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
House of Eternity (Ancient Egypt) hill shape of the mastabas at Saqqara was also incorporated. From the third dynasty, the pyramids served as the burial ground of the King, which developed as a synthesis of the various Upper and Lower Egyptian components of the tomb and valley district. Elements of the tombs and facilities are again found at Saqqara. The large enclosure in Saqqara (Gisr el-Mudir) is said to have served as a stone equivalent of the valley districts of Abydos, as a model for the enclosure of the pyramidal district, as well as the wedge-shaped gallery graves of the second dynasty, in Saqqara. The