Serapeum

A serapeum is a temple or other religious institution dedicated to the syncretic Greco-Egyptian deity Serapis, who combined aspects of Osiris and Apis in a humanized form that was accepted by the Ptolemaic Greeks of Alexandria.

The structure, originally dedicated to Isis alone, was built by Quintus Caecilius Metellus Pius in the first half of the 1st century BCE to celebrate his father's victory over Jugurtha.

The building was destroyed in the great fire of the year 80 CE[5] and rebuilt by Domitian;[6] further renovation was initiated by Hadrian, while Septimius Severus ordered the necessary upkeep of the temple's structure.

The sanctuary, which lay between today's piazza della Pilotta and the large square facing Quirinal Palace, was built by Caracalla on the western slopes of the hill, covering over 13,000 m2 (3.2 acres), as its sides measured 135 by 98 m (443 by 322 ft).

An enormous fragment of entablature, weighing approximately 100 tons and 34 m3 (1,200 cu ft) in volume (the largest in Rome), belongs to the original temple, as do the statues of the Nile and the Tiber, moved by Michelangelo to the Capitoline Hill in front of the Senate building.

[9] Protected by a monumental dome, the sanctuary was composed of a public area and a more intimate subterranean part that was dedicated to the chthonic aspect of Serapis.

To mark the inauguration of his temple, Hadrian struck coinage that carry his effigy accompanied by Serapis, upon a dais where two columns support a round canopy.

In February 2021, archaeologists led by researcher Rafael Hidalgo Prieto from the Pablo de Olavide University announced the discovery of remains of Hadrian's breakfast room which used to show his imperial power.

Under that name, the site had considerable influence on early geology as a band of boreholes affecting the three standing columns suggested that the building had been partly below sea level for some period.

[12] A Latin inscription and other archaeological finds including statues, busts and other objects indicating the presence of a Serapeum from the Roman period in Carthage, dedicated to the Egyptian deities Isis and Serapis.

[13][14] Inside Pergamon in Bergama, there is the Temple of Serapis, built for the Egyptian gods in the 2nd century CE and called the Red Basilica (Kızıl Avlu in Turkish) by locals.