The figure of Serapis demonstrates most clearly the multi-cultural proclivities of the Kushans. A specifically Hellenistic combination of the important and highly popular Egyptian gods Osiris and Apis, representing the religious syncretism of the Greco-Roman gods with their foreign counterparts in the period following the death of Alexander the Great. As the supreme god of the Alexandrian pantheon, the god had a large temple-complex in that capital, known as the Serapeum. Although quite popular in the Roman Empire, the apparent rarity of this reverse type suggests that this god failed to achieve a similar level of popularity among the Kushans.
INDIA, Kushans. Huvishka I. Circa 152-192 AD. AV Quarter Dinar (1.98 g, 12h). Mint I (A). PAONANOPAO O-OHPKI KOPANO, crowned and diademed bust left on clouds, flame on right shoulder, holding mace sceptre and sword hilt / CΑΡΑΠΟ, Serapis, nimbate, seated facing, holding diadem in right hand and sceptre in left; tamgha to left. MK 164 (same dies); J. Rosenfield, The Dynastic Art of the Kushans, p. 98 and pl. IX, 186; Donum Burns -; MACW -. This is the fourth known example of this coin type.
