Bull Worship
Bull cults in the ancient world
Why did Aaron choose to make a golden calf as an idol for the people? The word translated
"calf" in the narrative refers more specifically to a young bull. Thus the
choice may well have related to the practice of bull worship, which was prevalent in
ancient Egypt and Canaan. Fearsomely strong, notoriously quick-tempered, bulls
were revered throughout much of the ancient world as symbols of strength and
fertility. The bull appears in the art and sacred texts of Syria, Mesopotamia,
and Egypt.
Early records from Memphis, in Egypt, reveal that the Egyptians worshiped a
live bull known as Apis. The animal was thought to be a manifestation of the
city's patron deity, Ptah, creator of the universe. Apis became identified with Osiris, legendary god of the sun and of immortality.
Egypt's goldsmiths turned out finely wrought effigies of Apis-Osiris and of
his wife, Isis, represented by the head of a cow. When an Apis bull died at Memphis, its
body was mummified. It was entombed in splendor during a period of mourning that
lasted 70 days. In later centuries, the Apis bull became more closely linked
with Osiris, so that after the conquest of Alexander the Great, Osiris-Apis was
transformed into Serapis. In this new Hellenistic form, the ancient Egyptian
bull-god became a prominent deity.
In Mesopotamia, bulls were long venerated as symbols of majestic strength and
potency. Savage wild bulls, called aurochs, once roamed the region, some
weighing up to 3000 pounds, and colossal stone images of these beasts were set up to
guard the entrances to the temples and palaces of Babylonia. In later years,
the Assyrians adopted the bull-god as their guardian, often adding wings and a
human face. When the Israelites reached the Promised Land in the 13th century
B.C., the bull cult was already ancient there. Canaanite temples were sometimes
built with images of bronze bulls in their foundations. It was perhaps for this reason that the
Israelites in moments of doubt were tempted by bull cults.