For a people whose lives depended on fertile land and nourishing herds, the cow became more than sustenance—it was a mother, a protector, and a divine bridge between this world and the next. Through her, Egyptians told stories of birth, renewal, and the eternal cycle of the sun.
The Celestial Cow: A Symbol of Life and Divinity in Ancient Egypt
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| Sacred Cow Symbolism in Ancient Egypt
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One of the sacred symbols that played an important role in the ancient Egyptian civilization was the symbol of the cow.
The nature of ancient Egyptian society was an agricultural society based on pastoralism and agriculture since prehistoric times, so it was not surprising that the ancient Egyptians used cows to be their symbols in this life, as well as in the other world.
Cows have played a major role in the ancient Egyptian religion from pre-dynastic times until the end of historical times, so we find that one of the oldest symbols used by the ancient Egyptians was the symbol of the cow as a model for the goddess of the sky. This model was known in pre-dynastic times.
| Aspect | Cow Symbolism | Why It Mattered |
|---|---|---|
| Life & Fertility | Cows embodied nourishment and agricultural abundance | Reflected Egypt’s dependence on farming and herds |
| Creation | The Celestial Cow held the sky on her four legs | Explained the separation of earth and heavens in myth |
| Solar Cycle | The cow gave birth to the sun each morning | Linked daily sunrise and rebirth to divine order |
| Divinity | Connected to goddesses Nut, Hathor, and Mehet-Weret | Showed cows as mothers, protectors, and cosmic beings |
Who Was the Sky Goddess Nut and Why Was She Sacred in Ancient Egypt?
Cows symbolized the goddess Nut, the goddess of the sky, and this quality was not limited to Nut, but was carried by all celestial goddesses such as Nut, Hathor, Isis, and others.
The vastness of the sky and its extension over the Egyptian land was, in the eyes of the ancient Egyptians, equivalent to the shape of the cow, which they envisioned ages before the beds that cover the Egyptian land.
The ancient Egyptians envisioned this cow standing on the Egyptian land with its feet, with its hind feet in the east, and its front feet and head in the west.
The Celestial Cow in Ancient Egypt: Meaning and Symbolism
The ancient Egyptians envisioned that the Egyptian sky is the belly of this celestial cow, and that its four feet hold the pillars of the sky, and this is in the ancient Egyptian myth known as the celestial cow, this myth gives the earliest visualization of the ancient Egyptians of the process of creating the universe and separating the sky from the earth.
The Celestial Cow and the Egyptian Creation Myth
In the beginning of creation, the ancient Egyptians envisioned that the god Atum, the sun god, created himself, then from himself he created his offspring, where he created Shu and Tefnut, the gods of air and light, then from them came Geb and Nut, the gods of the earth and sky. From them came the divine offspring, and from this divine offspring came humans.When humans infringed on the rights of the gods, the gods decided to ascend into the sky and separate the sky from the earth.
Infographic — The Celestial Cow in Ancient Egypt
🌌 Sky on Four Legs
The cow’s legs were imagined as the pillars holding up the heavens.
🌞 Birth of the Sun
Each morning the cow “gave birth” to the sun, beginning its daily journey.
👑 Divine Mother
Linked to Nut, Hathor, and Mehet-Weret as protector and life-giver.
📜 Creation Myth
Separates sky from earth, placing stars and souls within her body.
🐄 Seven Cows & the Bull
Book of the Dead: nourishes the newborn sun and the blessed dead.
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How the Celestial Cow Guided the Sun’s Daily Journey
When the sky rose, the cow's feet became the equivalent of the pillars that hold up the sky. The cow's belly became the path on which the sun moved from sunrise to sunset.
Every morning this celestial cow gave birth to the sun god and gave him life to move in his celestial boat from the eastern horizon of the sky to the western horizon of the sky and there in the western region this cow would swallow the celestial boat again to carry it to the afterlife or the next world to bring it back again.
Mehet-Weret: The Cosmic Cow Goddess Who Contained the Universe
The celestial cow was not limited to the goddess Nut only, but an older image appeared in ancient Egypt in the pyramid texts since the Old Kingdom era, which is another goddess in the form of a cow, which is the goddess Mahit Wart, which means the one who contains everything, which is the image that the ancient Egyptians envisioned for this cow as a goddess of the sky.
As this cow contains in its womb and body all celestial beings, all the planets, all the stars and all the planets, as well as the souls of the dead and the souls of the righteous, it is considered an equivalent image of the goddess Nut in ancient Egyptian texts.
To learn more about evil symbols in ancient Egypt
The Seven Cows and the Bull: Nourishers of the Sun in the Book of the Dead
Also, the ancient Egyptians imagined that when the sun rises in the sky in the early morning, the newborn sun god needs his food and drink, and this was mentioned in the Book of the Dead, where it spoke to us about seven cows and the heavenly bull is a view of a group of heavenly goddesses that appear in the form of seven colored cows, in addition to a large bull These group of cows with this bull represent Chapter 148 of the Book of the Dead in ancient Egypt in the New Kingdom era.
These seven cows are responsible for feeding the newborn sun god every morning, and therefore the deceased wishes to suckle from these seven cows in the name of the sun god when he rises every morning, considering that these goddesses are responsible for supplying the sun god and the deceased with food and drink.
Ancient Egyptian texts show another type of bovine, one of the animals that play a very important or symbolic role: the sacred calf.
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| Seven Cows and the Bull |
The Sacred Apis Bull: Story, Meaning, and Role in Ancient Egypt
A number of different sacred calves appeared in ancient Egypt, the most famous of which was the calf (ḥp), the calf that represents the spirit of the god Ptah in the city of Minaf.
This calf was called by the ancient Egyptians the name (ḥp), which means hidden, or who knows the way to the hidden, and what is meant by this hidden is the hiddenness of the other world or the way to the other world and the ancient Egyptians considered that this calf was responsible for carrying the souls of the dead and their bodies, to travel with them to the other world in ancient Egypt.
.webp "the-calf-(ḥp)") |
| the calf (ḥp) |
Why the Greeks Worshiped the Apis Bull in Egypt
When the Greeks entered the Egyptian land by Alexander the Great in 332 BC, Alexander the Great was crowned in the city of Memphis under the patronage of the god Ptah, and the Egyptian priests there considered him to be a son of the son of the god Ptah.
When Ptolemy I wanted to create a new god that Egyptians and Greeks would worship together without disagreement, he chose this calf (ḥp) to be a god for both Egyptians and Greeks, this calf is the spirit of the god Ptah in Egypt and is the patron of Alexander the Great who represents the mythical symbol in the country of the Greeks.
Therefore, this god was worshipped under the name of the calf Apis, meaning the sacred calf that was buried in this area and whose name was changed in the Greco-Roman era to Osorapis, meaning Osiris Apis, which symbolizes this calf when it died in ancient Egypt.
Key Takeaways
- The “Celestial Cow” symbolized the sky itself—her four legs as pillars and her belly as the vault of heaven.
- Goddesses like Nut, Hathor, and Mehet-Weret embodied the cow as a divine mother, protector, and life-giver.
- Myths cast the cow as “mother of the sun,” birthing the solar god each dawn and escorting him after sunset.
- Chapter 148 of the Book of the Dead features the Seven Cows and the Bull, nourishing the newborn sun and the blessed dead.
- The Apis bull represented Ptah’s living spirit; later Greco-Egyptian religion reframed it as Osorapis/Serapis.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why did cows become sacred in ancient Egypt?
They embodied life, nourishment, and cosmic motherhood through deities like Nut and Hathor.
What is the “Celestial Cow” myth?
A myth where the sky is imagined as a vast cow whose legs hold up heaven and whose body carries stars and souls.
How was the sun linked to the celestial cow?
The cow “birthed” the sun each dawn and received it again at dusk for the night journey.
Who is Mehet-Weret?
A primordial cow goddess (“Great Flood/Great of Waters”) who contains and sustains the cosmos.
What role did Hathor play as a cow goddess?
Hathor embodied joy, motherhood, and the nourishing aspect of the divine, often in bovine form.
What are the Seven Cows and the Bull in the Book of the Dead?
A group of celestial bovines that feed the newborn sun and the righteous deceased (Book of the Dead, ch. 148).
Who/what was the Apis bull?
The living manifestation of Ptah in Memphis; a sacred bull selected by specific markings and honored in life and death.
What does “Osorapis/Serapis” mean?
A later (Greco-Egyptian) form combining Osiris and Apis, worshiped widely in the Ptolemaic and Roman periods.
Were bovines mummified?
Yes—sacred bulls and cows were ritually embalmed and interred in dedicated necropoleis.
Where were bovine cults most prominent?
Memphis (Apis/Serapeum) and major cult centers of Hathor and Nut; imagery appears nationwide.
References
- Hornung, Erik. Conceptions of God in Ancient Egypt: The One and the Many. Cornell University Press, 1982.
- Hornung, Erik. The Ancient Egyptian Books of the Afterlife. Cornell University Press, 1999.
- Wilkinson, Richard H. The Complete Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt. Thames & Hudson, 2003.
- Dunand, Françoise & Zivie-Coche, Christiane. Gods and Men in Egypt: 3000 BCE to 395 CE. Cornell University Press, 2004.
- Teeter, Emily. Religion and Ritual in Ancient Egypt. Cambridge University Press, 2011.
- Ikram, Salima. Divine Creatures: Animal Mummies in Ancient Egypt. American University in Cairo Press, 2005.
- Faulkner, R. O. The Ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead. British Museum Press, 1985.
- Pinch, Geraldine. Egyptian Mythology: A Guide to the Gods, Goddesses, and Traditions of Ancient Egypt. Oxford University Press, 2004.
Written by H. Moses — All rights reserved © Mythology and History
