Apis Bull
Culture: Egyptian
Period: Late Period-Ptolemaic Period
Date: ca. 712-30 B.C.
Medium: Bronze
Dimensions:
height: 2 1/2 in. (6.4 cm)
width: 2 5/16 in. (5.9 cm)
depth: 13/16 in. (2 cm)
Credit Line: Museum Purchase: Stark-Willson Collection
Object number: 86.138.245
Provenance: by purchase, the Stark family, Orange, Texas, between 1927 and 1929; by bequest, the Nelda C. and H. J. Lutcher Stark Foundation, 1965; by purchase, the San Antonio Museum of Art with funding from Mr. and Mrs. Robert Willson, 1986
Label Text
Believed to be the living ba (or soul) of the creator god Ptah, Apis bulls lived at Memphis, which was the cult center of the god. Here, the Apis bull is shown with a sun-disk and uraeus-serpent on his head. This bull also has a winged scarab beetle, a common solar symbol, on his back. Upon their death, Apis bulls were mummified, given a state funeral, and buried at North Saqqara in the Serapeum, the tomb dedicated to the Apis bull mummies.
(Sarah Schellinger, 2018)
(Sarah Schellinger, 2018)
On view
In Collection(s)
The San Antonio Museum of Art is in the process of digitizing its permanent collection. This electronic record was created from historic documentation that does not necessarily reflect SAMA's complete or current knowledge about the object. Review and updating of such records is ongoing.
This resource has been made possible in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities: Exploring the Human Endeavor.
