The most common and long-lived cults were the Bull cults, often having solar connections. There were several such cults in Egypt, but the most important were the Apis Bull at Memphis, the Mnevis Bull at Heliopolis, and the Buchis Bull at Armant.

The earliest intact Apis burial is from the reign of Horemheb. When the rectangular coffin containing the bull was opened, the mummy proved to be a surprise. It consisted only of a bull’s head, devoid of flesh and skin, resting on a large black mass. When examined, the dark mass proved to be a bundle of resin, broken bovid bones, and fragments of gold leaf, all wrapped in fine linen.

The canopic jars (jars designed to hold specific internal organs) of the Apis Bull seemed to be filled with indeterminate resinous material. Excavations under the floor of the burial chamber yielded a dozen large crude pottery jars, containing ashes and burnt bones. Similar jar-deposits were also present in a few other Apis tombs. This evidence has led scholars to believe that during the New Kingdom at least, the body was cooked and eaten by the pharaoh and the priests before its interment. A connexion has been suggested between this occurrence and the so-called ‘Cannibal Hymn’ of the Pyramid Texts (Utterances 273-4), which speaks of the king devouring the gods to take on their powers. It is possible that this hypothesis has some truth in it, but it is more likely that there is some other explanation for this. Certainly, no other sacred animals seemed to have been devoured by their erstwhile caretakers. Later Apis bulls were definitely fully mummified. There is a papyrus dating from the Twenty-sixth Dynasty that describes the method used to embalm an Apis bull.

Late Period examples of mummified Buchis bulls from Armant provide more information about the mummification of cult animals, although this too is limited due to the water-damaged state of the bodies. The mummies were prepared by removing the internal organs through the anus, possibly with the help of turpentine or some other oleo-resin which would be injected into the body cavity and plugged up until the viscera had softened and could come out of the orifice. The animal was possibly then packed in natron to dry it out, before being wrapped. The bulls were then generally fastened to boards with metal clamps through which bandages were passed to secure the bull to the board, and then wrapped, as the relative position of bandages to board indicates.

The bulls were arranged in the position of a recumbent sphinx, a position not natural to the animals. This was done by cutting the tendons, thus releasing the legs without breaking any bone. The tail was placed under the right hind leg. A wooden chin rest supported the head, and the wrapped animal was covered by a shroud. The bulls wore masks covered by gold leaf, with artificial eyes inserted. There are some other Late Period animal cults with cemeteries of mummified animals such as the Mothers of Buchis and Apis. Each burial concentrates on an individual animal.