Sarcophagus of Apis Bull, Sakkara

‎If the Holy Family, according to a traditional account spent a part of their sojourn in Egypt at Memphis they were in sight of the step pyramids. North and west of the step pyramids, was situated the mausoleum of Apis, the sacred bull of Memphis, which had spent its life in its temple (Apieum) and after death, was buried in the vaults of Sakkara. The Apis bull was the sacred animal of Ptah. he was the chief god of Memphis. Rawlinson says: “The Apis bull dwelt in a temple of his own; had his train of attending priests; his harem of cows; his chamberlains, cup bearers and grooms, and on fixed days, was led in a festive procession through the main streets of Memphis.” The people made obeisance to him as he passed. At death he was embalmed and deposited with magnificent jewels, statues and vases in a polished granite sarcophagus, cut out of a single block, and weighing between sixty and seventy tons. His funeral cost as much as one hundred thousand dollars. The sarcophagi of the sacred bulls were paced in arched lateral chambers, or vaults, reaching out from long galleries cut in the solid rock, near Memphis. The number of Apis bulls buried in these galleries, was sixty-four. Mariette in November, 1851, penetrated these vaults. He found one that had been untouched, although thirty-seven hundred years had passed since it was closed. Everything in the chamber seems to have been in precisely its original condition. The finger marks of the Egyptian who had inserted the last stone in the wall built to conceal the door, were still recognizable on the lime.