Egypt, Ancient

Development of Religion

As was the case in most primitive cultures, the earliest inhabitants of Egypt based their religious beliefs on the natural world. Before the unification of Egypt, each city-state worshipped its own local god, usually in the form of an animal. One example of this practice was the cult of the god Apis (or Hap) of Memphis. A single bull would be selected to be the sacred Apis bull on the basis of certain markings or coloring. The temple priests maintained the bull in luxury throughout its life. When the sacred bull died, it was mummified and received a royal burial. This cult existed well into the Ptolemaic period, so there were many tomb complexes where these bulls were interred. One such tomb is the huge underground cemetery called the Serapeum of Saqqara. Other animal burial sites have also been uncovered at Saqqara, with each tomb containing a different animal species.

Another animal cult, which originated in the city of Bubastis, was centered around the worship of the cat goddess, Bastet. The oldest known statues of Bastet represent her as a lioness. Her worship persisted and, over time, spread throughout Egypt. Around 1500 BCE, cats were first domesticated in Egypt and came to be considered sacred animals. They were greatly favored as pets, and mummified cats have been found in many tombs. Following the Roman conquest of Egypt, the worship of Bastet spread as far as Italy.

Beginning with the First Dynasty, the animal itself became less of an object of worship but continued to serve as the personification of the god. During this time, Egyptian gods also began to take on human attributes. Statues of the gods dating from this period portray them with a combination of both animal and human features. Assigning human features to a god or an animal is called anthropomorphism. An example of this is found in later representations of the goddess Bastet, in which she was depicted as a woman with a cat's head.

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