2nd century AD. A marble head from a votive statuette of the god Serapis, depicted bearded as Ze, with a bhel of wheat on his head (kalathos); mounted on a ctom-made display stand. Cf. Milleker, E.J., ‘Three Heads of Sarapis from Corinth’ in Hesperia: The Journal of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens, vol.54, no.2, Apr.-Jun., 1985, pp.121-135, pls.25-27. 50 grams, 45mm wide (57.8 grams, 66mm including stand) (1 3/4 (2 1/2)"). North London gentleman, in storage since the 1970s. Property of a West London gentleman. Serapis was known to the Greek and Roman world already in the 3rd century BC in Alexandria, where Ptolemy I built a Serapeum in honour of the god. The name of the god is considered to beposed from the names Osiris and Apis - the bull, meaning 'Osiris the bull' since after his death he became the ruler of the outer world, while it was also believed that Osiris lived in the world through Apis. According to Castiglione, it was only in the Roman period that the image of Serapis was standardised to include the kalathos and hanging forehead curls. [No Reserve]