bull cult

bull cult, prehistoric religious practice that originated in the eastern Aegean Sea and extended from the Indus Valley of Pakistan to the Danube River 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 and thereby represented 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 the Grecian island of Crete. In both places the bull’s “horns of consecration” were an important religious symbol.