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There is a mention in Plutarch on practically the last page that there was a request to take Alexander to the temple of Serapis.
I think that it is interesting- this god was a fusion of the god Osiris and of the Apis bull.
The god apparently gained popularity in Ptolemaic Egypt and was a symbol of Greek and Egyptian unity- it was one of Egypt's main exports to Greece.
The god was a healing one so this explains why Alexander's next in line wanted to take him to his temple. What I am most surprised about is the existence of a Serapium in Babylon- given that the god was really an Egyptian one and a relatively new one- unless Alexander on his first trip to Babylon had set a temple up there.
Your post made me think rather more sideways than useful, but isn't there also a Serapium in Dion, where Alexander sacrificed before heading off east? Or at least a sanctuary devoted to Serapis, Isis and Anubis? I'm not certain what date it originates from - surely after 323bce - but the sanctuary to Demeter at Dion is meant to be the earliest known Macedonian sanctuary...
I think I read somewhere that the story about Alexander being taken (intended to, actually) to the Serapis temple was very likely a propaganda operation by Ptolemy.
Though it could also be the case that the alleged temple was dedicated to a local (Babylonian) deity with healing "powers" similar to Serapis' and whose obscure name was replaced by the much more "popular" Egyptian god's.
And plain fabrication is never out of the equation!
Best,
Alejandro
alejandro wrote:I think I read somewhere that the story about Alexander being taken (intended to, actually) to the Serapis temple was very likely a propaganda operation by Ptolemy.
Though it could also be the case that the alleged temple was dedicated to a local (Babylonian) deity with healing "powers" similar to Serapis' and whose obscure name was replaced by the much more "popular" Egyptian god's.
Certainly it appears to be agreed that Serapis was a post-Alexander deity - who became extremely popular under the Romans, too. I can't remember the name of the local 'healing' deity, but I think you're right, that if the companions gathered anywhere it would have been at the local 'shop', which Ptolemy later referred to as the Temple of Serapis because it gave Serapis a good boost!
There is a huge literature on this point, because Plutarch and also Arrian are both quoting from Alexander's own journal, the Ephemerides, on the vigil in the temple of Serapis in Babylon. I myself have an article on the matter scheduled to appear in the Ancient History Bulletin. Basically, it is likely that Serapis (the healing bull-god of Alexandria) is a transliteration of Marduk (the healing bull-god of Babylon), inserted when some archetypal manuscript of the Ephemerides was transcribed in Alexandria in the Ptolemaic era. It is rather unlikely that it has anything to do with Ptolemy Soter himself. I conclude that the Ephemerides were probably originally published by their author, Eumenes, who was Alexander's secretary. Bosworth also takes this view.
Yes- it just doesn't make any sense there being in Babylon a god dedicated to Serapis- so I don't know whether Ptolemy took advantage, and inserted an Egyptian god in his text because he didn't know which one was the Babylonian healing god or changed it intentionally for a boost for Egypt.
However, what Taphoi is saying about the Ephemerides is intriguing.
