Bata from Saka is an Egyptian bull-god of the
New Kingdom, who represents together with his brother
Anubis
Anubis (; grc, Ἄνουβις), also known as Inpu, Inpw, Jnpw, or Anpu in Ancient Egyptian () is the god of death, mummification, embalming, the afterlife, cemeteries, tombs, and the Underworld, in ancient Egyptian religion, usually depict ...
the 17th Upper Egyptian
Nome.
History
Until the middle of the
Eighteenth Dynasty Bata was represented as a ram and later as a bull. Bata is probably identical with the death god ''Bt'' of the Egyptian
Old Kingdom, known from the
Saqqara
Saqqara ( ar, سقارة, ), also spelled Sakkara or Saccara in English , is an Egyptian village in Giza Governorate, that contains ancient burial grounds of Egyptian royalty, serving as the necropolis for the ancient Egyptian capital, Memphis ...
necropolis, for instance from the
Mastaba of Ti. Bata is not mentioned in the
Pyramid Texts
The Pyramid Texts are the oldest ancient Egyptian funerary texts, dating to the late Old Kingdom. They are the earliest known corpus of ancient Egyptian religious texts. Written in Old Egyptian, the pyramid texts were carved onto the subterrane ...
and
Coffin Texts.
In literature
Bata is the name of the protagonist in the ''
Tale of Two Brothers'', a copy of which survives on the
New Kingdom Papyrus D’Orbiney, where he is the brother of Anubis. He is also mentioned in the
Ptolemaic Papyrus Jumilhac.
See also
*
List of Egyptian deities
Ancient Egyptian deities were an integral part of ancient Egyptian religion and were worshipped for millennia. Many of them ruled over natural and social phenomena, as well as abstract concepts. These gods and goddesses appear in virtually ever ...
*
Cattle in religion and mythology
Due to the multiple benefits from cattle, there are varying beliefs about cattle in societies and religions. In some regions, especially most states of India, the slaughter of cattle is prohibited and their meat may be taboo.
Cattle are consider ...
*
Tale of Two Brothers
Bibliography
* Susan T. Hollis: ''On the Nature of Bata, the Hero of the Papyrus d'Orbiney'', in: ''Chronique d'Égypte'' 59, 1984, 248-257
External links
Tale of Two Brothers
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bata (God)
Death gods
Underworld gods
Egyptian gods
Fertility gods
Animal gods
Cattle deities