BULL CULT

prehistoric religious practice originating in the eastern Aegean and extending from the Indus Valley of Pakistan to the Danube in eastern Europe. The bull god's symbol was the phallus, and in the east the bull often was depicted as the partner of the great goddess of fertility, thereby representing the virile principle of generation and invincible force. Numerous pictorial and plastic representations of the bull have been uncovered, many designed to be worn as a charm or amulet; these representations were probably copies of larger statues constructed in tribal sanctuaries. The bull cult continued into historic times and was particularly important in the Indus Valley and on Crete.