Head of the god Serapis; Egypt, Ptolemaic or Roman period, 2nd century B.C. – 1st century A.D.

Head of the god Serapis; Egypt, Ptolemaic or Roman period, 2nd century B.C. – 1st century A.D.
Stone.
Measurements: 4.3 x 3.5 cm. Total height 8 cm with base.
An Egyptian head carved in the round from stone, depicting the god Serapis in a style clearly influenced by Greco-Roman art, combining naturalistic and idealized elements. The god is depicted as a man with a thick, curly beard and long hair, a mustache, and a flat nose, a clear forehead, and eyes accentuated by carved eyelids. On the crown of his head, the imprint of the vessel that would have topped the head—a common feature in depictions of this god—is still visible. In the original iconography of this god, established by the statue that stood in the Serapeum of Alexandria, Serapis is depicted with the iconic attributes of Hades: crowned with the “modius” (a grain-measuring vessel), the emblem of the underworld; holding a scepter; with the dog Cerberus at his feet and a serpent.
Serapis was a Greco-Egyptian syncretic deity whom Ptolemy I declared the patron of Alexandria, as well as the official god of Egypt and Greece, with the aim of culturally uniting the two peoples.