Serapeum

Underground gallery from the Serapeum. The Serapeum is a system of underground galleries hewn out of solid rock with large side chambers where the mummified remains of the sacred bulls of Apis were held in sarcophagi. The whole complex was dedicated to the god Osiris-Apis (Osirapis). Country of Origin: Egypt. Culture: Ancient Egyptian. Date/Period: dating from the 18th Dynasty, 1550 - 1295 BC to Ptolemaic times 332 - 30 BC. Place of Origin: Memphis, Saqqara. Credit Line: Werner Forman Archive/ N.J. Saunders.