Was Sarapis of Alexandria a Multicultural God?

Abstract

This chapter is devoted to the multicultural nature of Sarapis. We used to think that he was a «unifier» of the Greeks and the Egyptians. The deity did have mixed traits, but it doesn’t prove that the Egyptians also worshipped him. These ethnic groups were too separate in other spheres to be joined in the field of religion. Sarapis was a patron of Alexandria as a Greek polis and was worshipped by its citizens. Moreover, there were many other descendants of Greek immigrants and of mixed marriages, who thought themselves to be the Hellenes, and Hellenized Egyptian officials. It was them, for whom the cult was intended. In this context the god was truly multicultural.