In Section 9.6 of “An Introduction to the Archaeology of Ancient Egypt,” Kathryn Bard gives an overview of the Serapeum and animal cults, and much of the discussion in this section is centered around Apis bulls. The bull was a particularly important animal in ancient Egypt symbolically due to its association with Egyptian kings. Because of this, there existed multiple cults of bull gods, such as the cult of the Apis bull in Memphis. Ancient bull burials have also been discovered at Saqqara, and seem to have begun their creation there around the time of Ramses II. The place where the Apis bulls were buried at Saqqara is known as the Serapeum, was excavated in 1851 by Auguste Mariette, who has been mentioned in class several times this semester. Information about the Apis bull cult was found on royal stelae, and Bard writes that, “Dates are often given for the bull’s birth, its installation in the Temple of Ptah in Memphis, and its death and burial, when the bull-god was mourned throughout Egypt.” (pg 304) In other nearby locations, burials of other types of animals have been excavated, including but not limited to those of Isis cows, baboons, falcons, and many, many ibises, all mummified. In other locations, the mummified remains of cats and dogs have been found in association with particular temples. Bard writes that these temples were popular destinations for pilgrims, who would leave the mummified animal remains as offerings to the god that the specific temple was dedicated to. She says that “The pilgrims left the mummified animals (both real and fake) as offerings to these cults, which may have been associated with the Osirian cycle of life, death, and rebirth, and associated with concepts of fertility and procreation.” (pgs 305-306). She also talks about specific embalming houses dedicated to preparing the animals, one of which was located at Memphis. I found this particular section to be interesting because the animals were presented as offerings and were buried in their own right; we have talked briefly in class about people being sometimes buried with animals, as in the case of pets being buried with their owners, but this is not one of those such cases. I also found it interesting that in many events the birthdates of the bulls were recorded, which suggests that for some reason this information was carefully kept; this made me wonder if the bulls were bred specifically for the purpose of eventually being buried as offerings, or if this sort of record keeping was simply commonplace.