Apis the Sacred Bull of Memphis

Apis the Bull God

Did Israel sacrifice their children to this idol?

This painting depicts a small bronze statue was a votive offering and was an expression of devotion from the worshipper who was hoping for a blessing. The sun disk between the horns represent divinity. The ancient Egyptians believed that Apis, the sacred bull of Memphis was a manifestation of Ptah upon the earth.

Was Apis the Golden Calf of the Exodus?

Whenever an Apis bull died in Memphis it was embalmed and mummified. Each bull had its own huge sarcophagus and its birth and death were recorded, carved onto the walls.

After the Israelites were delivered from Egypt, Moses came down from the mountain and found Aaron had set up a golden calf or young bull, that the people might worship God in this form. When the northern kingdom of Israel divided from their brothers in the south, Jeroboam introduced bull worship and set up two idols, one at Bethel and the other at Dan.

"And all the people brake off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them unto Aaron. And he received them at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had made it a molten calf: and they said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt." - Exodus 32:3,4

The Apis Bull God discovery is important in the study of Biblical Archaeology. It confirms that bull/calf worship was prevalent in the ancient Near East and these little statues were the idols used in ancient Israel.

1 Kings 12:28-29 "Whereupon the king took counsel, and made two calves of gold, and said unto them, It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem: behold thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. And he set the one in Bethel, and the other put he in Dan."

Bronze figure of Apis, the sacred bull. More

Bronze figure of Apis, the sacred bull
From Lower Egypt
Late Period, about 600 BC
Length: 16 cm
Width: 6.13 cm
Height: 20.5 cm
Department of Ancient Egypt and Sudan (study collection)
Item: EA 37448
Location: British Museum, London

British Museum Excerpt

An offering to Ptah

Many animals play a part in the religious life of ancient Egypt. The sacred bull of Apis is one of the best known. The Apis bull had a cult centre at Memphis and was seen by the Egyptians as one of the manifestations on earth of the god Ptah.

When an Apis bull died, it was embalmed. The large tables used for embalming the bulls have survived near the modern centre of Memphis. The mummified bull was buried at Saqqara. From the New Kingdom (1550-1070 BC) onwards, burials took place at the Serapeum, a maze of large underground caverns in the desert. Each bull had its own huge sarcophagus, which was placed in one of these underground chambers. The dates of each bull's birth and death were recorded, and the information has often survived, carved on stone stelae set into the walls of the burial place.

A prospective new Apis bull was required to have a white crescent on one side of its body or a white triangle on its forehead, signifying its unique character and its acceptance by the gods. Once the Apis bull was chosen, its mother was also honoured, and buried in catacombs at Saqqara set aside for the purpose.

This bronze statuette is a votive offering, presented to the god as an expression of devotion, with the hope that the god would look kindly on the donor. The statuette might have been deposited in the Serapeum and the sun disc and uraeus on the bull's head show the divinity of the animal.

"Whereupon the king took counsel, and made two calves of gold, and said unto them, It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem: behold thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. And he set the one in Bethel, and the other put he in Dan." - 1 Kings 12:28-29

Leviticus 26:1 - Ye shall make you no idols nor graven image, neither rear you up a standing image, neither shall ye set up [any] image of stone in your land, to bow down unto it: for I [am] the LORD your God.

Psalms 106:35-38 - But were mingled among the heathen, and learned their works. And they served their idols which were a snare unto them. Yea, they sacrificed their sons and their daughters unto devils. And shed innocent blood, even the blood of their sons and of their daughters, whom they sacrificed unto the idols of Canaan: and the land was polluted with blood.

Egyptian King Kneeling Before the Apis Bull

Apis in Egyptian mythology

"In Egyptian mythology, Apis or Hapis (alternatively spelt Hapi-ankh), was a bull-deity worshipped in the Memphis region.

According to Manetho, his worship was instituted by Kaiechos of the Second Dynasty. Hape (Apis) is named on very early monuments, but little is known of the divine animal before the New Kingdom. Ceremonial burials of bulls indicate that ritual sacrifice was part of the worship of the early cow deities and a bull might represent a king who became a deity after death. 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 humans were assimilated to Osiris, the king of the underworld. This Osorapis was identified with the Hellenistic Serapis, and may well be identical with him. Greek writers make the Apis an incarnation of Osiris, ignoring the connection with Ptah.

Apis was the most important of all the sacred animals in Egypt, and, as with 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 Twenty-second dynasty onwards. The name of the mother-cow and the place of birth often are 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." (Wikipedia - Apis (Egyptian mythology)

In Egyptian Mythology Apis was a god depicted as a bull, symbolizing fertility and strength in war. [Oxford Dictionary]

Apis Sacred bull who served as the BA (physical manifestation) or 'herald' of the god PTAH, His principal sanctuary was therefore located near the temple of Ptah at Memphis, in the vicinity of which the 'embalming house' of the Apis bulls has been unearthed. Unlike many other sacred animals the Apis bull was always a single individual animal, selected for his particular markings. According to the Greek historian Herodotus, the Apis bull, conceived from a bolt of lightning, was black with a white diamond on the forehead, the image of a vulture on its back, double hairs on its tail, and a scarab-shaped mark under its tongue. The cult of the Apis probably dates back to the beginning of Egyptian history, although Manetho, the Ptolemaic historian, claims that it originated in the 2nd Dynasty. The bul! was closely linked with the pharaoh, both being dhine manifestations of a god who were crowned at the time of their installation. Like the king, the Apis bull had his own 'window of appearances' (see palaces) and, at least from the Late Period, he was thought to provide ORACLES. From the 22nd Dynasty onwards, the bull was represented on private coffins, as if accompanying the deceased westwards to the tomb or eastwards (presumably towards a new life) and serving as a protector of the dead. At the death of each of the Apis bulls, there was national mourning, and the embalmed corpse was taken along the sacred way from Memphis to Saqqara, for burial in a granite sarcophagus in the underground catacombs known as the serapeum, which were in use from at least as early as the New Kingdom. According to Herodotus, the Persian ruler Cambyses (525-522 bc) mocked the cult and caused the death of the Apis bull of the time, although it has been suggested that this story mav simplv have been an attempt to discredit the Persians, since it appears to be contradicted by a textual record of an Apis burial actually conducted by Cambyses. Because of the divine nature of his birth, the mothers of the Apis bulls were venerated as manifestations of the goddess ISIS.; thev were accorded similar burials to their offspring, in the Iseum1 (or 'mothers of Apis' catacomb), a set of galleries further to the north in Saqqara which were excavated in 1970 by Bryan Emery. The 'calves of the Apis' were also buried ceremoniallv, but their catacombs, like the early Pharaonic Apis galleries, remain undiscovered. After his death, the Apis bull became identified with OSIRIS, being described as the svncretic deity Osiris-Apis or Osorapis. In the early Ptolemaic period the cult of SERAPIS was introduced, combining the traits of the Greek gods Zeus, Llelios, Llades, Dionvsos and Asklepios with those of Osorapis. [British Museum Text]

In Egyptian mythology, Apis or Hapis (alternatively spelled Hapi-ankh), was a bull-deity worshipped in the Memphis region.According to Manetho, his worship was instituted by Kaiechos of the Second Dynasty. Hape (Apis) is named on very early monuments, but little is known of the divine animal before the New Kingdom. Ceremonial burials of bulls indicate that ritual sacrifice was part of the worship of the early cow deities and a bull might represent a king who became a deity after death. 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 humans were assimilated to Osiris, the king of the underworld. This Osorapis was identified with the Hellenistic Serapis, and may well be identical with him. Greek writers make the Apis an incarnation of Osiris, ignoring the connection with Ptah. Apis was the most important of all the sacred animals in Egypt, and, as with 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 Twenty-second dynasty onwards. The name of the mother-cow and the place of birth often are 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. [Wikipedia]

Apis in an Egyptian Context. As an Egyptian deity, Apis belonged to a complex religious, mythological and cosmological belief system developed in the Nile river basin from earliest prehistory to 525 B.C.E.[3] Indeed, it was during this relatively late period in Egyptian cultural development, a time when they first felt their beliefs threatened by foreigners, that many of their myths, legends and religious beliefs were first recorded.[4] The cults within this framework, whose beliefs comprise the myths we have before us, were generally fairly localized phenomena, with different deities having the place of honor in different communities.[5] Despite this apparently unlimited diversity, however, the gods (unlike those in many other pantheons) were relatively ill-defined. As Frankfort notes, ?the Egyptian gods are imperfect as individuals. If we compare two of them ? we find, not two personages, but two sets of functions and emblems. ? The hymns and prayers addressed to these gods differ only in the epithets and attributes used. There is no hint that the hymns were addressed to individuals differing in character.?[6] One reason for this was the undeniable fact that the Egyptian gods were seen as utterly immanental?they represented (and were continuous with) particular, discrete elements of the natural world.[7] Thus, those who did develop characters and mythologies were generally quite portable, as they could retain their discrete forms without interfering with the various cults already in practice elsewhere. Also, this flexibility was what permitted the development of multipartite cults (i.e., the cult of Amun-Re, which unified the domains of Amun and Re), as the spheres of influence of these various deities were often complimentary. The worldview engendered by ancient Egyptian religion was uniquely appropriate to (and defined by) the geographical and calendrical realities of its believer?s lives. Unlike the beliefs of the Hebrews, Mesopotamians and others within their cultural sphere, the Egyptians viewed both history and cosmology as being well ordered, cyclical and dependable. As a result, all changes were interpreted as either inconsequential deviations from the cosmic plan or cyclical transformations required by it.[9] The major result of this perspective, in terms of the religious imagination, was to reduce the relevance of the present, as the entirety of history (when conceived of cyclically) was ultimately defined during the creation of the cosmos. The only other aporia in such an understanding is death, which seems to present a radical break with continuity. To maintain the integrity of this worldview, an intricate system of practices and beliefs (including the extensive mythic geographies of the afterlife, texts providing moral guidance (for this life and the next) and rituals designed to facilitate the transportation into the afterlife) was developed, whose primary purpose was to emphasize the unending continuation of existence.[10] Given these two cultural foci, it is understandable that the tales recorded within this mythological corpus tended to be either creation accounts or depictions of the world of the dead, with a particular focus on the relationship between the gods and their human constituents. Given that Apis (as deity) was actually understood to be the sacred bull, his cult presents another permutation of the highly concrete and immanental understanding of theology common in Ancient Egypt. {New World Encyclopedia]

Apis in the Louvre Museum

In Ancient Egypt, Apis or Hapis (alternatively spelt Hapi-ankh) was a bull-deity worshiped in the Memphis region and thought to represent rulership and masculine vigor. Though originally a local deity, his popularity grew throughout the dynastic history, such that, by the Ptolemaic period, he was "a kind of national mascot."[1] The worship of Apis was certainly the most popular of the three great bull cults of ancient Egypt (the others being the bulls Mnevis and Buchis.)

Though Hape (Apis) is named on some of the earliest monuments in ancient Egypt, the most detailed accounts of his cult can be traced back to the New Kingdom period (1570?1070 B.C.E.). He was originally seen as "the renewal of the life" of the Memphite god Ptah, but after death he became Osorapis, (the Osiris Apis).[2]. Under the Ptolemaic dynasty, this deity became Serapis, a Hellenistic syncretism between the popular Egyptian cult and the iconography (and characterization) of the Greek god, Hades.

APIS, a sacred bull worshipped at Memphis from the earliest period, having probably been introduced into the religious system as early as the 2nd dynasty by the king Kaiechos, who instituted the worship of Apis and the bull Mnevis.

His name in hieroglyphs was Hapi, and meant "the hidden," as he had to be discovered amidst the cattle, which was done by certain diacritical marks. According to the hieroglyphic inscriptions which accompany his form, he was the second birth or living incarnation of the god Ptah, the Egyptian Hephaestos or Vulcan. Apis is first mentioned and appears in the monuments of the 4th dynasty. The two bulls Apis and Mnevis are considered to have respectively represented the moon and sun, and seem both to have been buried at Memphis.

He was supposed to have been born of a virgin cow, rendered pregnant by a moonbeam or a flash of lightning. The mother of Apis, according to Strabo, had a part of the temple of the Apis reserved for her use; and the hieroglyphic inscriptions record a prophet or priest attached to her service. On the monuments she shares the honours of the bull, and is represented under the attributes of Athor as a goddess with a cow?s head. This cow had her especial name, these animals having each a separate appellation. According to the Greek writers Apis was the image of Osiris, and worshipped because Osiris was supposed to have passed into a bull, and to have been soon after manifested by a succession of these animals. The hieroglyphic inscriptions identify the Apis with Osiris, adorned with horns or the head of a bull, and unite the two names as Hapi-Osor, or Apis Osiris. According to this view the Apis was the incarnation of Osiris manifested in the shape of a bull. But besides this title, the monuments style Apis the son of Ptah, who was supposed to be his father by the sacred cow, or the second life of Ptah. Other monuments, indeed, declare him to have had no father, and to have been Onnophris or Osiris, but this conflict of ideas must have arisen from his material and spiritual nature, uniting the soul of Osiris or Ptah mystically with the sacred animal. Besides the mother of the Apis, a cow was annually exhibited to him decorated with the same insignia -- that is, a disk between the horns and a housing on the back, to judge from the insignia found on the bronze figures of the Apis -- and then slaughtered the same day, for no issue of the divine animal was permitted to exist.

According to other authorities several cows were kept in the Apeum on the announcement of the birth of an Apis, the sacred scribes and priests proceeded to verify the characters of the calf. The marks of the Apis were a black coloured hide, with a white triangular spot on the forehead, the hair arranged in the shape of an eagle on the back, and a knot under the tongue in shape of a scarabaeus, the sacred insect and emblem of Ptah, a white spot resembling a lunar crescent at his right side. These marks have been supposed to be for the most part certain arrangements of the hairs of the hide as seen in some animals. A house was built to the calf Apis facing the east, in which for four months he was nourished with milk. When he had grown up he was conducted, at the time of the new moon, to a ship by the sacred scribes and prophets, and conducted to the Apeum at Memphis, where there were courts, places for him to walk in, and a drinking fountain. According to Diodorus, he was first led to Nilopolis, and kept there 40 days, then shipped in a boat with a gilded cabin to Memphis, and he was there allowed to be seen for 40 days only by women, who exposed themselves to him. Like all the sacred animals his actions were oracular, and he had two chambers, his passage into one of which was deemed fortunate, and into the other unlucky. Thus the licking the garments of a visitor was supposed to prognosticate a tranquil but short life, and his refusal of the food offered to him by the hand of Germanicus, the approaching death of that hero. The actions of the children who played around his shrine or accompanied his processions were also considered oracular. The day of his birth was kept as an annual festival.

His life was not allowed to exceed 25 years, and should it have attained that maximum reckoned from the date of his enthronisation, the Apis was killed and thrown into a well, in which the priests asserted he had precipitated himself. This well was known to no one, and no one was allowed to reveal the place of burial. If the Apis died before the 25 years he received a splendid burial at Memphis in the Serapeum, for after death he was called the osor-hapi, or Serapis. This funeral was expensive; his body was placed in a barge, and accompanied by a procession of a Bacchanalian character, passing through the brazen doors of Memphis. As universal joy prevailed at his discovery, so his death threw all Egypt into a general mourning, and every one shaved off his beard. This mourning continued till the discovery of another Apis.

His birthday was celebrated by an annual feast, the natales Apidis, of seven days? duration, during which it was supposed the crocodiles were innocuous, and a silver cup was thrown on the occasion into a certain part of the Nile, which was considered a flux of Apis. This festival coincided with the rise of the Nile.

On the mummy coffins an Apis is often seen on the foot-board of those of the 7th and 6th centuries B.C. bearing on the back the mummy of the deceased to the sepulcher. The discovery by M. Mariette of the Seraoeum at Memphis described by Strabo has thrown great light on the worship and history of the Apis, the mode of burial, and the sequence of the bulls. (See SERAPEUM.)

The oldest Apis mentioned was one of the reign of Amenophis III., and he was followed in the 18th dynasty by bulls which had died in the reigns of Tutankhamen and Horus. There was a succession under the 19th dynasty, commencing with Seti or Sethos I., besides three which died in the 16th, 26th, and 30th years if Rameses II., and three others, the dates of whose deaths are unknown. Under the 20th dynasty there was an Apis which died in the 26th year of Rameses III., one in the reign of Rameses IX., others of the date of Rameses XI. And XIV., and four others whose dates are not determined, besides three more which died under the 21st dynasty. Of bulls deceased in the 22nd dynasty, there is one of the 23rd year of Osorkon II., another of the 14th year of Takellothis I., and a third of the 28th year of Sheshank or Shishak III.

It is not till the reign of this monarch that the dates connected with the Apis become of chronological importance. On the sepulchral tablet of the Apis which was born in the reign of Shishak III., is found the formula of the date of the birth and inauguration of the bull. It was born on the 20th of the month Payni, in the 28th year of the king?s reign, and enthroned on the 1st of Paophi of the same year, having died in the 2nd year of the king Pamai, and been buried on the 1st of the month Mechir of the same year. It had attained the age of 26 years. Three other bulls died in the 4th, 11th and 37th years of Shishak IV. Important statements like these show the intervals of time which elapsed between the regnal years of different kings, and check the chronology of the 22nd and subsequent dynasties, but owing to unfortunate lacunae the chronology of Egypt is conjectural, and not positive till the reign of Tirhakah. The dates of the other Apis are, one which died on the 5th of the month Thoth, in 6th year of Bekenrenf, or Bocchoris, another of the 2nd year of Shabak or Sabaco, and that buried on the 23rd Pharmouthi of the 24th year of Tirhakah, 730 B.C. The dates of the other bulls prior to the conquest of Egypt by Alexander the Great, 332 B.C., are: one born in the 26th year of Tirhakah, enthroned on the 9th Pharmouthi, the same year deceased, in the 20th year of Psammetichus I., and buried on ! the 25th Paophi, of the 23rd year of Psammetichus; another deceased in the 52nd year of the same king; a third born in the 53d year of Psammetichus I, enthroned on the 12th of Athor of the 54th year, deceased on the 6th of Paophi, and buried on the 10th Choiak of the 16th year of Necho, having lived 16 years 7 months and 17 days; another born on 7th Paophi of the 16th year of Necho, enthroned 9th Epiphi of the 1st year of Psammetichus I., died on the 12th Pharmouthi of the 12th year of Apries, and buried the 21st Payni of the same year, aged 17 years 6 months and 5 days; another born in the 5th year of Amasis, inaugurated on the 18th Payni of the same year, died on the 6th Phamenoth, was buried on the 15th Pashons of the 23rd year of the same king, aged 18 years and 7 months. The Apis which died after this, and of which a sarcophagus was found dated in the 4th year of Cambyses, is the one supposed to have been killed by Cambyses on his return from Aethiopia. Another born in the month Pharmouthi of the 5th year of Cambyses, died in the 4th year of Darius, and was buried on the 2nd Pashons of the 5th year of darius, and had lived upwards of 7 years. It is the Apis of Darius, alluded to by Polyaenus, for the successor of which Darius offered 100 talents as a reward to the fortunate discoverer. Another Persian king Ochus is said to have killed and eaten an Apis, 338 B.C. The death of an Apis soon after the death of Alexander the Great, 323 B.C. is also recorded. The sepulchral tablets in the demotic characters according to M. Brugsch, record the birth of an Apis in the month of Phamenoth, in the 29th year of Ptolemy Euergetes I., 231 B.C., which died in the 51st year, 179 B.C.; and another older, probably of Ptolemy Philadelphus II., 253 B.C.; another of the 14th year of Ptolemy Epiphanes IV., 211 B.C.; another in the 20th year of Ptolemy IV., 185 B.C.; another in the 17th year of Ptolemy Philometor VII., 164 B.C.; and another born in the 53d year (118-117 B.C.) of Ptolemy Euergetes II., died 15 years old, 103 B.C., in the reign of Ptolemy XI. In the Roman times the discovery of an Apis in the reign of Hadrian, 121 A.D., caused a tumult at Alexandria; and the last known Apis is that brought to the Emperor Julian II., 362-363 A.D., after which the Apis disappears from Egypt altogether.

The Apis was embalmed at great cost, but the operation consisted in preparing with bitumen the skull and a few of the principal bones of the bull made up into an appropriate shape. The second genius of the Karneter, or Egyptian Hades, was also called Hapi or Apis, but he was quite distinct from the bull god and the son of Osiris. His type was that of a human mummy with the head of a Cynocephalus ape. Bronze native figures of the Apis are not uncommon, and those of stone are occasionally found, but porcelain ones are extremely rate. [1902 Encyclopedia Britannica]

Apis, the ancient Egyptian bull god from Memphis

APIS or Hapis, the sacred bull of Memphis, in Egyptian Hp, Hope, Hope. 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 (see Serapis): and Greek writers make the Apis an incarnation of Osiris, ignoring the connexion with Ptah. 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 Rameses 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. [1911 Encyclopedia Britannica]

Calf in Smith's Bible Dictionary. The calf was held in high esteem by the Jews as food. 1Sa 28:24; Lu 15:23 The molten calf prepared by Aaron for the people to worship, Ex 32:4 was probably a wooden figure laminated with gold, a process which is known to have existed in Egypt. [AARON] Cal'neh, or Cal'no (fortress of Anu), appears in Ge 10:10 among the cities of Nimrod. Probably the site is the modern Niffer. In the eighth century B.C. Caneh was taken by one of the Assyrian kings, and never recovered its prosperity. Isa 10:9; Am 6:2

Calf in Eastons Bible Dictionary. Calves were commonly made use of in sacrifices, and are therefore frequently mentioned in Scripture. The "fatted calf" was regarded as the choicest of animal food; it was frequently also offered as a special sacrifice (1 Sam. 28:24; Amos 6:4; Luke 15:23). The words used in Jer. 34:18, 19, "cut the calf in twain," allude to the custom of dividing a sacrifice into two parts, between which the parties ratifying a covenant passed (Gen. 15:9, 10, 17, 18). The sacrifice of the lips, i.e., priase, is called "the calves of our lips" (Hos. 14:2, R.V., "as bullocks the offering of our lips." Comp. Heb. 13:15; Ps. 116:7; Jer. 33:11). The golden calf which Aaron made (Ex. 32:4) was probably a copy of the god Moloch rather than of the god Apis, the sacred ox or calf of Egypt. The Jews showed all through their history a tendency toward the Babylonian and Canaanitish idolatry rather than toward that of Egypt. Ages after this, Jeroboam, king of Israel, set up two idol calves, one at Dan, and the other at Bethel, that he might thus prevent the ten tribes from resorting to Jerusalem for worship (1 Kings 12:28). These calves continued to be a snare to the people till the time of their captivity. The calf at Dan was carried away in the reign of Pekah by Tiglath-pileser, and that at Bethel ten years later, in the reign of Hoshea, by Shalmaneser (2 Kings 15:29; 17:33). This sin of Jeroboam is almost always mentioned along with his name (2 Kings 15:28 etc.).

Calf Worship in Faussets Bible Dictionary. (See AARON.) The Israelites "in Egypt" had served the Egyptian idols (Joshua 24:14), including the sacred living bulls Apis, Basis, and Mnevis, and sacred cows Isis and Athor; worshipped for their utility to man, and made symbols of the sun and Osiris. In fact Nature, not the personal Creator, God, was symbolized by the calf and worshipped. But Aaron's golden calf he expressly calls, "thy Elohim which brought thee up out of Egypt"; and the feast to it "a feast to Jehovah" (Exodus 32:4-8; Exodus 32:17-19). Israel too had just seen that "upon Egypt's gods Jehovah executed judgments" (Numbers 33:4). What they yearned for therefore was not the vanquished Egyptian idols, but some visible symbol of the unseen Jehovah; the cherubic emblem, the calf or ox, furnished this. So Psalm 106:20, "they changed their glory (i.e. God) into the similitude of an ox that eateth grass"; indeed the Egyptians used to offer a bottle of hay to Apis. The rites of Mnevis' feast at Heliopolis, boisterous revelry, dancing, offerings, etc., which the Israelites were familiar with in Egypt, they transferred to Jehovah's calf image. Acts 7:40-41 marks this first stage of idolatry. The second more glaring stage surely followed: "God turned, and gave them up to worship the host of heaven" (Acts 7:42-43). Jeroboam's calves, which his exile in Egypt familiarized him with, and which he subsequently set up at Dan and Bethel similarly, were not set up to oppose Jehovah's worship, but to oppose His worship by Jeroboam's subjects at Jerusalem, lest they should thereby be alienated from him (1 Kings 12:26-29). It was notorious that it was Jehovah who delivered Israel out of Egypt; and, like Aaron, Jeroboam says of the calves, thereby identifying them with Jehovah, "Behold thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of Egypt." Jehu's worship of the calves is markedly distinguished from the Baal worship of Ahab which he overthrew (2 Kings 10:18-29). Baal worship breaks the first commandment by having other gods besides Jehovah. The calf worship breaks the second by worshipping Jehovah with an image or symbol; Rome's sin in our days. Moreover, there was only one Apis, there were two calves answering to the two cherubim. Hence, this was the only idolatry into which Judah never fell. As having the original cherubim in the temple at Jerusalem, she did not need the copies at Dan and Bethel. The prophets of the calves regarded themselves as "prophets of Jehovah" (1 Kings 22:5-6). Hosea denounces the calf worship, and calls Bethel Bethaven, the house of vanity, instead of the house of God (Hosea 8:5-6; Hosea 10:5-6). Kissing them was one mode of adoration (Hosea 13:2); contrast God's command," Kiss the Son, lest He be angry and ye perish" (Psalm 2:12). Tiglath Pileser carried away the calf at Daniel Shalmaneser, 10 years later, carried away that at Bethel (2 Kings 15:29; 2 Kings 17:6). In Hosea 14:2 we read "calves of our lips": instead of calves which we can no longer offer in our exile, we present praises of our lips; so Hebrews 13:15.

Ancient Calf Worship in the ISBE Bible Dictionary. The origin of animal worship is hidden in obscurity, but reverence for the bull and cow is found widespread among the most ancient historic cults. Even in the prehistoric age the influence of the bull symbol was so powerful that it gave its name to one of the most important signs of the Zodiac, and from early historic times the horns of the bull were the familiar emblem of the rays of the sun, and solar gods were very commonly represented as bull-gods (Jensen, Kosmologie, 62-90; Winckler, Altorientalische Forschungen, 1901-5, passim; Jeremias, Das Alter der bah. Astronomie, 1909, passim). The Egyptians, close neighbors of the Hebrews, in all eras from that of the Exodus onward, worshipped living bulls at Memphis (not Mendes, as EB) and Hellopolls as incarnations of Ptah and Ra, while one of the most elaborate rituals was connected with the life-size image of the Hathor-cow (Naville, Deir el Bahari, Part I (1907), 163-67), while the sun was revered as the "valiant bull" and the reigning Pharaoh as "Bull of Bulls." But far more important in this connection is the fact that "calf" worship was almost if not quite universal among all the ancient Semitic peoples. If the immediate ancestors of Abraham did not revere this deity, they were certainly quite unlike their relatives, the Babylonians, among whom, according to all tradition, they lived before they migrated to Israel (Gen 11:28,30; Josephus, Ant, I, vi, 5), for the Babylonians revered the bull as the symbol of their greatest gods, Ann and Sin and Marduk--the ideograph of a young bullock forming a part of the latter's name--while Hadadrimmon, an important Amorite deity, whose attributes remarkably resemble those of Yahweh (see Ward, AJSL, XXV, 175-85; Clay, Amurru (1909), 87-89), is pictured standing on the back of a bull. In Phoenicia also the bull was a sacred animal, as well as in northern Syria where it ranked as one of the chief Hittite deities its images receiving devout worship (see further, Sayce, Encyclopedia of Rel. and Ethics, under the word "Bull"). Among all these peoples the cow goddess was given at least equal honor. In Babylonia the goddess Ishtar has the cow for her symbol on very ancient seal cylinders, and when this nude or half-nude goddess appears in Israel she often stands on a bull or cow (see William Hayes Ward, Cylinders and Other Ancient Oriental Seals), and under slightly different forms this same goddess is revered in Arabia, Moab, Phoenicia, Syria and elsewhere, while among the Semitic Canaanites the bull was the symbol of Baal, and the cow of Astarte (see particularly Barton, Hebraica, IX, 133-63; X, 1-74, and Semitic Origins, chapter vii; Driver, "Astarte" in DB). Recent excavations in Israel have shown that during all eras no heathen worship was as popular as that of Astarte in her various forms (see S. A. Cook, Rel. of Ancient Israel, 1909). That she once is found wearing ram's horns (PEFS (1903), 227) only reveals her nature more clearly as the goddess of fertility. Her relation to the sacred fish at Carnion in Gilead and to the doves of Ascalon, as well as to female prostitution and to Nature's "resurrection" and fruitage, had been previously well known, as also her relation to the moon which governs the seasons. Is there any rational motif which can account for this widespread "calf" worship? Is it conceivable that this cult could so powerfully influence such intelligent and rather spiritually-minded nations as the Egyptians and Babylonians if it were wholly irrational and contained no spiritual content? And is there no rational explanation behind this constant fusion of the deity which controls the breeding of cattle with the deity which controls vegetation? How did the bull come to represent the "corn spirit," so that the running of a bull through the corn (the most destructive act) came to presage good crops; and how did the rending of a bull, spilling his life blood on the soil, increase fertility? (See Fraser, Golden Bough, II, 291-93, 344.) The one real controlling motif of all these various representations and functions of the "calf" god may be found in the ancient awe, especially among the Semites, for the Mystery of Life. This seems to offer a sufficient reason why the bull, which is a most conspicuous example of life-giving power, should be so closely connected with the reproductive processes of the animal and vegetable kingdoms and also with the sun, which from earliest historic times was considered as preeminently the "giver of life." Bull worship was not always an exhibition of gross animalism, but, certainly in Bible times, often represented a concept which was the product of reflection upon one of the deepest mysteries of Nature. Few hymns in Egypt or Babylon express higher spiritual knowledge and aspiration than those addressed to the bull gods or to others honored with this title, e.g. this one to the god Sin of Ur, the "heifer of Anu," "Strong young bull; with strong horns, .... with beard of lapislazuli color .... self-created, full of developed fruit .... Mother-womb who has taken up his abode, begetter of all things, exalted habitation among living creatures; O merciful gracious father, in whose hand rests the life of the whole world; O Lord, thy divinity is full of awe like the far-off heaven and the broad ocean!" (Rogers, Religion of Babylonia and Assyria (1908), 164). Many modern scholars believe that the primitive Egyptians and Babylonians really thought of their earthly and heavenly gods as animals (see especially Maspero, Bulletin critique, 1886; Revue de l'histoiredes religions, 1888), but it seems certain that at least as early as the date of the Exodus these stars and beasts were not regarded by all as being themselves deities, but rather as symbols or representations of deity (Davis and Cobern, Ancient Egypt, 281-89; Brugsch, Die Aegyptologie, I, 135; Chwolsohn, Die Ssabier u. der Ssabismus, II, 134). Read about the Golden Calf

Timeline of Ancient Egypt

Greek Dynasty- (332 - 30 B.C.)
Persian Period II - (342 - 332 B.C.)
Late Period II - (425 - 342 B.C.)
Persian Period I - (517 - 425 B.C.)
Late Period I - (1069 - 517 B.C.)
New Kingdom -(1550 - 1069 B.C.E.)
Intermediate Period II - (1650 - 1550 B.C.)
Middle Kingdom - (2125 - 1650 B.C.)
Intermediate Period I -(2181 - 2125 B.C.)
Old Kingdom - (3100 - 2181 B.C.)
Archaic Period - (3414 - 3100 B.C.)
Predynastic Period - (5464 - 3414 B.C.)

List of Egyptian Kings

EARLY DYNASTIC PERIOD

1st Dynasty (3050 - 2890)

Little actual history is known of the pharaohs of the early dynasties. Their monuments, however, are some of the most studied artifacts in the world.

Horus Aha
Djer (Itit)
Djet (Wadj)
Den (Udimu)
Anendjib
Semerkhet
Qa'a

2nd Dynasty (3890-2686)

Hetepsekhemwy (Hotepsekhemwy)
Reneb (Nebra)
Ninetjer (Nynetjer)
Peribsen (Seth-Peribsen)
Khasekhemwy

OLD KINGDOM

The age of the Pyramid. The pyramids of Giza and Dahshur are built during this period.

3rd Dynasty

Sanakhte (Nebka) 2650 - 2630
Netjerykhet (Djoser) 2630 - 2611
Sekhemkhet (Djoser Teti) 2611 - 2603
Khaba 2603 - 2599
Huni 2599 - 2575

4th Dynasty

Snefru 2575 - 2551
Khufu (Cheops) 2551 - 2528
Djedefre 2528 - 2520
Khafre (Chephren) 2520 - 2494
Menkaure (Mycerinus) 2490 - 2472
Shepseskaf 2472 - 2467

5th Dynasty

Userkaf 2465 - 2458
Sahure 2458 - 2446
Neferirkare Kakai 2477-2467
Shepseskare Ini 2426 - 2419
Neferefre 2419 - 2416
Niuserre Izi 2453 - 2422
Menkauhor 2422 - 2414
Djedkare Izezi 2388 - 2356
Unas 2375-2345

6th Dynasty

Teti 2345 - 2333
Pepy I (Meryre) 2332 - 2283
Merenre Nemtyemzaf 2283 2278
Pepy II (Neferkare) 2278 - 2184

FIRST INTERMEDIATE PERIOD

This was a very troubled time. There was a breakdown of centralized government, with many kings having overlapping reigns. Montuhotep established order from his capital at Thebes.

7th and 8th Dynasties (2150 - 2135)

Netrikare
Menkare
Neferkare II
Neferkare III
Djedkare II
Neferkare IV
Merenhor
Menkamin I
Nikare
Neferkare V
Neferkahor
Neferkare VI
Neferkamin II
Ibi I
Neferkaure
Neferkauhor
Neferirkare II

Attested Kings about whom nothing more is known

Wadjkare
Sekhemkare
Iti
Imhotep
Isu
Iytenu

9th and 10th Dynasties (2135 - 1986)

Neferkare
several kings named Kheti
Meri-Hathor (?)
Merikare 11th Dynasty
Inyotef I (Sehertawy) 2134 - 2117
Inyotef II (Wahankh) 2117-2069
Inyotef III (Nakhtnebtepnefer) 2069 - 2060

MIDDLE KINGDOM

This period is marked with foreign trade and enormous building projects. There is a refinement in the making of jewelry. Prosperity and renaissance existed for a long period of time, but eventually, internal problems become apparent.

11th Dynasty

Mentuhotep II 2055 -2004
Mentuhotep III (Sankhkare) 2004 - 1992
Mentuhotep IV (Nebtawyre) 1992 - 1987

12th Dynasty

Amenemhet I (Sehetepibre) 1991 - 1962
Senusret I (Kheperkare) 1956 - 1911
Amenemhet II (Nubkaure) 1911 - 1877
Senusret II (Khakheperre) 1877 - 1870
Senusret III (Khakaure) 1836 - 1817
Amenemhet III (Nimaatre) 1817 - 1772
Amenemhet IV (Maakherure) 1772 - 1763
Neferusobek (Sobekkare) 1763 - 1759

SECOND INTERMEDIATE PERIOD

The Hyksos invade and conquer. Eventually the Theban princes regain power.
Kamose defeats the Hyksos.

13th Dynasty

Wegaf 1783-1779
Amenemhat-senebef
Sekhemre-khutawi
Amenemhat V
Sehetepibre I
Iufni
Amenemhat VI
Semenkare
Sehetepibre II
Sewadjkare
Nedjemibre
Sobekhotep I
Reniseneb
Hor I
Amenemhat VII
Sobekhotep II
Khendjer
Imira-mesha
Antef IV
Seth
Sobekhotep III
Neferhotep I 1696 - 1686
Sihathor 1685 - 1685
Sobekhotep IV 1685 - 1678
Sobekhotep V 1678 - 1674
Iaib 1674 - 1664
Ay 1664 - 1641
Ini I
Sewadjtu
Ined
Hori
Sobekhotep VI
Dedumes I
Ibi II
Hor II
Senebmiu
Sekhanre I
Merkheperre
Merikare

14th Dynasty

Nehesi
Khatire
Nebfaure
Sehabre
Meridjefare
Sewadjkare
Heribre
Sankhibre
Kanefertemre
Neferibre
Ankhkare, ...

15th Dynasty

Salitis
Bnon
Apachnan (Khian)
Apophis (Auserre Apepi)
Khamudi

16th Dynasty

Anat-Her
User-anat
Semqen
Zaket
Wasa
Qar
Pepi III
Bebankh
Nebmaatre
Nikare II
Aahotepre
Aaneterire
Nubankhre
Nubuserre
Khauserre
Khamure
Jacob-Baal
Yakbam
Yoam
Amu, ...

17th Dynasty

Antef V
Rahotep
Sobekemzaf I
Djehuti
Mentuhotep VII
Nebirau I
Nebirau II
Semenenre
Suserenre
Sobekemzaf II
Antef VI
Antef VII
Tao I (Senakhtenre)
Tao II (Sekenenre)
Kamose (Wadjkheperre)

NEW KINGDOM

Extreme prosperity and renaissance in art and building projects mark the beginning of this period. Towards the end of the 19th Dynasty the increasing power of the priesthood corrupts the central government. During the 20th Dynasty tomb robbing is done by officials. The priesthood becomes hereditary and begins to assume secular power. The government breaks down.

18th Dynasty

Ahmose (Nebpehtyre) 1539 - 1514
Amenhotep I (Djeserkare) 1514 - 1493
Thutmose I (Akheperkare) 1493 - 1481
Thutmose II (Akheperenre) 1491 - 1479
Hatshepsut (Maatkare) 1473 - 1458
Thutmose III (Menkheperre) 1504 - 1450
Amenhotep II (Akheperure) 1427 - 1392
Thutmose IV (Menkheperure) 1419 - 1386
Amenhotep III (Nebmaatre) 1382 - 1344
Amenhotep IV / Akhenaten 1350 - 1334
Smenkhkare (Ankhkheperure) 1336-1334
Tutankhamun (Nebkheperure) 1334 - 1325
Ay (Kheperkheperure) 1325 - 1321
Horemheb (Djeserkheperure) 1323 - 1295

19th Dynasty

Ramesses I (Menpehtyre) 1295 - 1294
Seti I (Menmaatre) 1394 - 1279
Ramesses II (Usermaatresetepenre) 1279 - 1213
Merenptah (Baenrehotephirmaat) 1213 - 1203
Amenmesse (Menmire) 1203 - 1200
Seti II (Userkheperuresetepenre) 1200 - 1194
Siptah (Akhenresetepenre) 1194 - 1188
Tausert (Sitremeritamun) 1185-1187

20th Dynasty

Setakht (Userkhauremeryamun) 1186 - 1184
Ramesses III (Usermaatremeryamun) 1184 - 1153
Ramesses IV (Hekamaatresetepenamun) 1153 - 1147
Ramesses V (Usermaatresekheperenre) 1147 - 1143
Ramesses VI (Nebmaatremeryamun) 1143 - 1136
Ramesses VII (Usermaatresetepenre) 1136 - 1129
Ramesses VIII (Usermaatreakhenamun) 1129 - 1126
Ramesses IX (Neferkaresetepenre) 1126 - 1108
Ramesses X (Khepermaatresetepenre) 1108 - 1099
Ramesses XI (Menmaatresetepenptah) 1099 - 1069

THIRD INTERMEDIATE PERIOD

The capital moves from Tanis to Libyan, to Nubia, to Thebes, to SAIS, and then back to Nubia and Thebes.

21st Dynasty

Northern Kings

Southern Rulers at Thebes

Smedes 1070-1044
Herihor 1080-1074
Amenemnisu 1040
Piankh 1074-1070
Psusennes I 1040-992
Pinedjem I 1070-1032
Amenope 993-984
Masaherta 1054-1046
Osochor 984-978
Menkheperre 1045-992
Siamun 978-959
Smendes II 992-990
Psusennes II 959-945
Pinedjem II 990-969
Psusennes III 969-945

22nd Dynasty

Shoshenq I 945-924
Osorkon I 924-909
Takelot 909--?
Shoshenq II ?--883
Osorkon II 883-855
Takelot II 860-835
Shoshenq III 835-783
Pami 783-773
Shoshenq IV 773-735
Osorkon IV 735-712

23rd Dynasty

Pedubaste I 828-803
Osorkon IV 777-749
Peftjauwybast 740-725

24th Dynasty

Shepsesre Tefnakht I 725-720
Wahkare Bakenranef 720-715

LATE KINGDOM

The Nubians fall under the Assyrians invasion. The Greeks help re-establish order. A renaissance in the arts of the 25th Dynasty shows a return to the Old Kingdom style.

25th Dynasty

Piye 747-716 BC
Shebaka 712-698
Shebitku 698-690
Taharqa 690-664
Tantamani 664-657

26th Dynasty

Psammetichus I (Psam-tik) 664-610
Nekau (Necho) II 610-595
Psammetichus II 595-589
Apries 589-570
Amasis 570-526
Psammetichus III 526-525

27th Dynasty

Cambyses 525-522
Darius I 521-486
Xerxes I 486-466
Artaxerxes I 465-424
Darius II 424-404

28th Dynasty

Amyrtaios 404-399

29th Dynasty

Nepherites I 399-393
Psammuthis 393
Hakoris 393-380
Nepherites II 380

30th Dynasty

The 30th Dynasty contains the last of the Egyptian-born Pharaohs. Nectanebo I 380-362
Teos 365-360
Nectanebo II 360-343

SECOND PERSIAN PERIOD (343-332 B.C.)

31st Dynasty

The 31st Dynasty is also known as the Second Persian Period and was added after Manetho created his list of kings..

Ochus (Artaxerxes III) 343-338
Arses 338-336
Darius III Codomannus 335-332

GRECO-ROMAN PERIOD (332 B.C. - 395 A.D.)

Macedonian Kings - Alexandria
Alexander the Great 332-323