A LOAD OF OLD BULL: THE SERAPEUM OF SAQQARA PART 2: THE LAST FOUR CENTURIES

Aidan Dodson completes the story of the burial place of the Apis bulls.

- Aidan Dodson

In the year 642 BC, the twentieth year of King Psamtek I, the current Apis bull, an earthly incarnation of the god Ptah, died. It was taken to the Serapeum at Saqqara, resting place of the mortal remains of Apis bulls for over half a millennium, and laid in a vault alongside its predecessor, which had died some 22 years previously under the Nubian King Taharqo. It would, however, be the last bull to be buried in this part of the complex – now known as the ‘Lesser Vaults’ – which was founded by Prince Khaemwaset, son of Rameses II and high priest of Ptah (see Part 1 in AE117).

For some reason – perhaps to do with geology, as part of the roof later collapsed – the Lesser Vaults were then abandoned, and a completely fresh phase of the catacomb was initiated for the next bull to die, in Psamtek I’s Year 52. This section was accessed through a doorway on the south side of the open area in front of the entrance-doorway to the Lesser Vaults, and led to a simple vestibule, at the back of which was cut Chamber U (see above and opposite, right), the first of many to be quarried in what is now known as the ‘Greater Vaults’.

The Greater Vaults