Published Catalogue Text: Ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern Bronzes at the Harvard Art Museums
The figure of a striding bull with a sun disc and uraeus between its horns refers to the cult of the bull in its association with the sun god, and by extension, kingship. The wild bull, as the embodiment of aggression and sexual potency, was incorporated into royal imagery. Although there were several bull cults throughout Egypt, the best known is that of the Apis bull of Memphis, the location of the ancient capital. From at least the First Dynasty onward, the Apis bull was associated with the king, and a yearly procession of the sacred animal celebrated its cult (1). It is known from inscriptions as the incarnation of the god Ptah and, after its death, was associated with Osiris. In later periods, particularly as the pharaonic tradition waned, the Apis bull procession grew in popularity among the common people. Only one bull at a time was identified as the sacred Apis bull, probably determined by special markings. It was kept in its own sanctuary near the temple of Ptah, and when it died, it was buried with lavish ceremony in the necropolis at Saqqara, just outside Memphis. Cambyses, the Persian king who conquered Egypt in 525 BCE, allegedly committed one of the gravest sins when he killed the Apis bull, as recorded by Herodotus (3.27-29). The Ptolemaic rulers, however, continued the tradition of maintaining the sacred bull, and its cult remained active into the Roman period.
The Late Period bronzes are highly standardized, producing the angular form of a striding bull. Herodotus writes that one of the markings found on the sacred Apis bull of Memphis was the likeness of an eagle on its back (3.28). This report finds a parallel in the markings seen on many of the bronze bull statuettes produced in the first millennium BCE, often executed in a secondary metal inlay. All such bull figurines display outstretched wings across their shoulders and haunches, although the marking can vary in terms of details, including winged discs, scarabs, and vultures. In between the two outstretched wings, across the backs, rests a rectangular saddle blanket. These markings appear on three of the Harvard pieces, clearly on 1919.525 and more faintly on 1967.11 (2). Some attempts have been made to classify the Apis bull figurines based on the covariance of the different elements, but the typology remains insecure (3).
The proper left ear and solar disc are missing from this bull (4).
NOTES:
1. See A. Dodson, “Bull Cults,” in Divine Creatures: Animal Mummies in Ancient Egypt, ed. S. Ikram (Cairo, 2005) 72-105.
2. The third example with markings, 1999.94, appears to be modern.
3. G. Roeder, Ägyptische Bronzefiguren, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin Mitteilungen aus der Ägyptischen Sammlung 6 (Berlin, 1956) 325-26. Compare the styling of Hathor as a cow nursing a calf in J. F. Aubert and L. Aubert, eds., Bronzes et or Egyptiens (Paris, 2001) 176, pl. 24 right, dated to Dynasties 26-30. Although the incised markings are slightly different on the back of the animals, the overall form and musculature are very similar.
4. Compare a statuette with similar damage at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, inv. no. 89.2.562.
Marian Feldman
