Open Collections

MaikidouPoutrino, Dafni

Database of Religious History (DRH)

There are three sanctuaries dedicated to the Egyptian deities (Isis, Serapis, Anubis, Harpocrates, Osiris, Bubastis) in Delos. The first one is Sarapieion A and consists of a court and a small temple built on a vault accessible to water, two rooms of which one had benches, probably for the gatherings, and a portico. There is a long inscription known as the “chronic of the Sarapieion” and gives information about the origins of the sanctuary. According to this inscription, the founder of the sanctuary was the priest Apollonios; his grandfather Apollonios was the one who brought his god with him when he arrived from Memphis. Serapis appeared in a dream appointing where the sanctuary had to be built. It was probably private, and the office of the priest was hereditary. The Sarapieion B was not far from the previous one. It was constructed on a small terrace. It has been preserved only in ruins, and it once had a court, spaces with benches, a small temple, a tank, and altars. Unfortunately, not much is known about the history of the sanctuary. The Sarapieion C was the official sanctuary, the most important, and covered a large space from north to south on a terrace on the upper part of the tank of Inopos. It was close to the Sanctuary of the Syrian deities. The sanctuary was divided into two parts. A trapezoidal space with a paved road framed by altars and small sphinxes covers the south part. At the north, there is a paved court which is surrounded by cultic buildings: temples dedicated to Isis, Serapis, Anubis, and other buildings. Delos is the site that has offered the largest number of inscriptions dedicated to the Egyptian deities outside Egypt. These inscriptions reveal essential information on the offices; the sanctuary was served by a priest, a keykeeper, a νεωκόρος chosen among the citizens, an ἀρεταλόγος who proclaimed the miracles of the god, an ὀνειροκτίτης who interpreted the dreams etc. The same inscriptions enlighten on the customs and rules that devotees had to follow: wine was forbidden for the worshipers of Isis and Osiris, wool clothes were not allowed for the worshipers of Serapis. The inscriptions also suggest that the deities were venerated under numerous forms: Isis Hathor, Isis close to the Mother of Gods Astarte, Isis Tyche, Isis Aphrodite, Isis Nike, Isis protector of maritime activities, Isis Dikaiosyne.

Other

eng

Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library

10.14288/1.0401706

Non UBC

Unreviewed

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/