Apis

Apis, the bull worshipped by the ancient Egyptians, who regarded it as a symbol and incarnation of Osiris, the husband of Isis, and next to Râ, the great divinity of Egypt. A sacred court or yard was set apart for the residence of Apis in the temple of Ptah at Memphis, where a numerous retinue of priests waited upon him, and sacrifices of red oxen were offered to him. His movements, choice of places, and changes of appetite were religiously regarded as oracles. It was an understood law that Apis must not live longer than twenty-five years. When he attained this age he was secretly put to death, and buried by the priests in a sacred well, the popular belief being that he cast himself into the water. If, however, he died a natural death, his body was solemnly interred in the Temple of Serapis at Memphis, and bacchanalian festivals were held to celebrate the inauguration of a new bull as Apis. As soon as a suitable animal was found having the required marks—black colour with a white square on the brow; the figure of an eagle on the back, and a black knot in the shape of a cantharus under the tongue (scarabeus)—he was led in triumphal procession to Nilopolis at the time of the new moon, where he remained forty days, and was afterwards conveyed in a splendid vessel to Memphis. The worship of the golden calf by the Israelites in the wilderness, and also the employment of golden calves as symbols of the deity by Jeroboam, have been very generally referred to the Egyptian worship of Apis.