Apis is Ptah, Apis is Re, Apis is Horus, son of Isis: the solar aspect of the Apis bull and the royal ideology of the Late Period
Abstract
The Apis bull, known as the herald of the creator-god Ptah at Memphis since the early New Kingdom onward, physically embodied the ideology of ancient Egyptian kingship, especially apparent during the First Millennium BCE. The passage of the so-called Demotic Chronicle (col. 5.12-13), a series of oracular sayings mixed with allusions to historical and dynastic events during the fourth century BCE but preserved on a papyrus from the early second century BCE, contains the full explanation of the divine nature of the living Memphite sacred bull ('Apis is Ptah, Apis is Re, Apis is Horus, son of Isis'), currently fully neglected in modern historiography.
The association of the Apis bull with the creator and sun god Atum of Heliopolis, which repre-sent the sunset and the nightly journey of the sun as well as the god that crown the new king in Lower Egyptian context, became current already during the Ramesside era in the form 'Apis-Atum-Horus in one', symbolizing the royal circle, and fully corresponding with the notion in the Demotic Chronicle. Atum is also directly associated with the Apis bull (as 'Apis-Atum with two horns on his head') on the official royal Apis stelae from the Serapeum at Saqqara, starting with the year 23 of Amasis (548 BCE) onward.
The aim of this talk is to investigate mentioned aspect within the framework of the royal ideology of the Late Period, stressing the importance of the Apis cult for usurper-kings.