History

January 24, 126 – A small seraphim is consecrated to Hadrian at Thebes after his 50th birthday (#Hadrian1900).

Matt H

February 14, 2026
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On January 24, 126 AD, Emperor Hadrian celebrated his 50th birthday. This event was marked Through the dedication of a small temple to the god Seraphim in the courtyard of Luxor Temple (Roman Thebes) in Egypt. Discovered during excavations by the Egyptian archaeologist Zacharias Ghonim in 1950-51, the temple contains a Greek inscription that refers to Gaius Julius Antoninus, ex-Decorian and neokoros (temple attendants) of Serapis, who restored the temple, consecrated its statues, and rededicated it to Hadrian and Zeus Helios the Great on the 29th day of the month Thebes (January 24) in the 10th year of his reign.

Small Serapeum outside Luxor Temple, inside which is a statue of Daesh.

The small temple stands within the courtyard built by Nectenbo I, directly in front of the monumental first pylon of Ramses II. Built mainly of mudbrick, it occupies the north-west corner of a site that once housed several Roman-era monuments. Although most of these structures have disappeared, a modest serapeum has survived. The structure has a rectangular podium measuring 12 m x 8 m, and a cell with a raised platform for statues and a basin for ritual purification.

The temple was built using simple materials, including both baked and unbaked bricks, while plaster was used for the doors and some of the columns. The walls were covered with stucco that imitated marble, and the columns combined Greco-Roman and Egyptian architectural styles.

Plan of Luxor Temple with the Small Temple of Serapes in the northwest corner of the precinct, near the Nectenbo Wall and the Pylon of Ramses II.

The Serapeum housed statues of Isis, Osiris Canopus, Apis and Serapes. The most prominent surviving sculpture is a monumental representation of Isis, carved from whitish-yellow limestone. The sculpture shows the goddess standing gracefully, adorned in a long, broad robe, a fringe tied across her chest, and a cloth draped over her left shoulder and hips. She originally held a cornucopia on her left arm, a symbol of fertility and prosperity, and stood on a banquette at the rear of the sanctuary, in the axis of the main entrance.

Among the remaining artifacts are a decorated Osiris-Canope vase, two statues of the sacred bull Apis (one in limestone and the other in granite), and a fragment of a statue possibly representing Serapis, found near a niche in the south wall of the cell. Additionally, a fragment of another statue of Isis was discovered inside the temple. These sculptures reflect the harmony of the cult, combining Egyptian and Greco-Roman religious traditions.

Statue of Isis, made of white-yellow limestone. The statue shows Isis standing, leaning slightly on her right leg, her left leg bent. She wears a long wide tunic, a fringe tied across the chest, and a piece of cloth draped over her left shoulder and around her hips.

A Greek inscription on the lintel of the temple’s main entrance highlights the dedication of Gaius Julius Antoninus and his funding of the reconstruction of the temple at his own expense.SEG 31:1548). It states that the temple was dedicated to Zeus Helios the Great Serapis, a powerful synergistic deity combining the elements of Zeus, Helios and Serapis. It reflects a religious syncretism that aims to unify Egyptian, Greek, and Roman religious traditions. Hadrian is also referred to in this inscription, marking the tenth year of his reign and the emperor’s birthday (natalis dies).

Bronze figure of Serapis Zeus Helios seated on a throne with an eagle at his feet. Dated 1st-3rd century AD.
© The Trustees of the British Museum

In the reign of Hadrian, Zeus Helios very good Serapis gained considerable popularity. The emperor actively promoted the cult of the Seraphim as part of his cultural policy, which sought to integrate Egyptian religious practices into the Roman imperial framework. Meanwhile the growing popularity of Zeus Helios Great Serapis There is proof Through numerous dedications, inscriptions, and coins featuring the deity (see Here). Several scholars have interpreted this phenomenon as Hadrian’s interest in Egypt, or at least his admiration for the Egyptians. Sakra.

The inscription also includes the name of the Egyptian prefect at the time, Titus Flavius Titianus. However, his name was encountered later damnatio memoriae (memory erasure) due to deliberate tampering. Despite this loss, the scholars Identified His name through a careful examination of the surviving letters.

ὑπὲρ Αὐτοκράτορος Καίσαρος Τραιανοῦ Ἁδριανοῦ Σεβαστοῦ
καὶ τοῦ παντὸς οἴκου αὐτοῦ, Διὶ Ἡλίῳ μεγάλῳ Σαράπιδι, Γαῖος Ἰούλιος
τῶν ἀπολελυμένων δεκαδάρχων, ἐκ τοῦ ἰδίου ἀνοικοδομήσας τὸ ἱερόν, τὸ ζινων
ἀνέθηκεν εὐχῆς καὶ εὐσεβείας χάριν ἐπὶ 〚Τ̣[ίτου] Φ̣[λαούιου Τιτιανοῦ]〛 ἐπάρχου Αἰγύπτου·
,
(ἔτους) ιʹ Αὐτοκράτορος Καίσαρος Τραιανοῦ Ἁ̣δριανοῦ Σεβαστοῦ, Τῦβι κθʹ.

“For the emperor Caesar Trajan Hadrian Augustus and all his household, Gaius Julius Antoninus, of the former decorous body, rebuilt at his own expense the temple to Zeus Helios and consecrated the statue (of the god) because of a vow and his piety, under Titus also under Philtus, Philtus, Philtus a. neokoros of the Great Seraphim himself and sanctified all the other statues. In the tenth year of the reign of the emperor Caesar Trajan Hadrian Augustus, on the 29th day of the month Tabi.

Titus Flavius Titianus served as Prefects Egyptian. For an unusually long period in the middle of Hadrian’s reign. The earliest attestation of him in office is his inscription on the Memnon Colossus (IColosse 24), dated March 20, AD 126 (10th year of Hadrian); latest (S. Birol 11664) April 1 is from 133 AD (17th year of Hadrian). Despite his extended services, his name is notably absent from non-Egyptian historical and literary records. Reasons for Titus Flavius Titianus’s damnatio memoriae remains unknown, but it is speculated that it may have been the result of actions that angered Hadrian during his governorship.

T(itus) Fl(avius) Titianus
praef(ectus) Aeg(ypti)
Audit
Menon
XII K(alendas) April (es)
Vero III et Ambibulo co(n)s(ulibus)
Hora (Prima).
Titus Flavius Titianus prefect of Egypt heard
Menon
In the first hour, on the thirteenth day before the calends of April, in the third year of the consulship of Verus and Imbalus.

The Serapeum Inscription is not the only source that points to the ill fortune of Titus Flavius Titanus. Evidence of his disgrace is also found in an inscription at Marina al-Amin, from which his name was deliberately omitted. Discovered during the 2005 excavation season by the Polish Archaeological Mission, the limestone pedestal contains a commemorative inscription, parts of which have been eroded. The preserved portion contains a dating formula, indicating that the inscription was made on 20 Hathir (15 November) in the 14th year of Hadrian’s reign (AD 129). The pedestal may have originally supported a statue, possibly in preparation for Hadrian’s visit to Egypt the following year (Lajtar, 2005).

Thousands of kilometers away, another Serapeum was to be inaugurated on Hadrian’s birthday in AD 127 in the Roman port city of Ostia. Historical records, particularly the Fasti Ostensis (the official calendar of Ostia), indicate that the temple was built by a private individual named Caltilius P with his own money and dedicated to this particular date (see here). Seraphim was connected with the Egyptian grain trade and the Alexandrian fleet that brought it to the ports of Rome.

Hadrian’s birthday was celebrated with festivities during his lifetime and was honored for many years thereafter. (Bricault, 2024).. A century later, around 223-227 AD, the Feriale Duranum, a military calendar of the twentieth Palmyrene cohort stationed at Dura-Europos on the Euphrates in Syria, records that nine days before the calends of February (on January 24) A male bull was sacrificed. At the birthday celebration of the divine Hadrian (P. Dura 54, in Col., 13).

Sources and References:

Bloch, H. (1959). The Serapeum of Ostia and the brick stamps of 123 AD: a new landmark in the history of Roman architecture. American Journal of Archaeology, 63, 225-245.
Golon, J.C., Abdelhamid, S., Wagner, G., & Dunand, F. (1981). Le petit Sarapeion romain de Louqsor. Bulletin de l’Institut Français d’Archéologie Orientale, 81, 115–148.
Daszewski, WA (2005). Marina Al-Amin: Excavation Report 2005. Polish Archeology in the Mediterranean, 17, 75-98.
Alston, R. (1995). Soldiers and Society in Roman Egypt: A Social History. London, England: Routledge.
Ajtar, A. (2005). Four inscriptions from Marina Al-Amin. Journal of Juristic Paperology, 35, 99-108.
Bricault, L. (2024). Sword and Petra: Zeus Helios, Great Sarapis. In C. Bonnet (Ed.), Names of gods in ancient Mediterranean religions (pp. 129-156). Cambridge University Press.