SERAPIS

the Egyptian deity, was first worshipped in Egypt in the reign of Ptolemy I. Plutarch and Tacitus wrote that the king saw the image of a god in Seven a dream, and had a huge statue brought from Sinope SEVEN and set up in Alexandria. It was supposed to represent Serapis, and the temple called the Serapium was built for it. It was the last hold of the pagans after the introduction of Christianity into Alexandria. The Egyptians themselves did not acknowledge him, but he was worshipped in the Greek and Roman towns Seven of Egypt. It was said that forty-two temples were erected to him under the Ptolemies and Romans, and his worship extended to Asia Minor, and in 146 A.D. to Rome. His temple and image at Alexandria were destroyed in 389.