Editing Apis (deity)

{{morerefs|date=May 2024}}
{{Short description|Ancient Egyptian deity}}
{{Infobox deity
| type = Egyptian
| name = Apis
| image =File:Apis god.svg
| alt = 
| god_of = 
| hiero = <hiero>V28-Aa5:Q3-E1</hiero> '''or'''
<br/><hiero>G39</hiero>'''or '''
<br/><hiero>Aa5:Q3-G43</hiero>'''or '''
<br/><hiero>Aa5:Q3</hiero>
| symbol = [[Bull]]
| cult_center = [[Memphis, Egypt|Memphis]]
| parents = [[Hathor]]
}}
In [[ancient Egyptian religion]], '''Apis''' or '''Hapis''',{{efn|{{langx|egy|ḥjpw}}, reconstructed as [[Old Egyptian language|Old Egyptian]] {{IPA|*/ˈħujp?w/}} with unknown final vowel >{{clarify|date=May 2024}} [[Middle Egyptian language|Medio-Late Egyptian]] {{IPA|ˈħeʔp(?w)}}, {{langx|cop|ϩⲁⲡⲉ}} ''ḥapə''}} alternatively spelled '''Hapi-ankh''', was a [[sacred bull]] or multiple sacred bulls<ref name=":03">{{Cite book |last=Ceram |first=C. W. |title=Gods, Graves, and Scholars: The Story of Archaeology |publisher=[[Alfred A. Knopf]] |year=1967 |edition=2nd |location=New York |pages=130–131 |translator-last=Garside |translator-first=E. B. |author-link=C. W. Ceram |translator-last2=Wilkins |translator-first2=Sophie}}</ref> [[Ancient Egyptian religion#Animal cults|worshiped]] in the [[Memphis, Egypt|Memphis region]], identified as the son of [[Hathor]], a primary deity in the [[pantheon (religion)|pantheon]] of [[ancient Egypt]]. Initially, he was assigned a significant role in her worship, being sacrificed and reborn. Later, Apis also served as an intermediary between humans and other powerful deities (originally [[Ptah]],<ref name=":03" /> later [[Osiris]], then [[Atum]]).

{{Ancient Egyptian religion}}

The Apis bull was an important sacred animal to the ancient Egyptians. As with the other sacred beasts, Apis' importance increased over the centuries. During colonization of the conquered Egypt, Greek and Roman authors had much to say about Apis, the markings by which the black calf was recognized, the manner of his conception by a [[sunlight|ray from heaven]], his house at Memphis (with a court for his deportment), the mode of prognostication from his actions, his death, the mourning at his death, his costly burial, and the rejoicings throughout the country when a new Apis was found. [[Auguste Mariette]]'s excavation of the [[Serapeum of Saqqara]] revealed the tombs of more than sixty animals, ranging from the time of [[Amenhotep III]] to the end of the [[Ptolemaic dynasty]]. Originally, each animal was buried in a separate tomb with a chapel built above it. From [[Ramesses II]] onward, bulls were interred in interconnected underground galleries.<ref name="EB1911">{{EB1911|inline=y|wstitle=Apis|volume=2|page=168|first=Francis Llewellyn|last=Griffith|author-link=Francis Llewellyn Griffith}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Serapeum of Saqqara- Madain Project (en) |url=https://madainproject.com/serapeum_of_saqqara |access-date=2022-11-22 |website=madainproject.com}}</ref>

==History of worship==
Worship of an Apis bull, experienced by ancient Egyptians as holy, has been known since the [[First Dynasty of Egypt|First Dynasty]] in [[Memphis, Egypt|Memphis]], while worship of the Apis as a proper god, at least according to [[Manetho]]'s ''Aegyptiaca'', seems to be a later adoption, purportedly started during the reign of king ''Kaiechos'' (possibly [[Nebra (Pharaoh)|Nebra]]) of the [[Second Dynasty of Egypt|Second Dynasty]].<ref>{{cite book|author-link1=Jochem Kahl|last=Kahl|first=Jochem|title="Ra is My Lord": Searching for the Rise of the Sun God at the Dawn of Egyptian History|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tTzrbPfbGugC&pg=PA59|year=2007|publisher=Otto Harrassowitz Verlag|isbn=978-3-447-05540-6|page=59}}</ref>

Apis is named on very early monuments, but little is known of the divine animal before the [[New Kingdom of Egypt|New Kingdom]].<ref name="EB1911"/> Ceremonial burials of bulls indicate that ritual sacrifice was part of the worship of the early cow deities, Hathor and [[Bat (goddess)|Bat]], and a bull might represent her offspring, a king who became a deity after death.{{Citation needed|date=September 2017}} He was entitled "the renewal of the life" of the Memphite deity [[Ptah]]: but after death, he became Osorapis, i.e. the Osiris Apis, just as dead humans were assimilated to Osiris, the ruler of the underworld. This Osorapis was identified with [[Serapis]] of the late [[Hellenistic period]] and may well be identical with him. Creating parallels to their own religious beliefs, [[ancient Greece|ancient Greek]] writers identified Apis as an incarnation of Osiris, ignoring the connection with Ptah.<ref name="EB1911"/>

Apis was the most popular of three great bull cults of ancient Egypt, the others being the cults of [[Mnevis]] and [[Buchis]]. All are related to the worship of Hathor or Bat, similar primary goddesses separated by region until unification that eventually merged as Hathor. The worship of Apis was continued by the Greeks and after them by the Romans, and lasted until almost 400 CE.

== Herald of Ptah ==
[[File:The Procession of the Bull Apis by Frederick Arthur Bridgman, 1879.jpg|thumb|The sacred procession of Apis Osiris by F.A. Bridgman]]
This animal was chosen because it symbolized the courageous heart, great strength, and fighting spirit of the king. Apis came to being considered a manifestation of the king, as bulls were symbols of strength and fertility, qualities that are closely linked with kingship. "Strong bull of his mother [[Hathor]]" was a common title for Egyptian gods and male kings, being unused for women serving as king, such as [[Hatshepsut]].

As early as the time of the [[Narmer Palette]], the king is depicted with a bovine tail on one side, and a bull is seen knocking down the walls of a city on the other.
[[File:Faraón ante Apis (British Museum).jpg|thumb|Pharaoh statuette with the Apis bull ([[British Museum]])]]
Occasionally, Apis was pictured with the sun-disk symbol of his mother, Hathor, between his horns, being one of few deities ever associated with her symbol. When the disk was depicted on his head with his horns below and the triangular marking on his forehead, an [[ankh]] was suggested. That symbol always was closely associated with Hathor.

Early on, Apis was the [[Reporter (Ancient Egypt)|herald]] ([[Wikt:wḥm|''wḥm'']]) of [[Ptah]], the chief deity in the area around [[Memphis, Egypt|Memphis]]. As a manifestation of Ptah, Apis also was considered to be a symbol of the king, embodying the qualities of kingship. In the region where Ptah was worshiped, [[cattle]] exhibited white patterning on their mainly black bodies, and so a belief grew up that the Apis calf had to have a certain set of markings suitable to its role. It was required to have a white [[triangle|triangular]] marking upon its forehead, a white [[Egyptian vulture]] wing outline on its back, a [[scarab (artifact)|scarab]] mark under its tongue, a white [[moon|crescent moon]] shape on its right flank, and double hairs on his tail.

The calf that matched these markings was selected from the herds, brought to a [[Egyptian temple|temple]], given a [[harem]] of cows, and worshiped as an aspect of Ptah. The cow who was his mother was believed to have conceived him by a flash of [[lightning]] from the heavens, or from [[moonlight|moonbeam]]s. She also was treated specially, and given a special burial. At the temple, Apis was used as an [[oracle]], his movements being interpreted as prophecies. His breath was believed to cure disease and his presence to bless those around with strength. A window was created in the temple through which he could be viewed and, on certain holidays, he was led through the streets of the city, bedecked with jewelry and flowers.

[[File:Api or Hapi (Apis, Taureau Consacré a la Lune), N372.2.jpg|thumbnail|Api or Hapi (Apis, Taureau Consacré a la Lune), N372.2, [[Brooklyn Museum]]]]

==Burial==
{{Main|Serapeum of Saqqara}}
Details of the [[mummification]] ritual of the sacred bull are written within the [[Apis papyrus]].<ref name="Vos R.L.">{{cite book|url=http://www.peeters-leuven.be/boekoverz.asp?nr=2797|author=Vos R.L.|title=The Apis Embalming Ritual - P. Vindob. 3873|year=1993|publisher=Peeters publishers 1992|isbn=978-90-6831-438-0|access-date=2015-07-02|archive-date=2015-07-02|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150702030349/http://www.peeters-leuven.be/boekoverz.asp?nr=2797|url-status=dead}}</ref> Sometimes the body of the bull was [[mummy|mummified]] and fixed in a standing position on a foundation made of wooden planks.

By the New Kingdom period, the remains of the sacred bulls were interred at the cemetery of [[Saqqara]]. The earliest known burial in Saqqara was performed in the reign of [[Amenhotep III]] by his son [[Thutmose (prince)|Thutmose]]; afterward, seven more bulls were buried nearby. [[Ramesses II]] initiated Apis burials in what now is known as the [[Serapeum of Saqqara|Serapeum]], an underground complex of burial chambers at Saqqara for the sacred bulls, a site used throughout the rest of Ancient Egyptian history into the reign of [[Cleopatra]].

[[File:Stele dedicated to Apis-Louvre N 5417-mp3h8842.jpg|thumb|220px|Stele dedicated to an Apis, dating to Year 21 of [[Psamtik I]] ({{Circa|644 BCE}})]]

[[Khaemweset]], the priestly son of [[Ramesses II]] ({{Circa|1300 BCE}}), excavated a great gallery to be lined with the tomb chambers; another similar gallery was added by [[Psamtik I]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Price |first=Campbell |date=12 August 2022 |title=The Legacy of Prince Khaemwaset at Saqqara |url=https://www.mdpi.com/2571-9408/5/3/115/pdf |journal=Heritage |volume=5 |issue=3 |pages=2196–2209|doi=10.3390/heritage5030115 |doi-access=free }}</ref> The careful documentation of the ages of the animals in the later instances, with the regnal dates for their birth, enthronement, and death have thrown much light on the chronology from the [[Twenty-second Dynasty of Egypt|Twenty-second Dynasty]] onward. The name of the mother cow and the place of the calf's birth are often recorded. The [[sarcophagus|sarcophagi]] are of immense size and the burial must have entailed enormous expense. It is remarkable, therefore, that the ancient religious leaders contrived to bury one of the animals in the fourth year of [[Cambyses II]].<ref name="EB1911"/>

The Apis was a protector of the deceased and linked to the pharaoh. Horns embellish some of the tombs of ancient pharaohs and Apis often was depicted on private coffins as a powerful protector. As a form of Osiris, ruler of the underworld, it was believed that to be under the protection of Apis would give the person control over the four winds in the afterlife.

==From animal to human==
[[File:Apis MGEg Inv22808.jpg|thumb|Anthropomorphical representation of Apis, Ptolemaic Period (3rd–2nd centuries BC).]]
[[Image:Serapis Pio-Clementino Inv689 n2.jpg|thumb|220px|Bust of the Hellenistic-Egyptian deity [[Serapis]], Roman copy of an original by [[Bryaxis]] that stood at the [[Serapeum of Alexandria|Serapeion of Alexandria]], [[Vatican Museums]]]]
[[File:Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna June 2006 002.jpg|thumb|Gilded sculpture of an Apis head with the sacred disk of Hathor, [[Kunsthistorisches Museum]]]]
According to [[Arrian]], Apis was one of the Egyptian deities [[Alexander the Great]] propitiated by offering a sacrifice during his seizure of Ancient Egypt from the Persians.<ref>{{cite book |author=Arrian |author-link=Arrian |title=Anabasis|title-link=Anabasis Alexandri }}</ref> After Alexander's death, his general [[Ptolemy I Soter]] made efforts to integrate Egyptian religion with that of the new Hellenic rulers. Ptolemy's policy was to find a deity that might win the reverence of both groups, despite the curses of the Egyptian religious leaders against the deities of the previous foreign rulers (i.e. [[Set (deity)|Set]], lauded by the [[Hyksos]]). Without success, Alexander had attempted to use [[Amun]] for this purpose, but that deity was more prominent in [[Upper Egypt]] and not for those in [[Lower Egypt]], where the Greeks had stronger influence. Since the Greeks had little respect for animal-headed deities, a Greek statue was created as an idol and proclaimed as an [[anthropomorphism|anthropomorphic]] equivalent of the highly popular Apis. It was named ''Aser-hapi'' (i.e. ''Osiris-Apis''), which became '''[[Serapis]]''', and later was said to represent Osiris fully, rather than just his [[Ancient Egyptian concept of the soul#Ka (vital spark)|Ka]].

The earliest mention of a ''Serapis'' is in the authentic death scene of Alexander, from the royal diaries.<ref>{{cite book |author=Arrian |author-link=Arrian |title=Anabasis |chapter=VII |page=26|title-link=Anabasis Alexandri }}</ref> Here, ''Serapis'' has a temple at [[Babylon]], and is of such importance that he alone is named as being consulted on behalf of the dying Alexander. The presence of this temple in Babylon radically altered perceptions of the mythologies of this era, although it has been discovered that the unconnected Babylonian deity [[Enki|Ea]] was entitled ''Serapsi'', meaning ''king of the deep'', and it is Serapsi who is referred to in the diaries, not Serapis. The significance of this ''Serapsi'' in the Hellenic psyche, however, due to its involvement in Alexander's death, also may have contributed to the choice of ''Osiris-Apis'' as the chief Ptolemaic deity during their occupation of Ancient Egypt.

According to [[Plutarch]], Ptolemy stole the statue from [[Sinop, Turkey|Sinope]], having been instructed in a dream by the [[Unknown God]] to bring the statue to [[Alexandria]], where the statue was pronounced to be "Serapis" by two religious experts. Among those experts was one of the Eumolpidae, the ancient family from which the [[hierophant]] of the [[Eleusinian Mysteries]] traditionally had been chosen since before any historical records. The other expert supposedly was the scholarly Egyptian priest Manetho, which increased acceptability from both the [[Egyptians]] and the Greeks.

Plutarch may not be correct, however, as some Egyptologists assert that the ''Sinope'' in Plutarch's report is the hill of Sinopeion, a name given to the site of an existing Serapeum at Memphis. Also, according to [[Tacitus]], Serapis (i.e. Apis explicitly identified as Osiris in full) had been the [[tutelary deity]] of the village of [[Rhacotis]], before it suddenly expanded into the great capital of "Alexandria".

Being introduced by the Greeks, understandably, the statue depicted a fully human figure resembling [[Hades]] or [[Pluto (mythology)|Pluto]], both being kings of the Greek [[underworld]]. The figure was enthroned with the ''[[modius (headdress)|modius]]'', which is a basket or a grain-measure, on his head, a Greek [[symbol]] for the land of the dead. He also held a [[sceptre]], indicating rulership, and [[Cerberus]], gatekeeper of the underworld, rested at his feet. It also had what appeared to be a [[Serpent (symbolism)|serpent]] at its base, fitting the Egyptian symbol of sovereignty, the [[uraeus]].

With his (i.e., Osiris') wife, [[Isis]], and their son (at this point in history) [[Horus]] (in the form of ''[[Harpocrates]]''), Serapis won an important place in the Greek world, reaching [[Ancient Rome]], with [[Anubis]] being identified as Cerberus. 
The cult survived until 385, when Christians destroyed the Serapeum of Alexandria, and subsequently, the cult was forbidden by the [[Edict of Thessalonica]].

== Modern use ==
The pharmaceutical company [[Novo Nordisk]] uses Apis as its logo.

In modern day [[Egypt]], an entire district of the city of [[Alexandria]] is named after the Apis bull.

== See also ==
* [[List of Apis bulls]]
*[[Ankh]]
*[[Auðumbla]]
*[[Golden calf]]
*[[Hathor]]
*[[Hesat]]
*[[Mehet-Weret]]
*[[Nandi (bull)]]

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==

* J.-F. Brunet, The XXIInd and XXVth Dynasties Apis Burial Conundrum, in: Journal of the Ancient Chronology Forum 10 (2005), 26-34.
* M. Ibrahim, en D. Rohl, Apis and the Serapeum, in: Journal of the Ancient Chronology Forum 2 (JACF 1988) 6-26.
* Mark Smith, ''Following Osiris: Perspectives on the Osirian Afterlife from Four Millennia''. Oxford University Press, 2017.
* Ad Thijs, ''The Ramesside Section of the Serapeum'', SAK 47, 2018.
* Dorothy J. Thompson, ''Memphis Under the Ptolemies, Second Edition''. Princeton, 2012.
* Jacques Vandier, Memphis et le taureau Apis dans le papyrus Jumilhac (in French), in: Jean Sainte Faire Garnot (ed), ''Mélanges Mariette''. Cairo, 1961.
* Jean Vercoutter, The Napatan Kings and Apis Worship, in: KUSH 8 (1960), 62-76.
* R. L. Vos, ''The Apis Embalming Ritual: P. Vindob. 3873''. Leuven, 1992.

==External links==
{{Commons category|Apis}}
*[http://www.virtual-egyptian-museum.org/Collection/FullVisit/Collection.FullVisit-JFR.html?../Content/MET.LL.00887.html&0 The Virtual Egyptian Museum: Apis] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210226214310/http://www.virtual-egyptian-museum.org/Collection/FullVisit/Collection.FullVisit-JFR.html?..%2FContent%2FMET.LL.00887.html&0 |date=2021-02-26 }}

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[[Category:Egyptian gods]]
[[Category:Greek gods]]
[[Category:Health gods]]
[[Category:Animal gods]]
[[Category:Serapis]]
[[Category:Horned gods]]
[[Category:Mythological bulls]]
[[Category:Stellar gods]]
[[Category:Egyptian underworld]]
[[Category:Sacred bulls]]
[[Category:Ptah]]
[[Category:Epithets of Ptah]]
[[Category:Cattle deities]]