OX AND BULL CULTS IN THE ANCIENT WORLD

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OX AND BULL CULTS IN THE ANCIENT WORLD
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Paleolithicdepicted in many European cave
paintings such as those found at Lascaux and
Livernon in France. Their life force may have
been thought to have magical qualities
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Mesopotamia

• The Sumerian Epic of Gilgamesh depicts the
  killing of the Bull of Heaven, Gugalana, husband
  of Ereshkigal, as an act of defiance of the gods.
  Guglana is the basis for the constellation
  Taurus.
• From the earliest times, the bull was lunar in
  Mesopotamia (its horns representined the crescent
  moon and its footfalls caused earthquakes).
• The death of Guglana represented the start of the
  Agricultural Season (when the constellation
  Taurus is obscured i.e. killed- by the light of
  the sun).

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Anatolia (Turkey)

• Bulls appear in Hittite mythology as Seri and
  Hurri ('Day' and 'Night') the bulls who carried
  the weather god Teshub on their backs or in his
  chariot, and who grazed on the ruins of cities.
• Teshub He is depicted holding a triple
  thunderbolt and a weapon, usually an axe (often
  double-headed) or mace. The sacred bull common
  throughout Anatolia was his signature animal,
  represented by his horned crown.
• The impressive and dangerous aurochs survived
  into the Iron Age in Anatolia and the Near East
  and was worshiped throughout that area as a
  sacred animal.

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Teshub, depicted as riding on the back of a
bull The Hurrian (later Hittite) myth of Teshub's
originhe was conceived when the god Kumarbi bit
off and swallowed his father Anu's genitalsis a
likely inspiration for the story of Uranus,
Cronus, and Zeus, which is recounted in Hesiod's
Theogony. He is believed to have been the basis
for the gods Zeus and Thor. The British myth of
St. George and the Dragon is also believed to be
derived from him.
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Bull heads from Catal Hüyük in Angora (Museum of
Anatolian Civilization)
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Indus Valley

• The Hindu God Shiva's steed is Nandi, the Bull.
  Nandi the bull can be traced back to Indus Valley
  Civilization, where dairy farming was the most
  important occupations. The bull Nandi is Shiva's
  primary vehicle and is the principal gana
  (follower) of Shiva.

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Egypt

• In Egypt, bulls were worshiped as a god called
  Apis.
• The Apis bull was considered to be a
  manifestation of the pharaoh, as bulls were
  symbols of strength and fertility, qualities
  which are closely linked with kingship ("strong
  bull of his mother Hathor" was a common title for
  gods and pharaohs).

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Egypt

• Apis is associated with Ptah, god of creation
  (Memphis), Osiris, god of the Underworld.
• Occasionally, the Apis bull was pictured with her
  sun-disk between his horns, being one of few
  deities associated with her symbol. When the disk
  was depicted on his head with his horns below and
  the triangle on his forehead, an ankh was
  suggested.

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Worshipping the Golden Calf
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Cyprus

• In Cyprus, bull masks made from real skulls were
  worn in rites. Bull-masked terracotta figurines
  and Neolithic bull-horned stone altars have been
  found in Cyprus.

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Enkomi, Cyprus
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Minoan Civilization

• The Bull was a central theme in the Minoan
  Civilization, with bull heads and bull horns used
  as symbols in the Knossos palace. The palace was
  the inspiration for the story of the Minotaur and
  the Labyrith.
• Minoan frescos and ceramics depict the
  bull-leaping ritual in which participants of both
  sexes vaulted over bulls by grasping their horns.
  

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Minoan bull from the palace of Knossos in Crete
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Bull Leaping

• Bull-leaping is a motif of Middle Bronze Age
  figurative art, notably of Minoan Crete, but also
  found in Hittite Anatolia, the Levant, Bactria
  and the Indus Valley. It is often interpreted as
  a depiction of a ritual performed in connection
  with bull worship.

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Bull Leaping (2006)
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Bull Fighting
Bull Riding