Through the Eras

ReligionThe seven celestial cows and one sacred bull, painted limestone relief in the tomb of Nefertari, chief royal wife of Ramesses II fromher tomb in the Valley of the Queens at Thebes, 19th Dynasty. THE ART ARCHIVE/DAGLI ORTI.bull, who lived at Memphis, was a bull with a white triangleon its forehead, a crescent moon on its chest andanother on its flanks, and double hairs, black and white,in its tail. The Apis bull was thought to be the ba, ormanifestation, of the god Ptah. At certain times of daythe bull was released into a courtyard where worshipperswould gather to see him and receive oracles. People couldput a yes-or-no question to the bull, and the answer wasreceived when the bull entered one of two stables. Whenthe bull died, there was a time of widespread mourning,and an elaborate embalming and burial ceremony wasperformed. The Apis bull was buried in a stone sarcophagusin a mausoleum known as the Serapeum atSaqqara. The search for the new Apis bull then began.Other examples of such temple animals include theMnevis bull at the Temple of Atum-Re at Heliopolis,the Buchis bull of the Temple of Montu at Hermonthis,the ram at the Temple of Osiris-Re at Mendes, and theram of the Temple of Khnum at Elephantine.SAME SPECIES. The second type of sacred animalswere animals that belong to the same species as the templeanimal. These animals were not thought to be specialmanifestations of particular gods, but because thegod or goddess could appear in the guise of one of theseanimals, others of the same species were considered dearto the god. Large numbers of these animals could be keptnear a temple. At Saqqara there was an extensive complexof buildings dedicated to the care of flocks of ibisesassociated with Thoth, falcons associated with Horus,and cats associated with Bast. Such large collections ofanimals served as the source of the enormous number ofanimal mummies that have been preserved. Sacred animalnecropolises throughout Egypt contain literally millionsof mummified animal burials. In addition to theArts and Humanities Through the Eras: Ancient Egypt (2675 B.C.E.–332 B.C.E.) 223