Apis - the sacred bull of Egypt

The development of ancient Egyptian religiosity is rooted in gray antiquity. Its beginnings are seen in the Neolithic, when already, it is believed, there were quite developed and established magical traditions. 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, an important role for the economic development of the state was played by agriculture. The whole life of the kingdom depended on the harvest-peace, the welfare of the people and the political situation. Therefore, the Egyptians with great sensitivity to the factors ensuring a good harvest. The floods of the Nile, insect populations and many other factors, because of their importance for the prosperity of the country, were dragged into the cult and later mythologized. Not the least role among them played animals, especially agricultural, because directly or indirectly they served as a source of food. Arable cattle was 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 cult of bulls and many local. An amazing evolution from the last to the first is demonstrated by the cult of the notorious Apis.

Who was this mysterious bull?

The original origin of the worship of Apis belongs to Memphis, the capital city of the Lower Kingdom. The deity of this city was Apis. However, the influence of the capital's politics and culture soon ensured the spread of his veneration throughout the country and even beyond. It is known that in various moments of history Apis was worshiped by Persian kings and Roman emperors. For the Greeks, this sacred animal in general became one of the sources of the appearance of the syncretic cult of the god Serapis.

The sacred bull: sacred nature and theology of worship

Speaking of 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 a famous celestial cove. On the contrary, it was extremely concretized in the person of a certain live bull, for which charters and traditions required special content, special worship and after his death - a special burial.

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

1. Hut - the physical body.

2. The following two parts make up the soul:

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

3. Ba-Bai - the spirit.

An analogous "composition" of man by ancient Egyptian theologians was also incriminated to their gods. Now you can explain the nature of the sacred Apis. As it was said, this is a specific 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, the god. What kind of god is a question, to which there is no single answer. But anyway, the sacred bull Apis is the embodied deity.

Genealogy of the sacred tradition of Apis

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

Today, historical and archaeological data allow us to reliably relate the early form of veneration of Apis to the god Ptah. This 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. After a while, the role of Memphis increased, and with it the popularity enjoyed by this sacred bull in Egypt. Later, the cult of the local nature became a common Egyptian cult. This also affected the theology of the cult. The influence of Apis did not ensure the authority of Ptah, and later the sacred bull was worshiped as the incarnation of another god - Osiris.

Apis: the life and death of the incarnate god

The life that the sacred bull lived was concluded in a special temple courtyard - the apium. On certain days, festivities (usually coinciding with the flood of the Nile) were held in honor of the bull and sacrifices were made. There is evidence that he had 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 present Apis Ka essence re-reunites with Ba-Bae Osiris, and then incarnated again. A new incarnation was determined according to a number of characteristic features (black wool, a number of specific marks, etc.). At some authors the 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 was found a new sacred bull.