The bull was venerated at sites throughout Egypt, each of the worshipped bulls being thought to contain the essence of a god, transferred through successive generations. The most significant and sacred bull was the Apis bull of Memphis.

The bull, like the lion, ws an emblem of power and as such was frequently associated with both gods and pharoahs. Sacred bulls were kept in the greatest splendour, paraded at religious festivals, consulted for their oracular powers and, on their death, accorded a mummification fit for a pharoah. The most famous of scared bulls was Apis, which resided in a temple compound at Memphis, and was seen as an embodiment of the god Ptah when alive, and of Osiris after death. Another sacred bull was Buchis, linked with Montu, god of war. Its cult centre was the town of Armant, south of Luxor, where successive generations of bulls were mummified and placed in a special cemetary in coffins whose lids weighed as much as fifteen tonnes. The Buchis bull embodied both Re and Osiris. Mnevis, the scared bull of heliopolis, was also associated with Re. Every bull was chosen for its markings. It was required that Mnevis be entirely black, with tufts of hair on it;s body and tail. Buchis had to possess a white body and black face, whereas Apis, according to Herodotus, was to be black with the mark of a vulture on its back, a white diamond on its forehead, double hairs on its tail, and a scarab shaped mark under its tongue. It was believed, too, that Apis must be born of a virgin cow which had been inseminated by a flash of lightning-but this stipulation, understandably, was more often honoured in the breach than in the observance. Herdotus related an episode which had seemingly occurred in 525BC when the Persians conquered Memphis amid great bloodshed: the Persian king, Cambyses, arrived to inspect his conquest only to find that the survivors were celebrating. On being told that he had captured the city on the same day that a new Apis had been found, he burst out laughing and had the bull roasted at a banquet. This terrible act of disrespect was held to be the cause of every evil that befell the Egyptians from that time on.