Bulls were worshipped as at least three different gods, one as the god Mnevis, who's name meant `living sun-god of Re' and was worshipped in Heliopolis. His life was said to repeat the life of Re, and then the life of Osiris. The Mnevis bull was probably worshipped in predynasic times at Heliopolis, though according to tradition his cult was instituted in the Second Dynasty. He was worshipped by all kings, including Akhenaten.

Another bull that was worshipped was the Apis bull. Apis was the form of the Nile-god; in other words he was another fertility god. His cult as the bull of Heliopolis was supposed to have been estabilished by Menes or by the first king of the Second Dynasty. In fact it existed in predynastic times and continued in various forms throughout the pharaohic period. In Memphis, Apis was worshipped as the `renewed life of Ptah' or as Ptah's double. The Apis bull was said to be engendered by a ray of light descending on and fertilising a cow who was incapable of bearing another calf. There were in all twenty-nine seperate distinguishing marks, and a special preist was appointed to search the land for a bull bearing all of them. The bull was black, and the best known of the marks were a triangular white patch on the forehead; an eagle on the back; double hairs in the tail; and a scarab on the toungue. According to Herodotus all Egypt rejoiced when a new Apis was found and everyone put on festive clothes.

When the new bull was found the old one was put to death ceremonially by drowning in the Nile. The flesh may have been eaten, while the skin, bones and other parts of the body were mummified, given royal funerary rites, including the provision of human ushabtis, and was buried with great pomp at Saqqara. The burial vault or Serapeum was an underground structure begun in the Eighteenth Dynasty, where the lives of all the bulls were carefully recorded. There were twenty-four Apis bulls between the time of Ramesses II and the first of the Ptolemies, and a total of sixty were buried at Saqqara.

Buchis, the third famous bull deity, was also known as Bacis and Bkha. His cult center was at Hermonthis, where he was said to be the incarnation of the lord of the city, the warrior-god Mont, who was called the stong bull. Buchis was famous for his strength, violence and pugnacity. He was also identified with Osiris and called the `living soul of Re' and `Bull of the Mountains of Sunrise and Sunset'. He was a black bull but the color of his hair was said to have changed every hour of the day. The figure of a vulture could be seen on his back.