Translations:Serapis Bey/39/en

Over a period of six to seven hundred years, Serapis became the supreme deity of Egypt and Greece. However, in the late fourth century A.D., the emperor Theodosius issued edicts against polytheism, and Christians took this as license to attack pagans, including the adherents of mystery religions. The Christian Bishop of Alexandria provoked mobs to destroy the great symbol of paganism in Alexandria, the mystery temple of the god Serapis. They hacked apart the huge statue of Serapis, which had inspired worshipers for six hundred years. The mob destroyed at least one of Alexandria’s great libraries.