The Imperial Fleet arrived in the ancient city of Hermopolis just in time for the celebration of the death and resurrection of Osiris. These ceremonies coincided with the flooding of the Nile that was so important to the fertility of the river valley. For two years the Nile had failed to flood properly, and the threat of starvation was looming near. The entire Empire was in danger because Egypt provided food for many of the great cities of the provinces. If the Nile failed to flood again, world-wide famine would result that would then lead to death, disease and to civil unrest.

The atmosphere of the festival of Osiris was unusually serious. The ancient story told how the evil god Set and his seventy-two accomplices had murdered Osiris and thrown his body into the river. His sacrifice caused the annual floods that brought life to the rainless valley. Osiris arose from the dead, but needed the constant supplication of his devoted followers to strengthen his return. The priests first mourned his death, then prayed for his return, and at the moment of his resurrection, celebrated with dancing, singing, and feasting. It is said that in ancient times, young boys, chosen for their exceptional beauty were thrown into the Nile to drown, just as Osiris had drowned, as a sacrifice to the God of the Nile for the benefit of the living. Those who drowned in the Nile were considered to have become gods, especially if the water responded with a deep inundation.

After the festival, the fleet continued up the river until it reached a place called Hir-wer, where a small, ancient Temple to Rameses II stood. Here Antinous fell into the Nile on October 28th in the year 130 A. D. There is no way to know if he was pushed, or if he slipped, or if he committed suicide or self-sacrifice. No explanation was ever given, perhaps even then it was a mystery. Hadrian wept like a woman, we are told, in front of the entire court. This shameless display of emotion became a scandal that for so many centuries discredited the achievements of Hadrian. It made plain that their relationship had transcended what was usual and what tradition held to be manly and appropriate for an Emperor of the warrior nation Rome.

The immediate response of the Nile was a heavy flood. The local people and the Egyptian priests who had joined the court, all proclaimed that Antinous had become an immoratal, a God, after their custom. Hadrian took these sentiments to heart, and on October 30th of the year 130, he founded the Holy City of Antinopolis on the bank where Antinous had drowned. He then proceeded to do the unthinkable, and as Pontifex Maximus, or High Priest of the Roman Religion, he declared Antinous a God after the ancient Roman fashion.