60 – Head of Serapis

Head of Serapis. Roman, c. 200 CE; found in Walbrook, City of London. Worship of the god Serapis, the consort of Isis, spread from Egypt to the far reaches of the Roman Empire. This marble head was discovered in the Temple of Mithras in London in 1954. It may have been dedicated there when the Roman emperor Septimius Severus (ruled 193-211 CE) visited the city in 208 CE. The North African-born ruler particularly revered Serapis and styled his own portraiture on the deity’s appearance.

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