The Bull Apis from the Tomb of Psammuthis

Category

Library Item

Item no

31059

Title

The Bull Apis from the Tomb of Psammuthis

Artist / maker

Ricci, J

Date

1820

Size

7.5 x 30.0 cm

Type

Lithograph

Location

Reference Library

Giovanni Battista Belzoni was an Italian explorer and archaeologist, born in Padua (Padova). In 1803 he was working in England as a circus strong man, and exhibiting models of hydraulic engines. In 1815 he went to Cairo to try and sell his hydraulic engines to Muhammad 'Ali Pasha, and within two years had begun a new career, excavating Egyptian tombs and temples.

The cult of the Apis bull started at the very beginning of Egyptian history, probably as a fertility god connected to grain and the herds. Apis was a protector of the deceased, and linked to the pharaoh. This animal was chosen because it symbolized the king's courageous heart, fighting spirit, great strength and virility. The Apis bull was even considered to be a manifestation of the pharaoh, as bulls were symbols of strength and fertility, qualities which are closely linked with kingship ("strong bull of his mother Hathor" was a common title for gods and pharaohs).

Psammuthis was an Egyptian Pharaoh of the Twenty-ninth Dynasty during 393 BC.

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Related subjects

Animals > Mammals > Bulls

Architecture > Monuments > Pyramids

Architecture > Monuments > Tombs

Communication > Written > Hieroglyphs

Landscape > Landscape architectural facilities > Archaeological sites

Landscape > Landscape architectural facilities > Excavation

Places > Africa > Egypt

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