One would ask about the relation between the
successors of Alexander and the sacred animals.It is a painted and
gilded limestone stela (H.72 W. 50 cm) dedicated to the
Buchis bull by Ptolemy V. It was found in the Bucheum
of Armant (Fig.18)
Ptolemy V Epiphanes 204
-180 BC presents offerings
to Buchis bull.No burial of a mother of Apis is
recorded between year 9 of Nectanebo II (351 BC) and
year 3 of Alexander the Great (329 BC).?102
Different decrees, like the one of Canope, under
Ptolemy III, or that of Memphis, under Ptolemy V, the
famous copy discovered in Rosette by the army of
Bonaparte during his campaign on Egypt, mentioned the interest of the sovereigns or their kindness towards
the sacred animals and particularly the Apis of
Memphis and the Mnevis of Heliopolis.103
Ptolemy VI Philometor attended in year 24 the
ceremony of the installation of the Buchis bull at
Thebes.The animal, born in year 19 of his reign, had
been already consecrated.104 Another visit to Buchis
was made by Cleopatra VII accompanied by her
brother.105 The queen accompanied the animal in the
bark of Amun till Armant.106 Many stelae indicate that
the Ptolemaic kings participated in the ceremonies of
the sanctification of the animals.107
The stela of Mendes confirms that the sacred animal
wasn't only appreciated by the ordinary people but also
by the kings.Ptolemy II asked Apollonios, the finance minister, to
provide hundred talents of myrrh destined to the
treatment of the cow Isis Hesat of Aphroditopolis.99
There is a stela from Mendes, in the Delta, which
indicates the visit to Ptolemy II. On the upper part of the
monument the king is represented facing the offerings
made to a ram and placed on the pedestal.For example, the Mendes stela reported that
Ptolemy II exempted the temple of the ram from a great part of taxes that were paid for the royal house: -His
Majesty ordered that no bread
-tribute should be paid as
regards the Ram
-temple and its district, or in its
name.?108
The top of the stela is rounded and decorated with the
winged sun disc and two snakes.The text gives important details about the animal of the god, his
conditions in life and the finding of a new enthroned
ram.100
Ptolemy III was sent in the 21st year of his reign to
assist the installation of the animal in his renovated
sekos which suffered, according to the text, from the
Persians.101?There is evidence that during the second
Persian period the sacred animal cults may have
suffered from neglect or even aggression.Behind the
ram there are some divinities, Harpocrates, who is
represented with the side
-lock, naked, and putting his
finger in his mouth, a ram
-headed divinity wearing a
composite crown and accompanied with the following
inscription: -the ram, the master of Gedet?The
extensive building program of Ptolemy I and II in the
Serapeum area and Anubieion suggests that the 30th
Dynasty structures had either been left unfinished or
had been damaged.Behind
her stands the young Ptolemy, followed by the Nekhbet
vulture that wears the crown of Upper Egypt (Fig.17).110
Many stelae from Armant -Hermonthis?After Ptolemy I,
(Soter) became king in 305 B.C. He realized that it
would not be possible to establish his rule on a firm
foundation without reconciling the Egyptians and the
Greeks by appealing to religion, which was a subject
dear to the hearts of both communities.It
represents the ram of Mendes standing in a naos
crowned with the sun
-disc and the cobra.