Serapeum of Saqqara Serapeum of Saqqara 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 a burial place of Apis bulls, sacred bulls that were incarnations of the ancient Egyptian deity Ptah. It was believed that the bulls became immortal after death as "Osiris Apis", a name that appears in Coptic as , "Userhapi", which was borrowed in Greek as , "Serapis", in the Hellenistic period. The most ancient burials found at this site date back to the reign of Amenhotep III, the ninth pharaoh of
Darenth Country Park research and store. In 1978, 'Dartford & District Archaeological Group' excavated a trench on the site, before a planning application was made by Associated Portland Cement Manufacturers Ltd. for chalk extraction on the site. This trench found an ancient Saxon burial ground (5th century), with 12 Saxon graves, as well as various artefacts (including a spearhead, brooches and a glass bowl) from the period. The glass bowl is now known as the 'Darenth bowl' (which is known to be dedicated to St. Rufinus of Soissons c.450 A.D.), is now in Dartford Borough Museum. The graves were then deemed important enough