Serapeum

(noun)

A temple or sanctuary dedicated to the Egypto-Hellenic god Serapis.

Related Terms

Examples of Serapeum in the following topics:

  • Architecture during the Severan Dynasty

    • In 212, Caracalla erected a temple (called a Serapeum) on Quirinal Hill dedicated to the Egyptian god Serapis, a human-headed deity that shared Greek and Egyptian attributes.
    • This Serapeum was, by most surviving accounts, the most sumptuous and architectonically ambitious of those built on the hill.
    • The ruins of the Serapeum show a mixture of brick and concrete with regular use of the round arch.
    • Describe the Triumphal Arches of Septimius Severus, the Baths of Caracalla, and Caracalla's Serapeum on the Quirinal Hill.

  • Architecture under the Nervan-Antonines

    • A Greek "Maritime Theatre" exhibits classical Ionic style, whereas the domes of the main buildings as well as the Corinthian arches of the Canopus (a pool) and Serapeum (an artificial grotto) show clear Roman architecture.