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Breeds of Memphis and the Serapeum at Saqqara

The ancient capital where the Apis bull was kept as a living god, and the desert catacombs where the bulls were buried.

Memphis and the Serapeum at Saqqara

Breeds of this place

AurochsSanga cattle

Best time: October to April, the cooler months.

Memphis, the old capital of Egypt on the Nile south of modern Cairo, was home to the cult of Apis, a sacred bull. One bull at a time was chosen for special markings and lived in a temple enclosure, honoured as the living herald of the god Ptah. When an Apis died, it was embalmed and buried in the Serapeum, a set of underground galleries in the desert necropolis of Saqqara.

View of the hemicycle of Greek philosophers and authors of the Serapeum dromos of Saqqara.
Photo: No machine-readable author provided. Neithsabes assumed (based on copy, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The Apis bull

Ancient writers describe the Apis as black with a white mark on the forehead and other special signs. After the death of one Apis, priests searched the herds for a calf with the right markings to take its place. The bull's mother was honoured too. The cult lasted from early dynastic times into the Roman period, among many in Egypt that honoured cattle, including the goddess Hathor, often shown as a cow.

The Serapeum

The Serapeum's long rock-cut galleries hold more than twenty huge stone sarcophagi, most of granite. Burials here go back to the New Kingdom, and the main galleries were cut in later centuries. The French archaeologist Auguste Mariette uncovered the site in 1850 and 1851. Paintings in nearby tombs show cattle being herded, milked and counted, a record of how central they were to Egyptian life.

A trail idea for Memphis and the Serapeum at Saqqara

  1. Serapeum of Saqqara The underground galleries of the Apis burials.
  2. Step Pyramid of Djoser The oldest great stone building in Egypt, nearby.
  3. Mastaba tombs Tomb paintings of cattle herding and milking.
  4. Mit Rahina The site of ancient Memphis and its open-air museum.
About this page

Written by the EveryCow desk with AI assistance. Background: "Serapeum of Saqqara" on Wikipedia. Fair dates, markets and visiting rules change; check locally before travelling, and keep a respectful distance from working animals. If something is wrong, tell us.

PurposeDairyBeefDraughtDual-purposeTriple-purposeSportCeremonialGrazingHeritageMiniature
LineageTaurineZebuSangaCompositeYakMithunBantengWild
TraitHeat-tolerantCold-hardyDrought-hardyDisease-resistantThrifty foragersDocileSpiritedQuick and strongPolledLong-hornedRich milkMarbled beefLong-livedEasy calving

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