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Cattle are prominent in some religions and mythologies. As such, numerous peoples throughout the world have at one point in time honoredbulls as sacred. In theSumerian religion,Marduk is the "bull ofUtu". InHinduism,Shiva's steed isNandi, the Bull. Thesacred bull survives in the constellationTaurus. Thebull, whether lunar as in Mesopotamia or solar as in India, is the subject of various other cultural andreligious incarnations as well as modern mentions inNew Age cultures.
Aurochs are depicted in manyPaleolithic European cave paintings such as those found atLascaux and Livernon in France. Their life force may have been thought to have magical qualities, for early carvings of the aurochs have also been found. The impressive and dangerous aurochs survived into theIron Age in Anatolia and the Near East and were worshipped throughout that area as sacred animals; the earliest remnants of bull worship can be found at neolithicÇatalhöyük.
TheSumerian guardian deity calledlamassu was depicted as hybrids with bodies of either winged bulls or lions and heads of human males. The motif of a winged animal with a human head is common to the Near East, first recorded inEbla around 3000 BCE. The first distinct lamassu motif appeared inAssyria during the reign ofTiglath-Pileser II as a symbol of power.
"The human-headed winged bulls protective genies called shedu or lamassu, ... were placed as guardians at certain gates or doorways of the city and the palace. Symbols combining man, bull, and bird, they offered protection against enemies."[1]
The bull was also associated with the storm and rain god Adad,Hadad or Iškur. The bull was his symbolic animal. He appeared bearded, often holding a club and thunderbolt while wearing a bull-horned headdress. Hadad was equated with the Greek godZeus; the Roman god Jupiter, asJupiter Dolichenus; the Indo-European Nasite Hittite storm-godTeshub; the Egyptian godAmun. WhenEnki distributed the destinies, he made Iškur inspector of the cosmos. In one litany, Iškur is proclaimed again and again as "great radiant bull, your name is heaven" and also called son ofAnu, lord of Karkara; twin-brother of Enki, lord of abundance, lord who rides the storm, lion of heaven.
TheSumerianEpic of Gilgamesh depicts the horrors of the rage-fueled deployment of theBull of Heaven byIshtar and its slaughter byGilgamesh andEnkidu as an act of defiance that seals their fates:
Ishtar opened her mouth and said again, "My father, give me the Bull of Heaven to destroy Gilgamesh. Fill Gilgamesh, I say, with arrogance to his destruction; but if you refuse to give me the Bull of Heaven I will break in the doors of hell and smash the bolts; there will be a confusion of people, those above with those from the lower depths. I shall bring up the dead to eat food like the living; and the hosts of the dead will outnumber the living."Anu said to great Ishtar, "If I do what you desire there will be seven years of drought throughout Uruk when corn will be seedless husks. Have you saved grain enough for the people and grass for the cattle?" Ishtar replied "I have saved grain for the people, grass for the cattle."...When Anu heard what Ishtar had said he gave her the Bull of Heaven to lead by the halter down to Uruk. When they reached the gates of Uruk the Bull of Heaven went to the river; with his first snort cracks opened in the earth and a hundred young men fell down to death. With his second snort cracks opened and two hundred fell down to death. With his third snort cracks opened, Enkidu doubled over but instantly recovered, he dodged aside and leapt onto the Bull and seized it by the horns. The Bull of Heaven foamed in his face, it brushed him with the thick of its tail. Enkidu cried to Gilgamesh, "My friend we boasted that we would leave enduring names behind us. Now thrust your sword between the nape and the horns." So Gilgamesh followed the Bull, he seized the thick of its tail, he thrust the sword between the nape and the horns and slew the Bull. When they had killed the Bull of Heaven they cut out its heart and gave it toShamash, and the brothers rested.[2]
InAncient Egypt multiple sacred bulls were worshiped. A long succession of ritually perfect bulls were identified by the god's priests, housed in the temple for their lifetime, then embalmed and buried. The mother-cows of these animals were also revered, and buried in separate locations.[3]
Ka, in Egyptian, is both a religious concept of life-force/power and the word for bull.[4] Andrew Gordon, an Egyptologist, and Calvin Schwabe, a veterinarian, argue that the origin of theankh is related to two other signs of uncertain origin that often appear alongside it: thewas-sceptre, representing "power" or "dominion", and thedjed pillar, representing "stability". According to this hypothesis, the form of each sign is drawn from a part of the anatomy of a bull, like some other hieroglyphic signs that are known to be based on body parts of animals. In Egyptian belief semen was connected with life and, to some extent, with "power" or "dominion", and some texts indicate the Egyptians believed semen originated in the bones. Therefore, Calvin and Schwabe suggest the signs are based on parts of the bull's anatomy through which semen was thought to pass: the ankh is athoracic vertebra, thedjed is thesacrum andlumbar vertebrae, and thewas is the dried penis of the bull.[5]
Context for the bull skulls with horns (bucrania) preserved in an 8th millennium BCE sanctuary atÇatalhöyük in Central Anatolia is uncertain. The sacred bull of theHattians, whose elaborate standards were found atAlaca Höyük alongside those of thesacred stag, survived inHurrian andHittite mythology as Seri and Hurri ("Day" and "Night"), the bulls who carried the weather godTeshub on their backs or in his chariot and grazed on the ruins of cities.[6]
Bulls were a central theme in theMinoan civilization, with bull heads and bull horns used as symbols in theKnossos palace. Minoanfrescos andceramics depictbull-leaping, in which participants of both sexes vaulted over bulls by grasping their horns.
TheIranian language texts and traditions ofZoroastrianism have several different mythological bovine creatures. One of these isGavaevodata, which is theAvestan name of ahermaphroditic "uniquely created (-aevo.data) cow (gav-)", one ofAhura Mazda's six primordial material creations that becomes the mythological progenitor of all beneficent animal life. Another Zoroastrian mythological bovine is Hadhayans, a gigantic bull so large that it could straddle the mountains and seas that divide theseven regions of the earth, and on whose back men could travel from one region to another. In medieval times, Hadhayans also came to be known as Srīsōk (Avestan *Thrisaok, "three burning places"), which derives from a legend in which three"Great Fires" were collected on the creature's back. Yet another mythological bovine is that of the unnamed creature in theCow's Lament, an allegorical hymn attributed toZoroaster himself, in which the soul of a bovine (geush urvan) despairs over her lack of protection from an adequate herdsman. In the allegory, the cow represents humanity's lack of moral guidance, but in later Zoroastrianism, Geush Urvan became ayazata representingcattle. The 14th day of the month is named after her and is under her protection.[citation needed]
Bulls appear on seals from theIndus Valley Civilisation.
InThe Rig Veda, the earliest collection of Vedic hymns (c. 1500-1000 BCE),Indra is often praised as a Bull (Vṛṣabha –vrsa (he) plusbha (being) or asuksan, a bull aged five to nine years, which is still growing or just reached its full growth). The bull is an icon of power and virile strength in Aryan literature and otherIndo-European traditions.[7]Vrsha means "to shower or to spray", in this context Indra showers strength and virility.Vṛṣabha is also an astrological sign in Indian horoscope systems, corresponding to Taurus
The storm godRudra is called a bull as are theMaruts or storm deities referred to as bulls under the command of Indra, thus Indra is called "bull with bulls." The following excerpts fromThe Rig Veda demonstrate these attributes:
"As a bull I call to you, the bull with the thunderbolt, with various aids, O Indra, bull with bulls, greatest killer ofVrtra." —Atri and the Last Sun
"He the mighty bull who with his seven reins let loose the seven rivers to flow, who with his thunderbolt in his hand hurled down Ruhina as he was climbing up to the sky, he my people is Indra." —Who is Indra?
"I send praise to the high bull, tawny and white. I bow low to the radiant one. We praise the dreaded name of Rudra." —Rudra, father of the Maruts.[8]
Nandi later appears in thePuranas as the primaryvahana (mount) and the principalgana (follower) ofShiva. Nandi figures depicted as a seated bull are present at Shiva temples throughout the world.
The humpbackedZebu bull (bos indicus) appears on the coinage of the Indian subcontinent from the Iron Age to the modern day. Bull symbols appear regularly on silverkarshapana, or punchmarked coins, first issued by theJanapada kingdoms, and continued by theMagadhan andMauryan empires. In addition to the bull, many karshapana contain taurine symbols of the mark left by the bulls hoof, also referred to as anandipada (Nandi's foot) symbol which appears in Vedic, Hindu, Jain and Iranic iconography.[9]
Kushan Empire (c.30-275 CE) coins and those of theKushano-Sasanian Kingdom (230–365) depict the Iranian godWēś beside a bull, sometimes holding a trident and beside a Nandipada symbol.[10]
The silver "bull and horseman"Jital of the Kabul orHindu Shahi (850–1000) depicts a recumbent bull with atrishula on rump and theNāgarī script legend above: "Sri Samanta Deva (Radiant Samanta the God). This design was copied by later Rajput dynasties including theTomaras of Delhi, theChauhan dynasty and theRathore dynasty on copper andbillon (alloy) coins.[11]
Upon independence from colonial rule, the bull reappeared in moderncoins of the Indian rupee on the reverse of the 2 Anna coin in 1950.
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Kao (bull), a supernatural divine bull, appears in ancientMeitei mythology andfolklore ofAncient Manipur (Kangleipak).In the legend of theKhamba Thoibi epic,Nongban Kongyamba, a nobleman of ancientMoirang realm, pretended to be anoracle and falsely prophesied that the people of Moirang would lead to miserable lives, if the powerfulKao (bull) roaming freely in theKhuman kingdom, wasn't offered to the godThangjing (Old Manipuri:Thangching), the presiding deity ofMoirang. OrphanKhuman princeKhamba was chosen to capture the bull, as he was known for his valor and faithfulness. Since to capture the bull without killing it was not an easy task, Khamba's motherly sisterKhamnu disclosed to Khamba the secrets of the bull, by means of which the animal could be captured.[12][13][14]
InCyprus, bull masks made from real skulls were worn in rites.[example needed] Bull-masked terracotta figurines[15] and Neolithic bull-horned stone altars have been found in Cyprus.
Bull figurines are common finds on archaeological sites across the Levant;[citation needed] two examples are the 16th century BCE (Middle Bronze Age) bull calf fromAshkelon,[16] and the 12th century BCE (Iron Age I) bull found at the so-calledBull Site inSamaria on theWest Bank.[17] BothBaʿal andEl were associated with the bull inUgaritic texts, as it symbolized both strength and fertility.[18]
Exodus32:4[19] reads "He took this from their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool and made it into a molten calf; and they said, 'This is your god, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt'."
Nehemiah9:18[20] reads "even when they made an idol shaped like a calf and said, 'This is your god who brought you out of Egypt!' They committed terrible blasphemies."
Calf-idols are referred to later in theTanakh, such as in theBook of Hosea,[21] which would seem accurate as they were a fixture of near-eastern cultures.[citation needed]
Solomon's "Molten Sea" basin stood on twelve brazen bulls.[22][23]
Young bulls were set as frontier markers atDan andBethel, the frontiers of theKingdom of Israel.[citation needed]
Much later, inAbrahamic religions, the bull motif became a bulldemon or the "horned devil" in contrast and conflict to earlier traditions. The bull is familiar inJudeo-Christian cultures from theBiblical episode wherein anidol of thegolden calf (Hebrew:עֵגֶּל הַזָהָב) is made byAaron and worshipped by the Hebrews in the wilderness of the Sinai Peninsula (Book of Exodus). The text of theHebrew Bible can be understood to refer to the idol as representing a separate god, or as representingYahweh himself, perhaps through an association orreligious syncretism with Egyptian orLevantine bull gods, rather than a new deity in itself.[citation needed]
Among theTwelve Olympians,Hera'sepithetBo-opis is usually translated "ox-eyed" Hera, but the term could just as well apply if the goddess had the head of a cow, and thus the epithet reveals the presence of an earlier, though not necessarily more primitive, iconic view. (Heinrich Schlieman, 1976) Classical Greeks never otherwise referred to Hera simply as the cow, though her priestessIo was so literally a heifer that she was stung by a gadfly, and it was in the form of a heifer thatZeus coupled with her. Zeus took over the earlier roles, and, in the form of a bull that came forth from the sea, abducted the high-born PhoenicianEuropa and brought her, significantly, to Crete.
Dionysus was another god of resurrection who was strongly linked to the bull. In a worship hymn fromOlympia, at a festival for Hera,Dionysus is also invited to come as a bull, "with bull-foot raging." "Quite frequently he is portrayed with bull horns, and inKyzikos he has a tauromorphic image,"Walter Burkert relates, and refers also to an archaic myth in which Dionysus is slaughtered as a bull calf and impiously eaten by theTitans.[24]
For the Greeks, the bull was strongly linked to theCretan Bull:Theseus of Athens had to capture the ancient sacred bull ofMarathon (the "Marathonian bull") before he faced theMinotaur (Greek for "Bull of Minos"), who the Greeks imagined as a man with the head of a bull at the center of thelabyrinth. Minotaur was fabled to be born of the Queen and a bull, bringing the king to build the labyrinth to hide his family's shame. Living in solitude made the boy wild and ferocious, unable to be tamed or beaten. YetWalter Burkert's constant warning is, "It is hazardous to project Greek tradition directly into theBronze Age."[25] Only one Minoan image of a bull-headed man has been found, a tinyMinoan sealstone currently held in the Archaeological Museum ofChania.
In the Classical period of Greece, the bull and other animals identified with deities were separated as theiragalma, a kind of heraldic show-piece that concretely signified their numinous presence.
The religious practices of theRoman Empire of the 2nd to 4th centuries included thetaurobolium, in which a bull was sacrificed for the well-being of the people and the state. Around the mid-2nd century, the practice became identified with the worship ofMagna Mater, but was not previously associated only with that cult (cultus). Public taurobolia, enlisting the benevolence of Magna Mater on behalf of the emperor, became common in Italy and Gaul, Hispania and Africa. The last public taurobolium for which there is an inscription was carried out atMactar in Numidia at the close of the 3rd century. It was performed in honor of the emperorsDiocletian andMaximian.
Another Romanmystery cult in which a sacrificial bull played a role was that of the 1st–4th centuryMithraic Mysteries. In the so-called "tauroctony" artwork of that cult (cultus), and which appears in all its temples, the godMithras is seen to slay a sacrificial bull. Although there has been a great deal of speculation on the subject, the myth (i.e. the "mystery", the understanding of which was the basis of the cult) that the scene was intended to represent remains unknown. Because the scene is accompanied by a great number of astrological allusions, the bull is generally assumed to represent the constellation ofTaurus. The basic elements of the tauroctony scene were originally associated withNike, the Greek goddess of victory.
Macrobius lists the bull as an animal sacred to the godNeto/Neito, possibly being sacrifices to the deity.[26]
Tarvos Trigaranus (the "bull with three cranes") is pictured on ancientGaulish reliefs alongside images of gods, such as in the cathedrals atTrier and atNotre Dame de Paris. InIrish mythology, theDonn Cuailnge and theFinnbhennach are prized bulls that play a central role in the epicTáin Bó Cúailnge ("TheCattle Raid of Cooley"). Early medieval Irish texts also mention thetarbfeis (bull feast), a shamanistic ritual in which a bull would be sacrificed and a seer would sleep in the bull's hide to have a vision of the future king.[27]
Pliny the Elder, writing in the first century AD, describes a religious ceremony inGaul in which white-claddruids climbed a sacredoak, cut down themistletoe growing on it, sacrificed two white bulls and used the mistletoe to cure infertility:[28]
The druids—that is what they call their magicians—hold nothing more sacred than the mistletoe and a tree on which it is growing, provided it isValonia oak. … Mistletoe is rare and when found it is gathered with great ceremony, and particularly on thesixth day of the moon….Hailing themoon in a native word that means 'healing all things,' they prepare a ritualsacrifice andbanquet beneath a tree and bring up two white bulls, whosehorns are bound for the first time on this occasion. Apriest arrayed in whitevestments climbs the tree and, with a goldensickle, cuts down the mistletoe, which is caught in a whitecloak. Then finally they kill the victims, praying to agod to render his gift propitious to those on whom he has bestowed it. They believe that mistletoe given in drink will impart fertility to any animal that is barren and that it is anantidote to all poisons.[29]
Bull sacrifices at the time of theLughnasa festival were recorded as late as the 18th century atCois Fharraige in Ireland (where they were offered toCrom Dubh) and atLoch Maree in Scotland (where they were offered to SaintMáel Ruba).[30]
The practice ofbullfighting in theIberian Peninsula andsouthern France are connected with the legends ofSaturnin ofToulouse and his protégé inPamplona,Fermin. These are inseparably linked to bull-sacrifices by the vivid manner of their martyrdoms set by Christianhagiography in the third century.
In some Christian traditions,Nativity scenes are carved or assembled atChristmas time. Many show a bull or anox near the babyJesus, lying in a manger. Traditional songs of Christmas often tell of the bull and the donkey warming the infant with their breath. This refers (or, at least, is referred) to the beginning of the book of the prophet Isaiah, where he says: "The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib." (Isaiah 1:3)
Oxen are some of theanimals sacrificed byGreek Orthodox believers in some villages of Greece.It is specially associated to the feast of SaintCharalambos.This practice ofkourbania has been repeatedly criticized by church authorities.
The ox is the symbol ofLuke the Evangelist.[31]
Among theVisigoths, the oxenpulling the wagon with the corpse ofSaint Emilian lead to the correct burial site (San Millán de la Cogolla, La Rioja).
Taurus (Latin for "the Bull") is one of theconstellations of thezodiac, which means it is crossed by the plane of theecliptic. Taurus is a large and prominent constellation in theNorthern Hemisphere's winter sky. It is one of the oldest constellations, dating back to at least theEarly Bronze Age when it marked the location of the Sun during the springequinox. Its importance to the agricultural calendar influenced various bull figures in the mythologies of AncientSumer,Akkad,Assyria,Babylon,Egypt,Greece, andRome.
In his book 'Robin Hood: Green Lord of the Wildwood' (2016),John Matthews interprets the scene from the ballad in which Sir Richard-at-Lee awards, for the love ofRobin Hood, a prize of a white bull to the winner of a wrestling match as seeming 'to hark back to an ancient time when the presentation of such a valuable, and probably sacred beast, would have represented an offering to the gods'. For Matthews, the Bull-running at Tutbury, mentioned in another Robin Hood ballad, may have had similar significance.[32]
