as signifying the life to come. These characters led to the con- version of several of the pagans. [...] It was thus that the Serapion was taken, and, a little while after, converted into a church; it received the name of the Emperor Arcadius.13 This episode is a wonderful example of a type of semantic progression that is typical in the heterogeneous religious and cultural context of late Roman Egypt. The ankh, the ancient Egyptian sign of life, inscribed on architectural elements from the Serapeum, was now rec- ognized as a fluid, multivalent symbol of “the life to come,” understood and accepted by diverse, and even opposing, cultural groups. The traditional ankh was then transformed into the new crux ansata, a looped cross with a more circular (rather than tear-shaped) head, which became a potent symbol of the early Christian Church in Egypt that repre- sented Christ’s sacrifice and the promise of salvation while still testifying to the continuity of ancient Egyptian tradition.14 The crux ansata appears as a central motif in many works of early Christian art from Egypt, such as a fourth-century CE tapestry roundel included in the exhibition (plate 151). This transformation and continuity of tradition from the Hellenistic to the late Roman and early Christian period is also apparent in one of the earliest known icons of Christ from Sinai, dating to the first half of the sixth century CE (fig. 10.5), an image that clearly derives its authority from its evocation of the “Zeus/Jupiter facial type,” which was shared by the Greco-Roman Serapis (fig. 10.3).15 The god Serapis (as Osiris-Apis) had originated in the form of an Egyptian bull-deity and was re-imaged in the early Hellenistic period with an idealized human form, evoking the visage of the most powerful male gods of the Greek pantheon as a way to confer authority first on the Ptolemaic rulers who promoted his cult, and then on the Roman emperors who followed. The face of Serapis, in particular, was a very ancient and potent image, whose transformation into the authoritative, yet beneficent face of Christ is another characteristic example of a semantic progression within the cos- mopolitan context of late Roman Egypt.
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