Serapeum of Saqqara

 temple, necropolis, ancient civilization

The Serapeum of Saqqara is a serapeum located north west of the Pyramid of Djoser at Saqqara, a necropolis near Memphis in Lower Egypt. It was the burial place of the Apis bulls, which were incarnations of the deity Ptah. It was believed that the bulls became immortal after death as Osiris Apis, shortened to Serapis in the Hellenic period. The most ancient burials found at this site date back to the reign of Amenhotep III.

In the 13th century BCE, Khaemweset, son of Ramesses II, ordered that a tunnel be excavated through one of the mountains, with side chambers designed to contain large granite sarcophagi weighing up to 70 tonnes each, which held the mummified remains of the bulls. A second tunnel, approximately 350 m in length, 5 m tall and 3 m wide (1,148.3×16.4×9.8 ft), was excavated under Psamtik I and later used by the Ptolemaic dynasty.

The long boulevard leading to the ceremonial site, flanked by 600 sphinxes, was likely built under Nectanebo I.