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Document Details : Title: The Eclipse of Sarapis Author(s): LORBER, Catharine Journal: Ancient Society Volume: 55 Date: 2025 Pages: 31-122 DOI: 10.2143/AS.55.0.3295045 Abstract : This study traces the near-disappearance of Sarapis from Egyptian primary sources in the second and especially first centuries BC. It also reassesses his relation to Osiris and Apis, and the relation of all three gods to the Ptolemaic dynasty. The same Ptolemies who promoted the cult of Sarapis also integrated Osiris into the development of dynastic cult, and Apis assumed a more prominent role in Ptolemaic royal ideology as Sarapis faded. Sarapis is best understood not as a new and distinct deity, but as a late form of Osiris whose characteristics could evolve differently at different cult sites, and who could be absorbed by other forms of Osiris. |
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