31. "At Memphis Apis was worshiped as the `renewed life of Ptah' or as Ptah's `double' or `deputy.' It was said that he dwelt in the soul of Ptah.
"He was later known as an incarnation of the Son of Osiris, and was called the `life of Osiris,' who gives life, health, and strength to the nostrils of the king. Osiris was in fact connected with Apis in predynastic times, when Osiris was allied with bull-peoples in the Delta; it was then that he acquired the title `Bull of Ament' (the underworld). The later association of Apis and Osiris derived especially from the creation, death and resurrection triad of Ptah-Seker-Osiris. Osiris-Apis became known as Serapis or Sarapis. In an attempt to associate the popular cult of Osiris with that of Ra, the Heliopolitan priests put forward the notion that when the Apis bull died his soul rose to heaven to be united with that of Osiris; Serapis was therefore a sort of heaven-god." - Egyptian Mythology, Ions, 1968, p. 123.
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