Poseidon in the Theban desert: stratigraphies of beliefs and layered reminiscences of the religious past in the late antique egyptian literature

The well-known dialogue between Pisentius and the mummy, preserved in some versions of the "Life" of a seventh-century Egyptian bishop-monk, includes an element that has hitherto been virtually neglected: the mention of the god Poseidon. This article tries to shed light on the reasons for this unexpected divine presence, which reveals the complexity of the coexistence of different cults in Egypt and memories of the stratified beliefs that were still very much alive in Late Antiquity.