Note 25: — V.—RELIGION AND SUPERSTITION. (Wall-Cases 98-106.)

The two bronze bulls (Nos. 128 and 129) are offerings made by Greeks to an Egyptian deity. They were dedicated by Greeks named respectively Sokydes and Theodoros, and represent the sacred bull Apis, worshipped at Memphis in Egypt as an incarnation of the god Ptah. The offering of Sokydes is here illustrated (Fig. 41).25 Notice the elaborate saddle-cloth, and the wings of the Egyptian scarabaeus and hawk engraved on the bull's back. The date of these bronzes is the late sixth or early fifth century B.C. The Greeks must have become acquainted with the worship of Apis in the seventh century B.C., when they served King Psammetichos I. as mercenaries. That monarch was a fervent worshipper of the god, and built a great temple for him at Memphis. Herodotus26 mentions the courts where the bull was kept, and says that the Greeks called him "Epaphos." The bull dedicated by Sokydes was found in the Nile Delta, that dedicated by Theodoros at Athens.