论罗马统治埃及时期的奥西里斯崇拜

A Study of the Osiris Worship during the Roman Rule over Ancient Egypt

在罗马统治埃及时期,处于文明衰落之时的埃及,政治上彻底沦为罗马统治的一个行省,经济上成为罗马的丰裕粮仓,但文化上仍能显现埃及传统丧葬文化强劲而持久的生命力。一方面奥西里斯神的丧葬崇拜在罗马统治埃及前期继续盛行;另一方面,托勒密埃及时期的奥西里斯隐形崇拜——塞拉皮斯神崇拜在此时期持续受人推崇。4世纪末,基督教在罗马帝国取得国教的主导地位后,基督一神教开始排斥其它神的崇拜,奥西里斯神崇拜及其丧葬文化日渐淡出人们的视野,但作为古埃及文明显性标志的奥西里斯崇拜仍在罗马社会甚至后来的西方基督教世界产生了深刻影响。

Roman ruled Egypt from 30 BC to 642 AD. During this period, Egypt politically became one of the subsidiary provinces of Rome, and economically Roman's granary. In terms of culture, however, the traditional Egyptian Osiris worshipping existed for about four centuries, which highlights the continuity of the Egyptian tradition. The Ptolemaic Osiris and Apis-bull embodiment(Serapis)were also worshipped continually during the Roman period in Egypt. By the fourth century, Christian monotheism became the dominating religion. Accordingly, the worship practices of Osiris, as well as other related funeral rites, gradually faded. Nevertheless, influences of their traditional Egyptian believes remained present.