APIS. - The bull Apis (in Egyptian h'p'j, meaning "the runner") was the most popular sacred animal of the Egyptians. It was honored above all at Memphis, where a living specimen was fed in the temple called precisely the Apieum. The choice of the animal was not simple. It had to be a black bull, but white on the belly, on the legs and on the tail, with a white patch on its forehead of a nearly triangular shape, which the Egyptians compared to eagle's wings. The death of Apis was a mourning for the whole country. The mummy of the animal was solemnly buried in the Serapeum of the Memphite necropolis; this burial ground was discovered at Saqqara by Mariette in 1851.
Seventy days after its death the priests had to find another animal that possessed all the marks of A.; under solemn escort the bull was led to Memphis and with solemn ceremony installed in the temple dedicated to it. The anniversary of its birth was celebrated for seven days. The cult of A. in Egypt was very ancient, and is traced back to the I or the II dynasty. It is certain that this animal was originally a god in itself; later it was assimilated to the sun and as such is depicted, bearing between its horns the solar disk with the uraeus serpent. More frequently it was considered as the son of Ptah, the most important of the gods of Memphis. Once dead, the god was identified with Osiris and his tomb became a destination of pilgrimages; the last identification of the god was that with Serapis, introduced under the Ptolemies.
A. was a prophetic god, who gave his response by accepting or refusing food or by stamping his hoof; the priests interpreted the response. St. Jerome tells us that the oracle of A. was still consulted in his times.
Bibliography
Ernesta Bacchi