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Theophilus, Gospel in hand, stands triumphantly atop the Serapeum in AD 391 Bishop Theophilus of Alexandria was Nicene patriarch when the decrees of emperor Theodosius I forbade public observances of any but Christian rites. Theodosius I had progressively made the sacred feasts into workdays (AD 389), had forbidden public sacrifices, closed temples, and colluded in frequent acts of local violence by Christians against major cult sites. The decree that went out in AD 391, that "no one is to go to the sanctuaries, walk through the temples," resulted in many temples throughout the Empire that could be declared "abandoned" and the universal practice immediately began of occupying these sacred sites with Christian churches.
In Alexandria, Bishop Theophilus obtained legal authority over one such an abandoned temple, to turn it into a church. He stripped it of its pagan images and arcana and publicly displayed them in his new church in such an offensive manner that a mob of pagan Alexandrians fell upon the Christians. The Christians retaliated, while Theophilus withdrew, and the pagans retreated into the Serapeum, still the most imposing of the city's remaining sanctuaries, and proceeded to barricade it.
A letter was sent by Theodosius that Theophilus should grant the offending pagans pardon — but destroy the temple. A marginal illustration on papyrusPapyrus is an early form of paper made from the stems of the papyrus plant, Cyperus papyrus a wetland sedge that grows to 5 meters (15 ft) in height and was once abundant in the Nile River delta. Papyrus was first used in Ancient Egypt around 3000 BC, but from a world chronicle written in Alexandria in the early 5th century shows the triumphant Theophilus (illustration, left); the cult image of Serapis, crowned with the modius, is visible within the temple at the bottom.
The destruction of the Serapeum attested by the Christian writers RufinusTyrannius Rufinus or Rufinus of Aquileia (c. 344 410 CE) was a monk, historian, and theologian. He is most known as a translator of Greek patristic material into Latin—especially the work of Origen. Life Rufinus was born in 344 or 345 CE near Aquileia (in and SozomenSalminius Hermias Sozomen (c. 450) was a historian of the Christian church. Variations on his name include Sozomen Salamanes or Salaminius Hermias Sozomenus . He was born around or before 400 in Bethelia, a small town near Gaza. Family and Home He came fr was only the most spectacular such occasion, according to Peter Brown, The Rise of Western Christendom (2003, p. 73-74). The destruction of the Serapeum was seen by many ancient and modern authors as representative of the triumph of Christianity over other religions and an instructive example of the attitude of the most educated Christian class to pagan learning.
Other temples to Serapis, each naturally termed a Serapeum, could be seen at MemphisMemphis was the ancient capital of the Old Kingdom of Egypt from its foundation until around 1300 BC. The ruins are 19 km (12 mi. south of Cairo on the West Bank of the Nile. The city was founded around 3100 BC by Menes of Tanis, who united the two kingdo and at SaqqaraSaqqara is a vast, ancient burial ground in Egypt, featuring the world's oldest standing step pyramid. It is located some 30 km south of modern-day Cairo and covers an area of around 7 km by 1. Djoser's step pyramid While Memphis was the capital of Ancien.