360 THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. CHAP. XIII. 



the }3resence of the Gods, with vases or other 

 emblems in his hand*, is sometimes accompanied 

 by a bull. A "white" bull also attended in the 

 procession at the coronation of the Pharaohs. 



Sarapis, Serapis. 



The account given by Plutarch t of the intro- 

 duction of this Deity into Egypt, is as follows : — 

 " Ptolemy Soter had a dream, in which a colossal 

 statue, such as he had never seen before, appeared 

 to him, commanding him to remove it as soon as 

 possible from the place where it then stood, to 

 Alexandria. Upon this, the King was in great 

 perplexity, not knowing where the statue was. 

 Sosibius, however, who was a great traveller, de- 

 clared that he had seen one answering its de- 

 scrij)tion at Sinope. Soteles and Dionysius were, 

 therefore, sent thither, and with much difficulty 

 succeeded in bringing the statue to Egypt. 



Timotheust the interpreter, and Manetho the 

 Sebennite, as soon as it arrived and was shown to 

 them, concluded, from the Cerberus and dragon, 

 that it represented Pluto, and persuaded the King- 

 that it was no other than Sarapis. For it was not 

 so called at Sinope ; but, on its arrival at Alexan- 

 dria, it obtained the name of Sarapis, which, with 

 the Egyptians, answers to Pluto. The observation of 

 Heraclitus the physiologist, that Hades (Pluto) and 



* lldc iiifm, on the Ceremonies, beginning of Ciiap xv. 



t Plut. de Is. s. 28. 



X Tacitus says he was an Athenian. 



