Egyptian and Greek met as worshippers of Serapis

The Serapis of Egypt was said to have been worshipped for ages at Sinope; he was transported from that city with great pomp and splendor, to be reincorporated, as it were, and reidentified with his ancient prototype. The colo al statue of Serapis [in the Serapeum] embodied these various attributes. It filled the sanctuary: its outstretched and all-embracing arms touched the walls; the right the one, the left the other. It was said to have been the work of Sesostris; it was made of all the metals fused together gold, silver, copper, iron, lead, and tin; it was inlaid with all kinds of precious stones; the whole was polished, and appeared of an azure color. The measure or bushel, the emblem of productivene or plenty, crowned its head. By its side stood the symbolic three-headed animal, one fore-part of a lion, one of a dog, one of a wolf. In this the Greeks saw the type of their poetic Cerberus. The serpent, the symbol of eternity, wound round the whole, and returned resting its head on the hand of the god.