Serapeum at Saqqara: Massive Stone Boxes That May Hold More Than One Funerary Rite

Serapeum is an underground hall system at Saqqara, Egypt, where ancient Egyptians buried the sacred Apis bulls. Apis is not just any bull. It was regarded as the living embodiment of the god Ptah in Memphis. When an Apis bull died, priests performed a grand ceremony, embalmed the body, and buried it in a tomb complex; then they sought the successor bearing traditional sacred signs.

Serapeum is an underground hall system at Saqqara, Egypt, where ancient Egyptians buried the sacred Apis bulls. Apis is not just any bull. It was regarded as the living embodiment of the god Ptah in Memphis. When an Apis bull died, priests performed a grand ceremony, embalmed the body, and buried it in a tomb complex; then they sought the successor bearing traditional sacred signs.

Serapeum is an underground hall system at Saqqara, Egypt, where ancient Egyptians buried the sacred Apis bulls. Apis is not just any bull. It was regarded as the living embodiment of the god Ptah in Memphis. When an Apis bull died, priests performed a grand ceremony, embalmed the body, and buried it in a tomb complex; then they sought the successor bearing traditional sacred signs.

Serapeum is an underground hall system at Saqqara, Egypt, where ancient Egyptians buried the sacred Apis bulls. Apis is not just any bull. It was regarded as the living embodiment of the god Ptah in Memphis. When an Apis bull died, priests performed a grand ceremony, embalmed the body, and buried it in a tomb complex; then they sought the successor bearing traditional sacred signs.