Bata is an Egyptian bull-god of the New Kingdom that believed to be the brother of the god Anubis. He, along with Anubis, represented the 17th Upper Egyptian Nome. Bata is featured prominently in Tale of Two Brothers, an Ancient Egyptian story written during the 19th Dynasty of the New Kingdom. The story was written on Papyrus D'Orbiney, which is currently housed in the British Museum.
In the Papyrus D'Orbiney
Anubis and Bata
In Papyrus D'Orbiney's Tale of Two Brothers, Bata was said to live in a house owned by his elderly brother, Anubis. The brothers work together, farming land and raising cattle. Anubis's wife attempted to seduce Bata, to which he rejected her advances. Upset, the wife tells Anubis that he tried to sleep with her and beat her when she refused. This infuriates Anubis, who then goes on a quest to kill his brother. After a crocodile infested lake prevents Anubis from killing Bata, Bata tells Anubis what actually happened. To show his sincerity, Bata cut off his genitalia and threw it into the water for fish to devour. Anubis later returns to his house and kills his wife.
Bata becomes Pharaoh
Khnum, creator of humanity, makes a wife for Bata. Because of her divine creation, Bata's wife is sought after by the pharaoh. When the pharaoh succeeds in bringing her to live with him, she tells him to cut down the tree in which Bata has put his heart. They do so, and Bata dies. Anubis resurrects Bata, who takes the form of a bull and goes to see his wife and the pharaoh. His wife, aware of his presence as a bull, asks the pharaoh if she may eat it. The bull is then sacrificed, and two drops of Bata's blood fall, from which grow two Persea trees. Bata, now in the form of a tree, again addresses his wife, and she appeals to the pharaoh to cut down the Persea trees and use them to make furniture. As this is happening, a splinter ends up in the wife's mouth, impregnating her. She eventually gives birth to a son, whom the pharaoh ultimately makes crown prince. It is later revealed that the crown prince is another form of Bata, who ultimately becomes king after the pharaoh's death.
History
Bata is probably identical with the death god Bt of the Egyptian Old Kingdom, known from the Saqqara necropolis, for instance from the Mastaba of Ti.