Crocodiles in Ancient Egypt: Mummies, Worship, Temples | Middle East And North Africa

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CROCODILES IN ANCIENT EGYPT

Sobek at Kom Ombo

The Egyptians revered crocodiles. Their river god Sobek is modeled after one. Entire crocodiles families were mummified and placed in sacred tombs with gold bracelets placed on their ankles. A Greek historian visiting an Egyptian Crocodileopolis saw priests feed them honey wine and cakes.

Crocodiles were a real danger to the Egyptians and, like other dangerous animals, were given divine status (in their case as the god Sobek) in the hope that in return they would not attack humans. The Nile crocodile can grow to six metres in length, and there are many tales of Ancient Egyptians being killed by them. Crocodiles are no longer found in Egypt. [Source: Robert Partridge, BBC, February 17, 2011]

There were a number of local Nile gods. Sobek (Sebek) was a local crocodile god popular in southern Egypt. He was honored as a god of fertility because the Nile floods brought fertile soil to the farmlands. Live crocodiles were kept at temples honoring Sobek and priests there may have bred crocodiles for ritual use.

Darren Orf wrote in Popular Mechanics: Crocodiles were revered in Ancient Egyptian society for their strength but also their displays of gentleness (especially with their young)—but perhaps they were too revered. Archeologists believe that this Nile-based culture, in which the crocodile was the top predator (besides humans, of course), likely bred the animals specifically for sacrificial purposes by “crocodile cults.” In the Egyptian town of Fayoum, which was the center of worship for Sobek, experts have uncovered thousands of mummified crocodiles, many of them babies. [Source Darren Orf, Popular Mechanics, July 25, 2024]

Herodotus on Crocodiles

Herodotus wrote in Book 2 of “Histories”:“The nature of crocodiles is as follows. For the four winter months, it eats nothing. It has four feet, and lives both on land and in the water, for it lays eggs and hatches them out on land and spends the greater part of the day on dry ground, and the night in the river, the water being warmer than the air and dew. No mortal creature of all which we know grows from so small a beginning to such greatness; for its eggs are not much bigger than goose eggs, and the young crocodile is of a proportional size, but it grows to a length of twenty-eight feet and more. It has eyes like pigs' eyes, and long, protruding teeth. It is the only animal that has no tongue. It does not move the lower jaw, but brings the upper jaw down upon the lower, uniquely among beasts. It also has strong claws, and a scaly, impenetrable hide on its back. It is blind in the water, but very keen of sight in the air. Since it lives in the water, its mouth is all full of leeches. All birds and beasts flee from it, except the sandpiper33 , with which it is at peace because this bird does the crocodile a service; for whenever the crocodile comes ashore out of the water and then opens its mouth (and it does this mostly to catch the west wind), the sandpiper goes into its mouth and eats the leeches; the crocodile is pleased by this service and does the sandpiper no harm. 69.[Source: Herodotus, “The Histories”, Egypt after the Persian Invasion, Book 2, English translation by A. D. Godley. Cambridge. Harvard University Press. 1920, Tufts]

crocodile statue from ancient Egypt

“Some of the Egyptians consider crocodiles sacred; others do not, but treat them as enemies. Those who live near Thebes and lake Moeris consider them very sacred. Every household raises one crocodile, trained to be tame; they put ornaments of glass and gold on its ears and bracelets on its forefeet, provide special food and offerings for it, and give the creatures the best of treatment while they live; after death, the crocodiles are embalmed and buried in sacred coffins. But around Elephantine they are not held sacred, and are even eaten. The Egyptians d o not call them crocodiles, but khampsae. The Ionians named them crocodiles, from their resemblance to the lizards which they have in their walls34. 70.

“There are many different ways of crocodile hunting; I will write of the way that I think most worth mentioning. The hunter baits a hook with a hog's back, and lets it float into the midst of the river; he himself stays on the bank with a young live pig, which he beats. Hearing the squeals of the pig, the crocodile goes after the sound, and meets the bait, which it swallows; then the hunters pull the line. When the crocodile is drawn ashore, first of all the hunter smears its eyes over with mud; when this is done, the quarry is very easily mastered—no light matter, without that. 71.

Crocodile Worship at Kom Ombo

Kom-Ombo (50 kilometers north of Aswan) is the home the unique Temple of Sobek and Horus, a Ptolemaic Greek temple dedicated to a local crocodile god (Sobek) and a local sky god (Horus). Sobek is associated with the wicked god Seth, the enemy of Horus. In the Horus myth the allies of Seth made their escape by changing themselves into crocodiles.” [Source: Mark Millmore, discoveringegypt.com discoveringegypt.com]

Sobek’s chief sanctuary was at Kom Ombo, where there were once huge numbers of crocodiles. Until recent times the Egyptian Nile was full of crocodiles. The sunned themselves on riverbanks and sandbars and probably often ate animals and humans that came to drink or collect water. Sobek worshipers believed that as a totem animal, the crocodiles would not attack them. Captive crocodiles were kept within the temple and many mummified crocodiles have been found in cemeteries, some of which can be seen in the temple sanctuary today.

A.R. Williams wrote National Geographic, “Different sacred animals were worshipped at their own cult centers — bulls at Armant and Heliopolis, fish at Esna, rams at Elephantine Island, crocodiles at Kom Ombo. Salima Ikram of the American University in Cairo believes the idea of such divine creatures was born at the dawn of Egyptian civilization, a time when heavier rainfall than today made the land green and bountiful. Surrounded by animals, people began to connect them with specific gods according to their habits.” [Source: A.R. Williams, National Geographic, November 2009]

“Take crocodiles. They instinctively laid their eggs above the impending high-water line of the Nile’s annual flood, the pivotal event being that water enriched fields and allowed Egypt to be born again year after year.” Ikram said, “Crocodiles were magical because they had that ability to foretell.”

“The news of a good flood, or a bad one, was important to farmers. And so in time crocodiles became symbols of Sobek, a water god of fertility, and a temple arose at Kom Ombo, one of the places in southern Egypt where the swelling flood was first observed every year. In that sacred space, near the riverbank where wild crocodiles lay sunning themselves, captive crocodiles led an indulged life and were buried with due ceremony after death.”

Crocodile Heads Buried with Noblemen in Ancient Egypt

In 2023, Archaeology magazine reported: Two high-ranking Middle Kingdom (ca. 2030–1640 B.C.) Egyptian officials were laid to rest with crocodile heads to aid them in their journey to the afterlife. In western Thebes, 9 crocodile skulls were found wrapped in linen and entombed with 2 noblemen, one of whom was named Cheti. Although the mummified remains of complete crocodiles have previously been found in temples and animal cemeteries, this is the first time that non-mummified crocodile heads have been discovered buried along with people.[Source: Archaeology magazine, March 2023]

According to researchers, crocodile heads were a common sight in the burial sites of powerful figures. According to Cairo Scene: Excavations in a 4,000-year-old burial site near the Temple of Hatshepsut in Luxor have uncovered the remains of nine crocodile heads, believed to be discarded by previous researchers. Chancellor Cheti served during the reign of Pharaoh Mentuhotep II, and the other tomb belonging to the Pharaoh's prime minister. [Source: Cairo Scene, December 25, 2022]

The crocodiles were believed to assist the deceased with their journey into the afterlife and garnered protection from Sobek, an ancient Egyptian who was often depicted as a crocodile himself. The heads ranged from six feet and 13 feet long, and were said to be common in burial sites of powerful ancient Egyptian figures.

Huge 2,300-Year-Old, Mummified Crocodiles Found in Egyptian Tomb

Archaeologists have uncovered a 5.5-meter (18-foot) -long crocodile mummy with a small crocodile in its mouth behind its jaws.

In January 2023, archaeologists announced in the journal PLOS that they had unearthed a huge crocodile mummy at the Qubbat al-Hawā burial site along the Nile River in Aswan.The burial site contained a number of known rock-cut tombs where dignitaries were buried. The researchers found the crocodile mummy in seven small simple and undecorated rock tombs. under a heap of trash dated to the Byzantine empire, which began in A.D. 330. [Source:Aspen Pflughoeft, Miami Herald, January 20, 2023]

Crocodile mummy
Aspen Pflughoeft wrote in the Miami Herald: Looking into one small tomb, archaeologists found a cache of 10 crocodile mummies. The chamber contained five “more or less complete bodies” and five crocodile heads, the study said. The find was “unlike any other crocodile material described so far.”

The largest crocodile had an estimated length of 3.5 meters (11.5 feet), and the smallest had an estimated length of 1.8 meters (6 feet), according to the study. Based on the type of preservation and the lack of resin and pitch, archaeologists estimated the mummies were at least 2,300 years old. The crocodiles were buried before the Ptolemaic period, which began around 330 B.C., researchers said.

The most complete crocodile mummy — named crocodile #5 — was about 2.1 meters (7 feet) long and wrapped in palm leaves. Inside the crocodile’s stomach, researchers found stones called gastroliths, eggshell remains from small lizards or snakes the reptile may have eaten and insects that likely invaded the corpse. The second most complete mummy, crocodile #4, was so well-preserved its snout still had scales, photos show. The crocodile’s eye sockets still had soft tissue in them.

The five skulls varied in completeness and quality of preservation, researchers said. The best-preserved skull still had skin on the nostrils and snout. Another skull showed signs of being cut and bludgeoned, likely from the mummification process. Researchers could not figure out how the crocodiles died, the study said. Most mummies did not show signs of being chopped, possibly implying the reptiles died from drowning or suffocation.

The collection of crocodile mummies showed a “unique way” of mummification in ancient Egypt, according to a news release from EurekAlert. Based on the variations in mummy quality, the archaeologists concluded the crocodiles were likely preserved through “deliberate natural mummification,” the study said. For this process, the animals were buried in the ground at different depths, time periods or soil types. As ancient Egyptians dug the reptiles back up and placed them in the tomb, the mummies were likely damaged.

3,000-Year-Old Egyptian Crocodile Mummy Reveals How They Were Caught

A study of crocodile mummies published in July 2024 in the journal Digital Applications Archaeology and Cultural Heritage reveals details about the animal’s death and the methods the Ancient Egyptians used to catch them.Darren Orf wrote in Popular Mechanics: Using x-ray and CT-scanning technologies, archaeozoologists can now explore the insides of these animals, which, unlike human mummification, have their organs intact. [Source Darren Orf, Popular Mechanics, July 25, 2024]

To uncover the mysteries of the past, scientists employ a wide variety of techniques to get at the truth. Climate scientists drill two-mile-long ice cores to glimpse Earth’s past climatic conditions. Paleontologists analyze sediment layers to visualize the physical timeline of past epochs. And while Egyptologists similarly deploy lots of state of the art archeological techniques, sometimes it’s best to just use a mummified crocodile stomach.

crocodile mummy

That’s exactly what researchers at the University of Manchester did with a 3,000-year-old, 7.2-foot-long crocodile corpse, kept at the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery and known simply as 2005.335. Although Ancient Egyptians typically removed organs when mummifying humans, crocodiles sacrificed to the crocodile god Sobek kept their innards intact, and this small deviation from tradition allows scientists in the 21st century to analyze the organs to unlock mysteries of this strange sacrificial ritual.

To preserve the specimen for future display, the research team deployed non-invasive techniques, such as x-rays and CT scanning, to catalog the contents of the crocodile’s stomach. Among the ancient gastronomic detritus, scientists found some usual suspects called gastroliths, which are small stones crocodiles regularly swallow to aid digestion. However, among these stones were also intact fish baited to a bronze hook. Because the time frame between the croc’s last meal and its death was so short—the gastroliths hadn’t reached the stomach yet—the crocodile was likely intentionally caught by Ancient Egyptians to be part of a sacrificial ceremony to Sobek.

“Whereas earlier studies favored invasive techniques such as unwrapping and autopsy, 3D radiography provides the ability to see inside without damaging these important and fascinating artifacts,” University of Manchester archaeozoologist Lidija McKnight, co-author of a study , said in a press statement.

While keeping the long-dead crocodilian intact, McKnight and her team also “virtually” recreated the bronze hook lodged in the specimen’s stomach for future museum displays. McKnight says that in the past Ancient Egyptians likely used hardened clay to create a mold and then poured molten metal over a charcoal fire to create the hook. “Despite the passing of several millennia between the production of the ancient fish hook and the modern replica, the casting process remains remarkably similar,” McKnight said in the press statement.

Image Sources: Wikimedia Commons

Text Sources: UCLA Encyclopedia of Egyptology, escholarship.org ; Internet Ancient History Sourcebook: Egypt sourcebooks.fordham.edu ; Tour Egypt, Minnesota State University, Mankato, ethanholman.com; Mark Millmore, discoveringegypt.com discoveringegypt.com; Metropolitan Museum of Art, National Geographic, Smithsonian magazine, New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Discover magazine, Times of London, Natural History magazine, Archaeology magazine, The New Yorker, BBC, Encyclopædia Britannica, Time, Newsweek, Wikipedia, Reuters, Associated Press, The Guardian, AFP, Lonely Planet Guides, “World Religions” edited by Geoffrey Parrinder (Facts on File Publications, New York); “History of Warfare” by John Keegan (Vintage Books); “History of Art” by H.W. Janson Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, N.J.), Compton’s Encyclopedia and various books and other publications.

Last updated July 2024