Cambyses and the Serapeum: the name of the third temple in p. Bibl. Nat. 215, vso, col. d, 3

This paper deals with the identity of the third temple mentioned in the so-called Decree of Cambyses, copied on the verso of the demotic P. Bibl. Nat. 215 (Paris). Three temples, in the copy preserved on the early Ptolemaic document, were privileged by the Persian king and were exempted from his austerity measures. In his edition of P. Bibl. Nat. 215, Spiegelberg read the name of the third temple as Pr-¡apj-(n)-iwnw, identifying it with Babylon in the Heliopolitan area. So far this has been accepted by most scholars, with a few exceptions. This article reviews the question on the basis of the available data and proposes to read the name of the temple as “Serapeum” (Pr-¡p), interpreting the following signs as “Hnk (n) AH(.w)”, “the donated lands”. Such a reading goes beyond the simple philological restitution of the name of the third temple and casts new light on the well-known and long-standing debate over Cambyses’ policy towards Egyptian temples and the sacred bull Apis, since the Serapeum was indeed one of the major Memphite sanctuaries he chose to privilege.