S E R 



of the moon in her increafe and decreafe, and holding the fif- 

 trum (a ki::d of cymbal) in lier right hand, and a pitcher in her 

 left ; the former fignifying the perpetual motion there is in 

 nature, and the other the fecundity of the Nile. But fome- 

 times fhe.was reprefented as Cybele, havmg her body full of 

 brealls, to exprefi her nourilhing of all things. 



It is obferved, that when Serapis was introduced into 

 Egypt, at the period above-mentioned, as writers have in- 

 ferred from the filence of Herodotus, and of other authors 

 who wrote before the times of the Ptolemies, he brought in 

 with him among the Egyptians, a new way of worfhip ; for 

 till the time of the Ptolemies, the Egyptians never offered 

 any bloody lacrihces to their gods, but wordiipped them 

 merely with their prayers and frankiacenfe ; but the tyranny 

 of thefe princes having forced upon them the worfliip of two 

 foreign gods, viz. Saturn and Serapis, they in this worlhip 

 firll introduced the ufe of bloody facriikes among that peo- 

 ple. And fo averfe were the Egyptians to this mode of 

 worfliip, tiiat they would never fufFer any temple to be 

 built to either of theie gods within any of the walls of their 

 cities, but they were always creded m their fuburbs : and 

 they fcem to be only Egyptians of the Greek original who 

 conformed to tiiis praftice, and not thofe of the old race. 

 See Exod. viii. 26, 27. Prid. Conn. vol. iii. p. 15, &c. 



The famous temple of Serapis at Alexandria was deltroy- 

 ed by order of Theodofius ; and the celebrated ilatue of this 

 deity was broken m pieces, and its limbs carried firft in 

 triumph by the Chrillians tlnough the city, and then thrown 

 into a tierce hre, kindled for that purpole in the amphitheatre. 

 As tiie Egyptians afcribed the overflowing of the Nile, to 

 which was owing tiie fertility of that country, to the be- 

 nign influence of their god Serapis, they concluded, that, 

 now he was deltroyed, the river would no longer overflow, 

 and that a general famine would enfuc ; but when they ob- 

 ferved, on the contrary, that the Nile fwelled to a greater 

 height than had been known in the memory of man, and 

 thereby produced an imnienfe plenty of all kinds of provi- 

 fions, many of the pagans, renouncing the worfliip of idols, 

 adored the God of the Chrillians. Ancient Univ. Hid. 

 vol. vi. p. 417. 



The figure of Serapis is found on many ancient medals. 



SERAPIU, in Ancient Geography, a place of Egypt, 

 beyond the Nile, between Hero and Clifmo, according to 

 the Itinerary of Antoinne. 



SERAQUINO, in Geography, an ifland in the Grecian 

 Archipelago; Smiles N.E. of Scopelo. 



SERARIUS, Nicholas, in Bisgraphy, a learned Je- 

 fuit, was born at Rambervilhers, in Lorraine, in ifCC. 

 He Itudied at Cologne, where he entered into the fociety of 

 the Jefuits, and afterwards was for twenty-four years a pro- 

 fefl'or of the languages of philofophy and theology at 

 Wurtzbnrg. He died at Mentz in 1609, having, befides 

 his employment in teaching, occupied himfelf in the compo- 

 fition of a vail number of works, which were printed col- 

 leaively at Ment/, in 3 vols, folio. Of thefe, the molt 

 elleemed were " Commentaries on feveral Books of Scrip- 

 ture:" "Prolegomena on the Holy Scriptures :" " Tri- 

 lia;refium, feu de celeberrimis tribus, apud Judxos, Pha- 

 rifseorum, Sadducaeorum, et Edenorum Sedtis." This laft 

 work was afterivards printed at Delft, with the addition of 

 the treatifes of Drufius and Scaliger on the fame fubjeft. 

 .■■ierarius was a ilrenuous defender of the church of Rome 

 againit the reformers, and wrote feveral works againlt Lu- 

 ther and his followers. Cardinal Baronius gives him the 

 litle " of the luminary of the Germanic church." Dupin 

 )ays, that the Prolegomena of Serarius have a great deal of 

 rrudition, but that he liandlcs his queltions in too fcholaftic 



S E R 



a manner, and mixes up too much controverfy in them : lit 

 thus fums up the literary charadler of this author : " Sera- 

 rius," fays he, " was very learned, and well verfed in the 

 languages, and in topics relating to the Holy Scriptures : 

 he is not equally exa£t in ecclcfiallical hiltory, nor equally 

 powerfiil in controverfy. He wrote with cafe, but without 

 politenels. In treating on a fubject, he often defcends to 

 impertinent and tedious trifling, and fometimes wanders from 

 the point to attack the Proteltant^;, and difcufs controverfial 

 queftione." 



SERASAPOUR, in Geography, a town of Hindoo- 

 llan, in Bahar ; 18 miles W. of Bahar. 



SERASKER, a Turkifli word, compofed of fer, which 

 in Perfian fignifies heaJ, and ajker, i. e. Jo/Jiers. Tiii:". is a 

 military degree, that admits of no fuperior, fomewhat like 

 generalifBmo, and is a title given to thofe who command on 

 the frontiers, or are detached with a confiderable body of 

 troops. 



SERASPARE, in Ancient Geography, a town of Afia, 

 in the Lefier Armenia, and in the prefefture of Rhanena, 

 according to Ptolemy. 



SERASS, in Ornilhology, a bird of the fame genus with 

 the co'.um, which comes yearly to Surat in the Eail Indies, 

 from mount Caucafus, and diilinguifhed by a plication of the 

 afperia arteria ; which is defigned to anfwer fimilar purpofes 

 with that of the colum. 



SERAT, Sered, or Sfered, in Geography, a town of 

 Hungary, on tlie river Waag ; 27 miles E. of Prelburg. 



SERATZ, a town of Sclavonia; 28 miles N.W. of 

 Pofzega. 



SERA VAN, in Ornilhology, the name given by Bufifon 

 to the LoxiA yljlrild, which fee. 



SERAUCOURT, in Geography, a town of France, in 

 the department of thoAifne; 6 miles S. of St. Quintcn. 



SERAVI, a town of Egypt, on the E. branch of the 

 Nile ; 21 miles N. of Cairo. 



SERAUSTEH, a town of Candahar ; 50 miles S.W. 

 of Cabul. 



SERAY, a town of Hindooilan, in Bahar; 12 miles 

 N. of Chuprah. N. lat. 25° 18'. E. long. 84° 53'.— 

 Alfo, a town of Hindooilan, in Boggilcund ; 20 miles \V. 

 of Rewah. 



SERAYA, a town of Hindooilan, on the right bank 

 of the Jumnah ; 42 miles S.E. of Agra.— Alfo, a town of 

 Hindooilan, in Bahar; 20 miles S. of Bettiah. N. lat. 

 26° 28'. E. long. 84° 53'. 



SERBADJE, a town of Egypt, on the E. bank of the 

 Nile ; 20 miles N. of Cairo. 



SERBAJEE, in the Enjlern Military Orders, is a cap- 

 tain in the horfe in the fervice of the grand feignior. 



SERBAR, in Geography, a town of Perfia, in the pro- 

 vince of Mekran ; 50 miles N.N.W. of Kidge. 



SERBATIS, YlssER, in Ancient Geography, a river of 

 Africa, in the eallern part of Mauritania Csefarienfis, which 

 difcharged itfelf into the Mediterranean, to the E. of Ruf- 

 guniae colonia. Ptolemy places its mouth between Modunga 

 and Cifla. 



SERBI, a people of Afiatic Sarmatia, who dwelled 

 with the Orinxi and Vali, between the Ceraunian mountains 



and the river Rha, according to Ptolemy Alfo, a people 



called likewife Scythians, who inhabited a territory towards 

 Dalmatia. 



SERBINUM, a town of Lower Pannonia, along the 

 Danube. 



SERBONIS Lacus, or Serbonite late, a lake which 

 was fituated between Egypt and Palelline, near mount Caf- 



fius; 



