Apis - the sacred bull of Egypt

2024 Author: Miguel Ramacey | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 06:11

The development of ancient Egyptian religiosity is rooted in hoary antiquity. The beginnings of it are visible in the Neolithic, when, as it is believed, quite developed and well-established magical traditions already existed. The latter were a form of non-religious mysticism, being rather a means of manipulating the environment. However, later, becoming more complex, they gave rise to numerous cults of a certain religious nature.

The origins of the Apis cult

In ancient Egypt, agriculture played an important role in the economic development of the state. The whole life of the kingdom depended on the harvest - peace, the well-being of the people and the political situation. Therefore, the Egyptians were very sensitive to the factors of ensuring a good harvest. The floods of the Nile, insect populations and many other factors, due to their importance for the prosperity of the country, were drawn into the cult and further mythologized. Not the last role among them was played by animals, especiallyagricultural, as directly or indirectly they served as a source of food. Farm animals were no exception. Bulls were widely revered in all cities of the state, tied to various gods and correlated with various myths. During its history, Egypt knew several nationwide bull cults and many local ones. The cult of the notorious Apis demonstrates an amazing evolution from the latter to the former.

Who was this mysterious bull?

The original origin of Apis worship is in Memphis, the capital city of the Lower Kingdom. Apis was the deity of this city. However, the influence of metropolitan politics and culture soon ensured the spread of his veneration throughout the country and even beyond its borders. It is known that at various points in history, Persian kings and Roman emperors bowed before Apis. For the Greeks, this sacred animal generally became one of the sources for the appearance of the syncretic cult of the god Serapis.

The sacred bull: the sacred nature and theology of the cult

When talking about a sacred animal in the context of the Egyptian religious tradition, it is necessary to mention what exactly was the sacredness of this or that animal. After all, Apis was not only a mythological abstraction like the famous celestial cow. On the contrary, he was extremely concretized in the face, so to speak, of a certain living bull, for which the charters and traditions required special maintenance, special worship, and after his death - a special burial.

So first of allit is necessary to briefly outline the occult anthropology of the Egyptians. They, like many other mystics (and the Egyptians were distinguished by the deeply mystical nature of their religion), were characterized by a trichotomous division of man - into spirit, soul and body. In terms of the Egyptians themselves, these constituent parts of a person have the following names:

1. Khat is the physical body.

2. The following two parts make up the soul:

• Ka - the so-called double or twin.
• Hu is an intelligent soul.

3. Ba-Bai - spirit.

A similar "composition" of man by ancient Egyptian theologians was incriminated to their gods. Now we can explain the nature of Apis sacredness. As was said, this is a specific individual of the bull. The basis was the belief of the Egyptians that this bull is an incarnation of Ka, that is, the first part of the soul, God. What kind of god is a question to which there is no single answer. But one way or another, the sacred bull Apis is a deity incarnate.

Genealogy of the sacred Apis tradition

Now about the genealogy of the cult. The sacred bull of the Egyptians correlated with several gods at once. This situation is quite typical for a polytheistic society, or even for a polyreligious society, which was Ancient Egypt. The fact is that in Egypt there has never been a single religious doctrine and a single religious institution. The Egyptian tradition combines many more and less independent and independent religious structures. Penetrating into different of them, the cult of Apis acquired various myths, therefore, in relation to morelate time, one can even conditionally speak of several cults of Apis.

Today, historical and archaeological data allow us to confidently correlate the early form of veneration of Apis with the god Ptah. It is the divine patron of the city of Memphis. It was with him that the sacred bull was associated with the Egyptians living in this city. Over time, the role of Memphis increased, and with it the popularity enjoyed by this sacred bull in Egypt. Later, the cult, which was local in nature, became general Egyptian. This also affected the theology of the cult. The influence of Apis did not ensure the authority of Ptah, and later the sacred bull began to be revered as an incarnation of another god - Osiris.

Apis: The Life and Death of God Incarnate

The life that the sacred bull lived was imprisoned in a special temple courtyard - the apium. On certain days, festivities were held in honor of the bull (usually coinciding with the flood of the Nile) and sacrifices were made. There is evidence that he was given 25 years to live, after which the bull was drowned. This figure is usually associated with the lunar cycle of the Egyptian calendar. However, archaeological discoveries in the Memphis acropolis, where dozens of bull mummies are buried, do not confirm this information.

Return of Osiris - a new incarnation of Apis

One way or another, but the Egyptians believed that after the death of the current Apis, the essence of Ka reunites with the Ba-Bai of Osiris, and then incarnates again. A new incarnation was determined by a number of characteristic features (black hair, a number of specific marks, etc.). Some authorsthe number of such signs reaches 29. When a suitable calf was found, he was fattened and taken to Apium, where he solemnly "took office." So Egypt acquired a new sacred bull.