Hathor in her cow form was identified as the divine mother of the Apis bull in Memphite tradition, connecting the sacred bull's miraculous conception to the great cow goddess.
The Apis bull was venerated at Memphis as a living manifestation of Ptah's soul (ba), a single sacred bull identified by specific markings and kept at the temple as the god's earthly vessel.
Upon death, the Apis bull merged with Osiris to become Osiris-Apis, a compound deity later Hellenized as Serapis under Ptolemaic rule.
Anubis presided over the mummification of the Apis bull, with the sacred animal receiving the same seventy-day embalming ritual accorded to pharaohs under the jackal god's protection.
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