353, Lot: 374. Estimate $300. Sold for $180. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

EGYPT, Uncertain. 1st-3rd century. PB Seal (23mm, 16.91 g). Draped bust of Serapis-Pantheos right, wearing / Rough textured surface. VF. An impressively large seal with a detailed and imposing portrait of Serapis.

The god Serapis was a syncretistic Hellenistic-Egyptian god whose worship combined Greek and Egyptian religious beliefs. The name itself is formed by a combination of the Egyptian god of the Underworld, Osiris (Ausar), with Apis (Hapi), a manifestation of the regenerative god Ptah. As the chief god of the new Ptolemaic dynasty, Serapis soon became the subject of the chief royal cult. The belief in an afterlife made it one of the more popular mystery cults, and portraits of the god are known throughout the empire. In Alexandria a large temple complex, the Serapeum, was constructed, and continued to operate until it was destroyed by an angry Christian mob in the late 4th century AD.