2-370-375 - Samuel Magal/Sites & Photos/Heritage Images

A Serapeum (Serapeion) in the Greek city of Emporion, Empuries, Spain, 2007. A Serapeum is a temple or other religious institution dedicated to the Hellenistic-Egyptian god Serapis, who combined aspects of Osiris and Apis in a humanised form. Empuries is an ancient city on the Mediterranean coast of Spain. It was founded in 575 BC by Greek colonists from Phocaea (who called it Emporion) and was later occupied by the Romans (who renamed it Emporiae). It was abandoned in the Middle Ages when its exposed coastal position left it open to marauders.