The Probert Encyclopaedia of Egyptian Mythology

APIS

The Apis was the sacred bull, symbolic of Osiris, in ancient Egyptian culture. The Apis was primarily worshipped at Memphis and was represented by a black bull bearing a white square on the brown and a figure of an eagle on the flank and a scarabaeus under the tongue. After twenty-five years the animal was solemnly drowned in the Nile and embalmed. A period of mourning then ensued until a properly marked successor was found.
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