in Mythology, a divinity worshipped by the ancient Egyptians at Memphis. It was an ox, having certain exterior marks; in which animal the soul of the great Osiris was supposed to subsist. The animal had the preference to all others, as being the symbol of agriculture, the improvement of which that prince had so much at heart.

According to several learned writers on the Egyptian religion, Apis was only a symbolical deity. "Amongst the animals consecrated to ancient rites (says Ammianus Marcellinus), Mnevis and Apis are the most celebrated; the first is an emblem of the sun, the second..." cond of the moon." Porphyry tells us, that Apis bore the characteristic signs of the two stars; and Macrobius, who confirms this opinion, adds, that he was equally consecrated to them both.

This bull, become the object of public adoration, it may be supposed, could not be born like other animals; accordingly the priests published that his origin was celestial. "An Apis is seldom born," says Pomponius Mela. He is not produced by the ordinary laws of generation. The Egyptians say he owes his birth to celestial fire." Plutarch explains this passage: "The priests pretend that the moon diffuses a generative influence, and as soon as a cow who takes the bull is struck by it, she conceives an Apis. Accordingly we discover in him the signs of that star."

Such were the fables industriously spread by those who presided over the divine institutions. The vulgar, to whom this emblematical deity prefigured abundance, received them eagerly, and implicitly believed them. Pliny has described the characters which distinguished this sacred bull: "A white spot, resembling a crescent, on the right side, and a lump under the tongue, were the distinguishing marks of Apis." When a cow, therefore, which was thought to be struck with the rays of the moon, produced a calf, the sacred guides went to examine it, and if they found it conformable to this description, they announced to the people the birth of Apis, and fecundity.

"Immediately (says Ælian) they built a temple to the new god, facing the rising sun, according to the precepts of Mercury, where they nourished him with milk for four months. This term expired, the priests repaired in pomp to his habitation, and saluted him by the name of Apis. They then placed him in a vessel magnificently decorated, covered with rich tapestry, and resplendent with gold, and conducted him to Nilopolis, singing hymns, and burning perfumes. There they kept him for forty days. During this space of time, women alone had permission to see him, and fainted in a particular manner. After the inauguration of the god, in this city, he was conveyed to Memphis with the same retinue, followed by an innumerable quantity of boats sumptuously decked out. There they completed the ceremonies of his inauguration, and he became sacred to all the world. Apis was superbly lodged, and the place where he lay was mystically called the bed. Strabo having visited his palace, thus describes it: "The edifice where Apis is kept, is situated near the temple of Vulcan. He is fed in a sacred apartment, before which is a large court. The house in which they keep the cow that produced him, occupies one of its sides. Sometimes, to satisfy the curiosity of strangers, they make him go out into this court. One may see him at all times through a window; but the priests produce him also to public view." Once a year (says Solinus) they present a heifer to him, and the same day they kill her.

A bull, born in so marvellous a manner, must be possessed of supernatural knowledge. Accordingly the priests published, that he predicted future events by gestures, by motions, and other ways, which they construed according to their fancy. "Apis (says Pliny) has two temples called Beds, which served as an augury for the people. When they come to consult him, if he enters into a particular one, it is a favourable prelude, and fatal if he passes into the other. He gives answers to individuals by taking food from their hands. He refused that offered him by Germanicus, who died soon after." It would be unjust to conclude, that this respectable writer gave credit to such auguries. He relates the opinion of the Egyptians, and contents himself with citing facts without offering his judgment.

Such was the installation of Apis. His anniversary was always celebrated for seven days. The people assembled to offer sacrifices to him, and what is extraordinary, oxen were immolated on the occasion. This solemnity did not pass without prodigies. Ammianus Marcellinus, who has collected the testimonies of the ancients, relates them in these words: "During the seven days in which the priests of Memphis celebrate the birth of Apis, the crocodiles forget their natural ferocity, become gentle, and do no harm to anybody."

This bull, however, so honoured, must not exceed a mysterious term fixed for his life. "Apis (says Pliny) cannot live beyond a certain number of years. When he has attained that period they drown him in the fountain of the priests; for it is not permitted, adds Ammianus Marcellinus, to let him prolong his life beyond the period prescribed for him by the sacred books." When this event happened, he was embalmed, and privately let down into the subterraneous places defined for that purpose. In this circumstance, the priests announced that Apis had disappeared; but when he died a natural death, before this period arrived, they proclaimed his death, and solemnly conveyed his body to the temple of Serapis.

"At Memphis was an ancient temple of Serapis which strangers were forbidden to approach, and where the priests themselves only entered when Apis was interred. It was then (says Plutarch) that they opened the gates called Leche and Cocytie (of oblivion and lamentation), which made a harsh and piercing sound." Ammianus Marcellinus, and Solinus, paint with great energy the general despair of the Egyptians, who with cries and lamentations demanded another Apis from heaven.

According to Plutarch, the term prescribed for the life of Apis was 25 years; which number marked a period of the sun and of the moon, and the bull was consecrated to these two bodies. Syncellus, in his Chronography, when he comes down to the 32d Pharaoh, called Aeth, says, "before Aeth, the solar year consisted of 360 days. This prince added five to complete its course. In his reign a calf was placed amongst the gods, and named Apis." And in the Bibliotheca of Fabricius we have the following passage: "It was customary to inaugurate the kings of Egypt at Memphis, in the temple of Apis. They were here first initiated in the mysteries, and were religiously invested; after which they were permitted to bear the yoke of the god through a town to a place called the Sanctuary, the entrance of which was prohibited to the profane. There they were obliged to swear that they would neither infect months nor days in the year, and that it should remain composed of 365 days, as had been established by the ancients." From these facts, Mr Savary, in his letters on Egypt, infers, that Apis was the tutelar divinity of the new form given to the solar year, and of the cycle of 25 years, discovered at the same time. This deity, besides, had a marked relation to the swelling of the Nile, as is testified by a great number of historians. The new moon which followed the summer solstice, was the era of this phenomenon, on which the eyes of every body were fixed: And Pliny speaks as follows on this subject: "Apis had on his right side a white mark, representing the crescent: This mark (continues Ælian) indicated the commencement of the inundation." If Apis possessed the characteristic signs which proved his divine origin, he promised fertility and abundance of the fruits of the earth. It seems demonstrated, therefore, Mr Savary adds, that this sacred bull, the guardian of the solar year of 365 days, was also regarded as the genius who presided over the overflowing of the river. The priests by fixing the course of his life to 25 years, and by making the installation of a new Apis concur with the renewal of the period above mentioned, had probably perceived, as the result of long meteorological observations, that this revolution always brought about abundant seasons. Nothing was better calculated to procure a favourable reception of this emblematical deity from the people, since his birth was a presage to them of a happy inundation, and of all the treasures of teeming nature.

The solemnity of his inauguration was called Apparition. That which was renewed every year towards the 12th or 13th of the month Payu, which corresponds with the 17th or 18th of June, was called the birth of Apis. It was a time of rejoicing, which Ælian describes in the following manner: "What festivals! what sacrifices take place in Egypt at the commencement of the inundation! It is then that all the people celebrate the birth of Apis. It would be tedious to describe the dances, the rejoicings, the shows, the banquets, to which the Egyptians abandon themselves on this occasion, and impossible to express the intoxication of joy which breaks forth in all the towns of the kingdom."

These observations Mr Savary thinks further confirmed by the name of this respectable bull; Apis, in the Egyptian tongue, signifying number, measure. This epithet perfectly characterizes an animal established as the guardian of the solar year, the type of the cycle of 25 years, and the preface of a favourable inundation.

Monseigneur Huet, bishop of Avranches, has endeavoured to prove that Apis was a symbolical image of the patriarch Joseph, and has supported his opinion with all his erudition. Dr Bryant apprehends that the name of Apis was an Egyptian term for a father; that it referred to the patriarch Noah; and that the crescent which was usually marked on the side of the animal, was a representation of the ark.

Bee. See Entomology Index, and Bee.

Apium, Parsley. See Botany Index.

Apivorous, in Ornithology, a synonyme of a species of falco. See Falco, Ornithology Index.

Apulia. See Botany Index.