Portrait Bust of Man, Perhaps a Priest of Serapis

This portrait bust, probably found in Egypt, shows a man wearing a diadem decorated with a seven-pointed star. Traces of paint are visible: reddish on the hair and beard, faint blue on the eyes. The diadem was once gilded but little gilding now remains.

The seven-pointed star was a symbol of the Egyptian deity Serapis. When the Greek general Ptolemy became ruler of Egypt after Alexander the Great's death in 323, he sought to unify the native Egyptians and the rapidly growing immigrant Greek population. One way to do this was to create a god who would appeal to both the Egyptians and the Greeks. The god Serapis was such a deity, created with elements drawn from both Greek and Egyptian religion. By the time the Romans took control of Egypt in 31 B.C., Serapis had become an important and popular god.

This portrait and several others like it were long thought to represent a priest of the god Serapis, but some scholars have recently questioned this theory. They point out that while the star certainly signifies the man's fervent belief in Serapis, Egyptian priests were usually required to shave their heads. This man, however, has a full head of hair and a beard. One scholar has suggested that this man may have been studying to be a priest but died before being ordained.