Mnevis (, ) is the

Hellenized Hellenization or Hellenification is the adoption of Greek culture, religion, language, and identity by non-Greeks. In the ancient period, colonisation often led to the Hellenisation of indigenous people in the Hellenistic period, many of the te ...

name of an

ancient Egypt Ancient Egypt () was a cradle of civilization concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in Northeast Africa. It emerged from prehistoric Egypt around 3150BC (according to conventional Egyptian chronology), when Upper and Lower E ...

ian bull god which had its centre of worship at Heliopolis, and was known to the ancient Egyptians as ''Mer-wer'' or ''Nem-wer''. Although initially a separate god, it was later assimilated to the syncretized god

Atum-Ra Atum (, Egyptian: ''jtm(w)'' or ''tm(w)'', ''reconstructed'' ; Coptic ''Atoum''), sometimes rendered as Atem, Temu, or Tem, is the primordial God in Egyptian mythology from whom all else arose. He created himself and is the father of Shu and ...

as his physical manifestation, and also considered as the ba of Ra. Mnevis is often depicted as a black bull wearing a solar disk and

uraeus drawing of a Uraeus The Uraeus () or Ouraeus (Ancient Greek: , ; Egyptian: ', "rearing cobra", plural: ''Uraei'') is the stylized, upright form of an Egyptian cobra, used as a symbol of sovereignty, royalty, deity and divine authority in anci ...

. As reported by

Plutarch Plutarch (; , ''Ploútarchos'', ; – 120s) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo (Delphi), Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for his ''Parallel Lives'', ...

, the Mnevis bull was second only to the Memphite

Apis bull In ancient Egyptian religion, Apis or Hapis, alternatively spelled Hapi-ankh, was a sacred bull or multiple sacred bulls worshiped in the Memphis region, identified as the son of Hathor, a primary deity in the pantheon of ancient Egypt. Initi ...

in importance. Similarly to the Apis bull, the Mnevis bull's movements were thought to be driven by divine will, and used as an

oracle An oracle is a person or thing considered to provide insight, wise counsel or prophetic predictions, most notably including precognition of the future, inspired by deities. If done through occultic means, it is a form of divination. Descript ...

. The priesthood of Mnevis also went as far as to claim that Mnevis was none other than the father of the more famous Apis. The Mnevis bull was entitled to two

concubines Concubinage is an interpersonal and sexual relationship between two people in which the couple does not want to, or cannot, enter into a full marriage. Concubinage and marriage are often regarded as similar, but mutually exclusive. During the e ...

, more precisely two cows representing

Hathor Hathor (, , , Meroitic language, Meroitic: ') was a major ancient Egyptian deities, goddess in ancient Egyptian religion who played a wide variety of roles. As a sky deity, she was the mother or consort of the sky god Horus and the sun god R ...

and

Iusaaset Iusaaset, Iusaas, or, in Greek, Saosis, is a primordial goddess in Ancient Egyptian religion, a feminine counterpart to the male creator deity Atum.Hart, George. (2005). ''The Routledge Dictionary of Egyptian Gods and Goddesses, 2nd Edition''. Rou ...

. When the bull died, he was embalmed and buried with all honours in a dedicated

necropolis A necropolis (: necropolises, necropoles, necropoleis, necropoli) is a large, designed cemetery with elaborate tomb monuments. The name stems from the Ancient Greek ''nekropolis'' (). The term usually implies a separate burial site at a distan ...

which was located not far from the temple at Heliopolis. Another burial ground was reserved for the so-called Mothers of Mnevis, which were considered the embodiment of the cow-goddess

Hesat Hesat is an ancient Egyptian goddess in the form of a cow. She was said to provide humanity with milk (called "the beer of Hesat") and in particular to suckle the pharaoh and several ancient Egyptian bull gods. In the Pyramid Texts she is said ...

. After a Mnevis bull's death a replacement for him was sought, usually a completely black bull. There was only ever one Mnevis bull at a time. The cult of Mnevis was among the very few to be tolerated during the " Amarna heresy" of King

Akhenaten Akhenaten (pronounced ), also spelled Akhenaton or Echnaton ( ''ʾŪḫə-nə-yātəy'', , meaning 'Effective for the Aten'), was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh reigning or 1351–1334 BC, the tenth ruler of the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt, Eig ...

, probably because of its solar attributes. It is known that Akhenaten ordered the construction of a necropolis for Mnevis bulls in Akhetaten, although it has not yet been found.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Egyptian gods Horned gods Ra Epithets of Amun-Ra Mythological bulls Sacred bulls Hathor Cattle deities ca:Llista de personatges de la mitologia egípcia#M

See also

References

External links