Epitaph of Apis bull
Commentary
Limestone hieroglyphic stela from the Serapeum at Saqqara, H. 0.66m, 524 BC. Paris, Louvre.
In his account of the Persian conquest of Egypt, Herodotus 3.27-9 (cf. 3.37) has an account of the impious killing of the Apis bull by Cambyses; this stela from Saqqara, carrying the epitaph of the Apis bull, dated to Year 6 of Cambyses (i.e. 524 BC), seems to strongly contradict Herodotus' account (anti-Persian Egyptian propaganda?). For this monument, and the contemporary sarcophagus of the Apis (also extant), see , nos. 21-22; A. Kuhrt, The Persian Empire: A Corpus of Sources from the Achaemenid Period (2007), pp. 122-4.
Translation:
'Year 6, 3rd month of Harvest, day 10(?), of his majesty, King of Upper and Lower Egypt, [Mesu]tire – may he live forever – the god was taken pea[cefully to the West and was placed at rest in the necropolis, in] his [place], which is the place prepared for him by his majesty, [after] all [the ceremonies] of the embalming room [had been carried out for him. Offerings] were made for him, clothing, [his amulets and all his gold ornaments] and every kind of semiprecious stone... temple of Ptah, which is inside the Hemag... towards Memphis saying: 'Take...' All was done in accordance with the words of his majesty... in year 27... [Camby]ses – may he live...'