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In Egyptian mythology, Apis or Hapis (alternatively spelt Hapi-ankh), was a bull-deity worshipped in the Memphis region. // Egyptian mythology or Egyptian religion is the succession of tentative beliefs held by the people of Egypt for over three thousand years, prior to major exposure to Christianity and Islam. ...
Memphis was the ancient capital of the first nome of Lower Egypt, and of the Old Kingdom of Egypt from its foundation until around 1300 BC. Its Ancient Egyptian name was Ineb Hedj (The White Walls). The name Memphis is the Greek deformation of the Egyptian name of Pepi I...
By Manetho his worship is said to have been instituted by Kaiechos of the Second Dynasty. Hape is named on very early monuments, but little is known of the divine animal before the New Kingdom. He was entitled "the renewal of the life" of the Memphite god Ptah: but after death he became Osorapis, i.e. the Osiris Apis, just as dead men were assimilated to Osiris, the king of the underworld. This Osorapis was identified with Serapis, and may well be really identical with him: and Greek writers make the Apis an incarnation of Osiris, ignoring the connection with Ptah. Serapis can refer to: A series of British ships named HMS Serapis. ...
Apis was the most important of all the sacred animals in Egypt, and, like the others, its importance increased as time went on. Greek and Roman authors have much to say about Apis, the marks by which the black bull-calf was recognized, the manner of his conception by a ray from heaven, his house at Memphis with court for disporting himself, the mode of prognostication from his actions, the mourning at his death, his costly burial and the rejoicings throughout the country when a new Apis was found. Mariette's excavation of the Serapeum at Memphis revealed the tombs of over sixty animals, ranging from the time of Amenophis III. to that of Ptolemy Alexander. At first each animal was buried in a separate tomb with a chapel built above it. Khamuis, the priestly son of Ramesses II. (c. 1300 B.C.), excavated a great gallery to be lined with the tomb chambers; another similar gallery was added by Psammetichus I. The careful statement of the ages of the animals in the later instances, with the regnal dates for their birth, enthronization and death have thrown much light on the chronology from the XXIInd dynasty onwards. The name of the mother-cow and the place of birth are often recorded. The sarcophagi are of immense size, and the burial must have entailed enormous expense. It is therefore remarkable that the priests contrived to bury one of the animals in the fourth year of Cambyses.
The Ka of Ptah
Apis was originally the Ka (power/life-force) of Ptah, the chief god in the area around Memphis. As a manifestation of Ptah, it was considered also to be a symbol of the pharaoh, embodying the qualities of kingship. Since Ka is also the word for bull, Apis was said to manifest itself as a real living bull, which, after death, reincarnated itself into a new bull. In Egyptian mythology, the human soul is made up of seven parts: the Ren, Sekem, the Akh, the Ba, the Ka, the Sheut, and the Sekhu. ...
Ptah In Egyptian mythology, Ptah (also spelt Peteh) was the deification of the primordial mound in the Ennead cosmogony, which was more literally referred to as Ta-tenen (also spelt Tathenen), meaning risen land, or as Tanen, meaning submerged land. ...
The bovines in the region in which Ptah was worshipped exhibited white patterning on their mainly black bodies, and so a belief grew up that the Apis bull had to have a certain set of markings suitable to its role. It was required to have a white triangle upon its forehead, a white vulture wing outline on its back, a scarab mark under its tongue, a white crescent moon shape on its right flank, and double hairs on its tail. Tribes Bovini Boselaphini Strepsicerotini The biological subfamily Bovinae includes a diverse group of about 24 medium-sized to large ungulates, including domestic cattle, bison, the Water Buffalo, the Yak, and the four-horned and spiral-horned antelopes. ...
The bull which matched these markings was selected from the herd, brought to a temple, given a harem of cows, and worshipped as an aspect of Ptah. His mother was believed to have been conceived by a flash of lightning from the heavens, or from moonbeams, and was also treated specially. At the temple, Apis was used as an oracle, his movements being interpreted as prophecies. His breath was also believed to cure disease, and his presence to bless those around with virility, and so he was given a window in the temple through which he could be seen, and on certain holidays was lead through the streets of the city, bedecked with jewelry and flowers. In traditional Arab culture, the harîm حريم (cf. ...
An oracle is a person or agency considered to be a source of wise counsel or prophetic opinion; an infallible authority, usually spiritual in nature. ...
Ka of Osiris When Osiris absorbed the identity of Ptah, becoming Ptah-Seker-Osiris, the Apis bull became considered an aspect of Osiris rather than Ptah. Since Osiris was lord of the dead, the Apis then became known as the living deceased one. As he now represented Osiris, when the Apis bull reached the age of twenty-eight, the age when Osiris was said to have been killed by Set, symbolic of the lunar month, and the new moon, the bull was put to death with a great ceremony. Osiris (Greek language, also Usiris; the Egyptian language name is variously transliterated Asar, Aser, Ausar, or Ausare) is the Egyptian God of the dead and the underworld. ...
Osiris (Greek language, also Usiris; the Egyptian language name is variously transliterated Asar, Aser, Ausar, or Ausare) is the Egyptian God of the dead and the underworld. ...
In mathematics, a set can be thought of as any collection of distinct things considered as a whole. ...
In lunar calendars, a lunar month is the time between two successive similar syzygies (new moons or full moons). ...
The lunar phase depends on the Moons position in orbit around Earth. ...
There is evidence that parts of the body of the Apis bull were eaten by the pharaoh and his priests to absorb the Apis's great strength. Sometimes the body of the bull was mummified and fixed in a standing position on a foundation made of wooden planks. Bulls' horns embellish some of the tombs of ancient pharaohs, and the Apis bull was often depicted on private coffins as a powerful protector. As a form of Osiris, lord of the dead, it was believed that to be under the protection of the Apis bull would give the person control over the four winds in the afterlife. A mummy is a corpse whose skin and dried flesh have been preserved by either intentional or accidental exposure to chemicals, extreme cold or dryness, or airlessness. ...
By the New Kingdom, the remains of the Apis 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 Thutmosis; afterwards, seven more bulls were buried nearby. Ramesses II initiated Apis burials in what is now known as the Serapeum, an underground complex of burial chambers at Saqqara for the sacred bulls, a site used through the rest of Egyptian history into the reign of Cleopatra VII. The New Kingdom is the period in ancient Egyptian history between the 16th century BCE and the 11th century BCE, covering the Eighteenth, Nineteenth, and Twentieth Dynasties of Egypt. ...
Saqqara (Arabic: Ø³ÙØ§Ø±Ø©) is a vast, ancient burial ground in Egypt, featuring the worlds oldest standing step pyramid. ...
nomen or birth name Nebmaatre Amenhotep III (called Nibmu(`w)areya in the Amarna letters) was an Egyptian pharaoh of the Eighteenth dynasty. ...
nomen or birth name Ramesses II, Abu Simbel Ramesses II (also known as Ramesses the Great and alternatively transcribed as Ramses and Rameses) was an Egyptian pharaoh of the nineteenth dynasty. ...
The Serapeum of Alexandria in Ptolemaic Egypt was a temple built by Ptolemy III (reigned 246â222 BC) and dedicated to Serapis, the syncretic Hellenistic-Egyptian god who was made the protector of Alexandria. ...
Cleopatra Cleopatra VII Philopator (December, 70 BC or January, 69 BC–August 12?, 30 BC) was queen of ancient Egypt. ...
From bull to man
The Hellenistic-Egyptian god Serapis. Under Ptolemy Soter, efforts were made to integrate Egyptian religion with that of their hellenic rulers. Ptolemy's policy was to find a deity that should win the reverence alike of both groups, despite the curses of the Egyptian priests against the gods of the previous foreign rulers (i.e Set who was lauded by the Hyksos). Alexander had attempted to use Amun for this purpose, but he was more prominent in Upper Egypt, which was not so popular with those in Lower Egypt, where the Greeks had stronger influence. Nethertheless, the Greeks had little respect for animal-headed figures, and so a Greek statue was chosen as the idol, and proclaimed as anthropomorphic equivalent of the highly popular Apis. It was named Aser-hapi (i.e. Osiris-Apis), which became Serapis, and was said to be Osiris in full, rather than just his Ka. Image File history File links Ptolomeic fusion of Apis as Osiris. ...
Image File history File links Ptolomeic fusion of Apis as Osiris. ...
Ptolemy I Soter (367 BCâ283 BC) was the ruler of Egypt (323 BC - 283 BC) and founder of the Ptolemaic dynasty. ...
Set, in KV34 Set (also Setekh, Seth, etc) was originally a god of strength, war, storms, foreign lands (and foreigners) and deserts in Egyptian mythology. ...
The Hyksos (Egyptian heka khasewet meaning foreign rulers, Greek ) were an ethnically mixed group of Southwest Asiatic or Semitic people who appeared in the eastern Nile Delta during the Second Intermediate Period. ...
Alexander the Great (Greek: ÎÎÎ³Î±Ï ÎλÎξανδÏÎ¿Ï Megas Alexandros; July 356 BC â June 11, 323 BC), King of the Greek state of Macedonia (336â323 BC), is considered one of the most successful military commanders in world history, conquering most of the world known to the ancient Greeks before his death. ...
Amun (also spelt Amon, Amoun, Amen, and rarely Imenand, and spelt in Greek as Ammon, and Hammon) was the name of a deity, in Egyptian mythology, who gradually rose to become one of the most important deities, before fading into obscurity. ...
Map of Upper and Lower Egypt Ancient Egypt was divided into two kingdoms, known as Upper and Lower Egypt. ...
Map of Upper and Lower Egypt Ancient Egypt was divided into two kingdoms, known as Upper and Lower Egypt. ...
Anthropomorphism, also referred to as personification or prosopopeia, is the attribution of human characteristics to inanimate objects, animals, forces of nature, and others. ...
In Egyptian mythology, Apis or Hapis (alternatively spelt Hapi-ankh), was a bull-deity worshipped in the Memphis region. ...
The earliest mention of a Serapis is in the authentic death scene of Alexander, from the royal diaries (Arrian, Anabasis, VII. 26). 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 king. His presence in Babylon would radically alter perceptions of the mythologies of this era, though fortunately, it has been discovered that the unconnected Bablyonian god Ea was titled Serapsi, meaning king of the deep, and it is this Serapsi which is referred to in the diaries. The significance of this Serapsi in the hellenic psyche, due to its involvement in Alexander's death, may have also contributed to the choice of Osiris-Apis as the chief ptolomeic god. Lucius Flavius Arrianus Xenophon (c 92-c 175), known in English as Arrian, was a Roman historian. ...
Babylon is the Greek variant of Akkadian Babilu (bÄb-ilû, meaning Gateway of the god, translating Sumerian Kadingirra), an ancient city in Mesopotamia (modern Al Hillah, Iraq). ...
EA, Ea, or ea can signify several things. ...
According to Plutarch, Ptolemy stole the statue from 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. One of the experts was the one of the Eumolpidae, the ancient family from whose members the hierophant of the Eleusinian Mysteries had been chosen since before history, and the other was the scholarly Egyptian priest Manetho, which gave weight to the judgement both for the Egyptians and the Greeks. Plutarch Mestrius Plutarchus (c. ...
Sinope was an ancient city on the Black Sea, in the region of Galatia, modern-day Sinop, Turkey. ...
In addition to the twelve main Gods and the innumerable lesser deities, ancient Greeks used to worship an Unknown God (spelled Agnostos Theos in Greek). ...
This article needs to be updated. ...
The role of the hierophant in religion is to bring the congregants into the presence of that which is deemed The word comes from Ancient Greece, where it was constructed from the combination of ta hiera, the holy, and phainein, to show. ...
The Eleusinian Mysteries were annual initiation ceremonies for the cult of Demeter and Persephone based at Eleusis in ancient Greece. ...
Manetho, also known as Manethon of Sebennytos, was an Egyptian historian and priest from Sebennytos who lived during the Ptolematic era, circa 3rd century BC. Manetho recorded Aegyptiaca (History of Egypt). ...
Plutarch may not however be correct, as some Egyptologists allege that the Sinope in the tale is really the hill of Sinopeion, a name given to the site of the already existing Serapeum at Memphis. Also, according to Tacitus, Serapis (i.e. Apis explicitely identified as Osiris in full) had been the god of the village of Rhacotis, before it suddenly expanded into the great capital of Alexandria. Memphis was the ancient capital of the first nome of Lower Egypt, and of the Old Kingdom of Egypt from its foundation until around 1300 BC. Its Ancient Egyptian name was Ineb Hedj (The White Walls). The name Memphis is the Greek deformation of the Egyptian name of Pepi I...
Gaius Cornelius Tacitus Publius or Gaius Cornelius Tacitus (c. ...
The statue suitably depicted a figure resembling Hades or Pluto, both being kings of the Greek underworld, and was shown enthroned with the modius, which is a basket/grain-measure, on his head, since it was a Greek symbol for the land of the dead. He also held a sceptre in his hand indicating his rulership, with Cerberus, gatekeeper of the underworld, resting at his feet, and it also had a what appeared to be a serpent at its base, fitting the Egyptian symbol of rulership, the uraeus. Hades (From , HadÄs, or , HáidÄs, Greek for unseen[1]) refers to both the ancient Greek abode of the dead and the god of that underworld. ...
Pluto is an alternate name for the Greek god Hades, but was more often used in Roman mythology in their presentation of the god of the underworld. ...
// In the study of mythology and religion, the underworld is a generic term approximately equivalent to the lay term afterlife, referring to any place to which newly dead souls go. ...
A sceptre or scepter is an ornamental staff held by a ruling monarch, a prominent item of kingly regalia. ...
To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...
Serpent is a word of Latin origin (serpens, serpentis) that is normally substituted for snake in a specifically mythic or religious context, in order to distinguish such creatures from the field of biology. ...
The Uraeus (plural Uraei or Uraeuses) is a stylised upright cobra (or snake / serpent), used as a symbol of sovereignty, royalty, deity and divine authority in ancient Egypt. ...
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 great cult survived until 385 AD, when Christian fundamentalists destroyed the Serapeum of Alexandria, and subsequently the cult was forbidden by the Theodosian decree. It has been suggested that Isis in literature be merged into this article or section. ...
Horus is an ancient god of Egyptian mythology, whose cult survived so long that he evolved dramatically over time and gained many names. ...
The Roman Forum was the central area around which ancient Rome developed. ...
Anubis is the Greek name for the ancient god in Egyptian mythology whose hieroglyphic is more accurately spelt Anpu (also Anup, Anupu, Wip, Ienpw, Inepu, Yinepu, or Inpw). ...
Flavius Theodosius (Cauca [Coca-Segovia], Spain, January 11, 347 - Milan, January 17, 395), also called Theodosius I and Theodosius the Great, was a Roman emperor. ...
Modern Influences - On the virtual pet website Neopets, there is a Petpet named the Apis. It resembles a camel.
A digital pet, also known as a virtual pet, is a type of artificial human companion: a simple computer designed to simulate a pet. ...
Screenshot of the Neopets homepage viewed with Mozilla Firefox Neopets is an online virtual pet simulation game. ...
See also In Egyptian mythology, Mnewer was a black bull in Heliopolis, worshipped as a symbol of fertility and as an oracle. ...
In Egyptian mythology, Bakha (also spelt Bakh, Buchis, and Bukhis) was the manifestation of the a deification of Ka (power/life-force) of the war god Menthu, worshipped in the region of Hermonthis. ...
The worship of the Sacred Bull throughout the ancient world is most familiar in the episode of the idol of the Golden Calf made by Aaron and worshipped by the Hebrews in the wilderness of Sinai (Exodus). ...
References - This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.
- Harry Thurston Peck, Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, 1898.
- Jablonski, Pantheon, ii.
- Wallis Budge, Gods of the Egyptians, ii. 350
- Mariette-Maspero, Le Sérapéum de Memphis.
Encyclopædia Britannica, the 11th edition The Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition (1910â1911) is perhaps the most famous edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica. ...
The public domain comprises the body of all creative works and other knowledge—writing, artwork, music, science, inventions, and others—in which no person or organization has any proprietary interest. ...
Harry Thurston Peck (November 24, 1856 - March 23, 1914) was an American classical scholar, author, editor, and critic, born at Stamford, Conn. ...
JabÅoÅski (JabÅoÅska), Jablonski, Yablonski, Yablonsky (Yablonska, Yablonskaya): // JabÅoÅski JabÅoÅskie Aleksander JabÅoÅski / Aleksander Jablonski Arkadiusz Jablonski / Arkadiusz JabÅoÅski, polish fencing athlete Dariusz JabÅoÅski Henryk JabÅoÅski / Henryk Jablonski Karol JabÅoÅski Krzysztof JabÅoÅski...
Sir Ernest Alfred Thompson Wallis Budge; (July 27, 1857âNovember 23, 1934) was an English Egyptologist, Orientalist, and Philologist. ...
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