Prominent in Egyptian mythology, cattle were an important part of the offering rituals. Bulls were a favored offering to the gods. The Greek historian HERODOTUS tells us that for a bull to be deemed suitable for sacrifice, the animal had to be tested in several ways. First, a priest inspected the bull to make sure that it had no black hairs on any part of its body. He then examined the animal's tongue to make sure it was clean and inspected the tail to make sure that the hair grew in the proper direction. When a bull passed these rigorous tests, the priest twisted a band of papyrus around the horns and sealed it with wax stamped by his signet ring. When it was time for the sacrifice, the bull was led to an altar, where priests lit a fire, poured a libation of wine, and invoked the god's name before the bull was slaughtered. The head was cut off first. Herodotus said that many curses were placed upon the head before it was taken away, perhaps to ward off any malice harbored in the slaughtered bull. He also wrote that if any Greek traders were in the market that day, the priests would sell the head to them; if not, the head was thrown into the Nile.
