BUCHIS

in ancient Egyptian religion, white bull with black markings, worshiped as a favourite incarnation of the war god Mont. He was represented with the solar disk and two tall plumes between his horns. According to Macrobius, his hair grew in the opposite direction from that of ordinary animals and changed colour every hour. At Hermonthis (modern Armant) in Upper Egypt, a special centre of Mont's worship, a particular bull was chosen to receive a cult as Buchis. Upon its death, it was mummified and buried in a sarcophagus with divine honours. The mothers of these Buchis bulls received a similar cult and burial.