CHAP. XIV. MNEVIS. BASIS. 1<J7 



and the bull Mnevis, wliich is kept in a certain 

 enclosure, and looked upon by the Heliopolites as 

 a God, like the Apis in Memphis. The bull of 

 Heliopolis appears to have been called, in the hiero- 

 glyphic legends, Mne. It had a globe and feathers 

 on its head ; but though found on the monuments 

 of Upper Egypt, it is evident that it did not enjoy 

 the same honours as Apis beyond the precincts of 

 its own citv. 



It was from this, and not the Apis, that the Is- 

 raelites borrowed their notions of the golden calf; 

 and the offerings, dancing, and rejoicings practised 

 on the occasion, were doubtless in imitation of a 

 ceremony they had witnessed in honour of Mnevis, 

 during their sojourn in Egypt. 



^Elian mentions a storv of Bocchoris introducins: 

 a wild bull to contend against Mnevis, which, 

 having rushed at him without effect, and having 

 fixed its horns into the trunk of a persea, was 

 killed by the sacred animal. The king was said 

 to have incurred, by this profane action, the hatred 

 of all his subjects. But the story is too impro- 

 bable to be credited, though related to him by the 

 Egyptians themselves. 



Basis was the sacred bull worshipped at Her- 

 monthis. ^lian * calls it Onuphis. *' The Egyp- 

 tians," he says, " worship a black bull, which they 

 call Onuphis. The name of the place where it is 

 kept may be learnt from the books of the Egyp- 

 tians, but it is too harsh both to ipention and 

 hear." "Its hair turns the contrary way from 



* ^lian, Anini. xii. 1 1. 



o 3 



