Tradition: Egyptian mythology
Alternative Names: Uaiput
Category: Deity, Cow
Uaiput is the name given to a group of four cow-goddesses. The group is depicted together as four bovine female deities.
Budge, E. A. W. (1920). An Egyptian hieroglyphic dictionary : with an index of English words, king list and geological list with indexes, list of hieroglyphic characters, coptic and semitic alphabets, etc. (p. 146) J. Murray.
Tradition: Egyptian mythology
Alternative names: Mer-wer, Nem-wer
Category: Deity, Cow
Mnevis was a sacred bull god whose main centre of worship was at Heliopolis. Originally regarded as a separate deity, he was later associated with Atum-Ra and considered the physical manifestation of the god, as well as the ba of Ra.
Mnevis was usually represented as a black bull wearing a solar disk and uraeus. Like the Apis bull, his movements were believed to be guided by divine will, allowing him to function as an oracle. His priesthood even claimed that Mnevis was the father of the more famous Apis bull.
The Mnevis bull was associated with two sacred cows representing Hathor and Iusaaset. When a Mnevis bull died, it was embalmed and buried with great honours in a dedicated necropolis near the temple at Heliopolis. Another burial ground was reserved for the Mothers of Mnevis, who were considered manifestations of the cow-goddess Hesat.
Only one Mnevis bull was believed to exist at a time. After his death, a replacement was sought, usually a completely black bull.
The cult of Mnevis was one of the few religious cults tolerated during the reign of Akhenaten and the Amarna period, likely because of its strong connection with solar worship. Akhenaten even ordered a necropolis for Mnevis bulls to be constructed at Akhetaten, although the site has not been discovered.
“Mnevis.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Accessed August 29, 2026. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mnevis
Tradition: Egyptian mythology
Alternative names: Mehturt
Category: Deity, Cow
Mehet-Weret is an ancient Egyptian goddess of the sky whose name means “Great Flood.” She is known as the Celestial Cow, and in Egyptian creation mythology she is responsible for giving birth to the sun at the beginning of time.
Mehet-Weret is also associated with water, creation, and rebirth. She was believed to raise the sun into the sky each day, bringing light to the world and helping crops grow. She was also connected with the annual flooding of the Nile, whose waters fertilized the land.
As the mother of the sun god Ra, Mehet-Weret gives birth to the sun every day. The sun is therefore continually brought forth from her, allowing the world to escape darkness. She is depicted as protecting Ra and keeping him close to her.
Mehet-Weret was also connected with the night sky. Some traditions associated her with the Milky Way, imagined as a celestial river of stars whose waters corresponded to the life-giving flood of the Nile.
Her connection with rebirth continued into Egyptian beliefs about the afterlife. In the Book of the Dead, particularly Spell 17, she is credited with the birth of Ra and with protecting him through his nightly journey into the darkness of the underworld before bringing him back the following day. Because of this cycle, she was associated with the death and rebirth of both the sun and the deceased.
Mehet-Weret could also appear in funerary imagery. On the sarcophagus of Khonsu, she is depicted as part of the protective imagery surrounding the deceased, signifying his rebirth into the afterlife.
“Mehet-Weret.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Accessed August 29, 2026. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mehet-Weret
Tradition / Region: Egyptian mythology
Alternative names: Hesat, Hesat-Hathor
Category: Cow, Deity
Hesat is a divine cow who provides milk to humanity, the pharaoh, and the sacred bull gods. Her milk was called the beer of Hesat and was regarded as a source of nourishment and life. She was especially connected with Mnevis, the sacred bull of Heliopolis, whose mothers were buried in a cemetery dedicated to Hesat.
In the Pyramid Texts, Hesat is described as the mother of Anubis and of the deceased king. She was regarded as a manifestation of Hathor and was commonly represented as a white cow, associated with purity and the life-giving milk she provides.
During the Ptolemaic period, Hesat became closely associated with Isis.
“Hesat.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Accessed August 15, 2026. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hesat
Tradition / Region: Egyptian mythology
Alternative names: Heru-Skhait
Category: Cow, Deity
Heru-Skhait is an Egyptian cow goddess associated with the protection of Isis and Horus. She is depicted in Egyptian inscriptions as a divine cow who protects and watches over the goddess and her son.
Budge, E. A. W. (1920). An Egyptian hieroglyphic dictionary : with an index of English words, king list and geological list with indexes, list of hieroglyphic characters, coptic and semitic alphabets, etc. (p. 95) J. Murray.
Tradition / Region: Egyptian mythology
Alternate Names: —
Category: Cow
In the city of Hermonthis there appeared a bull unlike any other. Its body shone white as sunlight, while its face was dark as night. The people knew at once that this was no ordinary beast. It was Buchis, the living presence of Montu, god of war and strength, whose life-force had taken flesh.
Buchis was not worshipped as an animal, but as a god walking among humans. Every movement of the bull was watched closely, for within its steps and gestures the will of Montu was believed to be revealed. Priests cared for it with reverence, tending to its needs as one would attend a divine king. Where Buchis lived, Montu himself was thought to be present.
When Buchis died, it did not pass away like common cattle. Its body was prepared with sacred rites, preserved so that the divine force within it would endure beyond death. The bull was laid to rest in a holy place set aside for such beings, and the land mourned as if a god had withdrawn from the world.
Yet Buchis did not end with a single life. Another bull would be born bearing the same signs—white body, black face—and Montu would again walk among mortals. In this way, Buchis embodied the cycle of divine presence, death, and return.
To the people of Egypt, Buchis was proof that the gods were not distant. They could live, breathe, and stand silently among humankind, their power contained within the calm, watchful form of a sacred bull.
Dodson, A. (2005). Bull Cults. In American University in Cairo Press eBooks (pp. 72–102). https://doi.org/10.5743/cairo/9789774248580.003.0004
Tradition / Region: Egyptian Mythology
Alternate Names: Hapis; Hapi-ankh
Category: Cow
In ancient Egypt, the gods did not always speak through thunder or visions. Sometimes, they walked the earth in living form. One such presence was Apis, the sacred bull of Memphis.
Apis was born when a ray of divine light struck a cow, filling her womb with the power of the heavens. From this miracle came a calf unlike any other, marked from birth as holy. His black body bore signs placed by the gods themselves, and through these signs the people knew that a divine will now walked among them.
Apis lived in a temple, tended with great care. He was not worshipped as an animal alone, but as a bridge between worlds. Through his movements, his moods, and his behavior, the gods revealed their intentions. When Apis was calm, the land prospered. When he grew restless, people feared change was coming.
He was bound to great gods. In life, he carried the presence of Ptah, the shaper of the world. In death, he became one with Osiris, lord of rebirth and the underworld. Thus Apis embodied the cycle of existence itself: birth, power, death, and return.
When Apis died, he was mourned as a king. His body was laid to rest with ceremony and reverence, and the people waited for his return, knowing another Apis would be born. Each new bull was not a replacement, but a continuation—the same divine force entering the world again in living flesh.
Through Apis, the Egyptians believed the gods remained close. He was strength made visible, fertility given form, and the promise that life, even in death, never truly ends.
Herodotus. (1921). The Histories, Book 3, Section 28 (A. D. Godley, Trans.). Loeb Classical Library, Vol. II. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Wikipedia contributors. (n.d.). Apis (deity). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved May 28, 2025, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apis_(deity)
Tradition / Region: Egyptian mythology
Alternate Names: —
Category: Cow, Deity
In the city of Oxyrhynchus there was honored a quiet goddess named Akshit, a sacred cow whose destiny was bound to the gods themselves. From her body was born Apis, the holy bull, chosen to walk among humans as a living sign of divine power.
Akshit nurtured her son knowing he was more than a calf. Within him lived fertility, strength, and the will of the gods. As Apis grew, he became the center of reverence: temples rose for him, offerings were brought, and the people watched his movements for meaning. Through him, the gods spoke without words.
Akshit remained in the background of this sacred life, yet everything depended on her. Without her care, the divine bull could not exist. As his mother, she guarded the passage by which divine force entered the world in living form.
Thus Akshit was remembered not for command or spectacle, but for creation itself—the sacred mother who gave the gods a body through which they could dwell among humankind.
Budge, E. A. W. (1920). An Egyptian hieroglyphic dictionary : with an index of English words, king list and geological list with indexes, list of hieroglyphic characters, coptic and semitic alphabets, etc. (p. 95) J. Murray.