API

API. – The bull A. (in Egyptian h'p'j, meaning “the runner”) was the most popular sacred animal of the Egyptians. It was honored especially at Memphis, where a living specimen was fed in the temple known precisely as the Apieum. The selection of the animal was not simple. It had to be a black bull, but white on the belly, legs, and tail, with an almost triangular white mark on its forehead, which the Egyptians compared to an eagle’s wings. The death of A. was a mourning for the entire country. The animal’s mummy was solemnly buried in the Serapeum of the Memphite necropolis; this burial site was discovered at as-Saqqārah by Mariette in 1851.

Seventy days after its death, the priests had to find another animal possessing all the distinguishing marks of A.; under solemn escort, the bull was led to Memphis and, in a solemn ceremony, installed in the temple dedicated to II. The anniversary of its birth was celebrated for seven days. The cult of A. in Egypt was extremely ancient, and is traced back to the First or Second Dynasty. It is certain that this animal was originally a god in its own right; subsequently it was assimilated to the sun and as such depicted, bearing between its horns the solar disk with the uraeus serpent. More frequently it was regarded as the son of Ptah, the most important of the gods of Memphis. Upon its death, the god was identified with Osiris, and its tomb became a destination for pilgrims; the god’s final identification was with Serapis, introduced under the Ptolemies.

A. was a prophetic god, who gave oracles 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 day.