In 1850, a young French self-taught Egyptologist, Auguste Mariet, came to Egypt. Thanks to his perseverance and will, science was replenished with new data concerning the beliefs of the ancient Egyptians …
The French scientist read the following lines from Strabo: "In Memphis there is a temple of Serapis, located in such a desert that the winds brought whole mountains of sand onto it, of which we saw only sphinxes peeping out: some half-buried, others completely hidden by sand …"
And soon Mariet managed to unearth the Avenue of the Sphinxes. And then the Serapeum was found, which contained the mummies of nine sacred bulls.
Incarnation of Ptah and Osiris
Memphis stood for over four thousand years. It was the first capital of the centralized Egyptian state. This city is older than both Rome and Athens. Memphis played a big role in the country even when it was not the capital and when it had to give way to a hundred-fold Thebes. In ancient times, it was also called "White Walls", since the city was surrounded by a thick fortress wall. Memphis also had other names - "Scales of both lands" or "Life of both lands".
Memphis was also a major religious center. Ptah, the patron saint of arts and crafts, was considered the main god, and this, of course, is not accidental. Since its inception, Memphis has become the focus of Egyptian craft. And the sacred bull Apis was considered the earthly embodiment of the god Ptah.
Apis was originally worshiped as the embodiment of the Ka (spirit) of Ptah. He was even considered a symbol of the pharaoh. Since the word "Ka" in Ancient Egypt also transmitted the word "bull", Apis had to exist in the body of a real bull, and after his death move into the body of a new animal. The cult of Apis, according to some Egyptologists, was established already during the second Egyptian dynasty by Pharaoh Kayeh simultaneously with the cult of another bull, Mnevis, in Heliopolis. It should be noted that the second dynasty was originally from the Upper Egyptian Tinis. And here the main cult was the cult of Osiris, to whom Apis was dedicated. Apis was originally only just a living symbol of Osiris.
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It should be noted that the Apis cult has repeatedly attracted the attention of ancient historians. The famous historian Plutarch said that Apis was a spiritualized image of Osiris. He wrote that Apis was born by the ray of the month and between his signs there is an image of a new month, a new moon. And the number 29 itself indicates the number of days of the month. According to Plutarch, at the rising of the moon, the priests went to Apis. The dead bulls were called Ozormnevis and Ozorapis, and the bull's 25 years of life indicate the lunar period in the Egyptian solar calendar, a period in which the known phases of the moon fell on the same days every 25 years. Plutarch also writes that Apis should be black, with the exception of a few spots that are characteristic of him. The finding of the new Apis bull was celebrated throughout the country.
Strabo notes that for the people Apis was identical to Osiris himself. The Egyptians considered him the bull of the moon. Herodotus wrote that of all the sacred animals, Apis was especially revered in Egypt. According to the "father of history", the sacred bull should be black in color with special white markings on the forehead, a neck silhouette on the back, have two tassels on the tail, and a scarab beetle mark under the tongue. The birth of a bull with such marks was a living embodiment of God and was a holiday for the Egyptians. Herodotus writes that Apis was kept at the temple of the god Ptah in Memphis. He was clothed, fed, and revered as a god. The movements of the bull were interpreted by the priests as a prediction of the future. And the "father of history" notes that the death of the sacred bull was considered a great grief for everyone. They did the same with him as with a deceased person: they took out the entrails and put them in canopies,the body was mummified and buried in a huge sarcophagus. Herodotus personally saw the granite sarcophagi of the sacred bulls, which weighed up to 80 tons.
The main
As you know, the ancient Egyptians worshiped the cat, crocodile and other animals, worshiping them. But most of all, of course, they worshiped Apis. This is not surprising, because the inhabitants of the banks of the Nile lived mainly on the fruits of agriculture. And to grow the next crop, it was impossible to do without animals. And especially without pulling power. And who acted in her capacity? Of course, the bulls. Fertile silt was plowed on them, then they were driven to the "current", and they "threshed" the grain. In accordance with the role that the bull played in the life of an entire people, it was assigned one of the priority and dominant places among other deified representatives of the animal world. He was assigned a place in the temple of the god of fertility Ptah, where the darling of fate lived, graciously accepting the honors offered to him. At the same time, his fellows were doing hard work under the scorching southern sun,obediently carrying the yoke.
When Apis died, he was solemnly buried in the Serapeum - the cemetery of sacred bulls, in a luxurious sarcophagus. Statues were erected in honor of the bulls. They were believed to hold the disk of the Sun between their legs. Apis was revered by all the people, from the rich to the last poor. Many images of the worship of this god have come down to us. It is worth noting the cubic (that is, made of a cubic block of stone) statue of a certain Howie stored in the Louvre. The Egyptian sits with his knees pulled up to his chest, and on his legs is engraved a scene of addressing a sacred bull. In the Late Period, bronze statuettes of an animal with text and an image of a praying person on the base became especially widespread. Note that most of these images refer us to the rituals of posthumous worship of the Apis bulls. With the death of the animal, the Egyptians did not forget about it, but on the contrary,gave him even more honors!
Like the pyramids of the pharaohs, the sarcophagi of the bulls were plundered.
New lord
When a new Apis was found, possessing all the signs, he was given divine honors and placed in the palace temple - the apium. Here they were fattening for 40 days. Also, not only the bull was revered, but also the cow that gave birth to it. The festivities in honor of the newly-minted bishop lasted for a whole week. The most beautiful girls served him, and the Pharaoh himself performed a sacrifice in his honor. The annual Apis festivities were mainly held in conjunction with the annual renewal of the water in the Nile.
Some historians believe that Apis should not have lived for more than 25 years. If he lived to this age, then he had to be thrown into the Nile. Or drown in a well.
The Egyptians believed that Nut, the goddess of the sky, was transformed into a cow every morning and gave birth to a bull. After that, Nut descended from heaven to the temple to Apis. The god Apis fertilized her, and another incarnation was born - the sun-calf shining with rays, ascending to the sky and making its daytime journey along it. Towards evening, having become quite old, he again returned to the apium and assumed his former appearance. The next night, everything was repeated from the beginning.
So, according to the ideas of the Egyptians, Nut was the wife of Apis. No wonder Mnevis and Apis were considered the incarnation of Osiris. According to the beliefs of the Egyptians, Apis was the bull of the moon, and Mnevis was the sun.
During the reign of the Ptolemies, Apis and Osiris merged into a single god - Serapis. In his honor, Ramses II, abandoning the scattered tombs, provided for a complex burial and erected a necropolis. He ordered to dig a gallery (the so-called "Small Dungeons"), in which the Apis mummies were buried in spacious niches along the walls. In the end, filling up with more and more mummies, this gallery has reached a length of 68 meters. Therefore, Psammetichus I ordered a second gallery, which was dug perpendicular to the first and was called the "Great Dungeons". Its length is 198 meters. This gallery lasted for a long time: it was used until the Greco-Roman period.
Victor ELISEEV