Egypt
- Crocodile Museum To Open
Ahram Online (Nevine El-aref) Overlooking the Aswan Nile shore, neighbouring the ancient Egyptian temple of Kom Ombo, the first ever crocodile museum in Egypt is scheduled to be opened on Tuesday. The museum, which is dedicated to the ancient Egyptian...
- Crocodile Museum To Open In Aswan
Ahram Online (Nevine El-Aref) After three years of construction, the Crocodiles Museum in Aswan will share the significance of crocodiles and the ancient Egyptian crocodile god Sobek with visitors by the end of January. Overlooking the Nile and across...
- Scan Reveals Crocodile Mummy Contents
Copenhagen Post With photos. Scan reveals surprise content of museum’s crocodile mummy The Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek museum made an exciting find this week. The museum, in conjunction with the Faculty of Life Sciences at the University of Copenhagen, scanned...
- Feature: Return Of The Sacred Ibis
Egypt Today (Richard Hoath) Egypt Today's regular natural history feature looks at the Ibis and discusses the possible return to Egypt of the type of ibis which was identified with the ancient Egyptian deity Thoth. The ancient Egyptians venerated...
- Crocodile Museum To Open In January
This is a short article about the opening of this museum after 3 years of construction. The museums collection includes 40 crocodile mummies from 2-5 meters as well as statuary of the crocodile god Sobek. Sounds to me to be a little to specific and a...
Egypt
Why did ancient Egyptians worship the crocodile?
Al Ahram Weekly (Mohamed el-Biali)
To answer this question one must examine the physical attributes, lifestyle, and feeding patterns of this awesome beast. The African Nile crocodile, or crocodylus niloticus, is a carnivore reptile that can grow six meters in length. It spends most of the day lingering on the shores, spends most of the night underwater, and likes to hunt at the first light of dawn.
There is a stealthy air about crocodiles. They move quietly and do not emit any sound, but if attacked or injured their shrieks can be utterly terrifying.
The crocodile's method of feeding is curious. When it catches a prey, it holds the prey in its jaws and dives long enough to drown it. Then it buries it whole in a shallow spot and leaves it to putrefy, as it prefers to consume decomposed flesh rather than fresh one.
In ancient Egyptian vernacular, the word for crocodile (minus vowels) was M-S-H, possibly the origin of the current Arab word temsah. In religious texts, the crocodile was represented as Sobek, a deity associated with fertility. The Ptolemies worshipped the crocodile as Sokhos, a play on Sobek.
- Crocodile Museum To Open
Ahram Online (Nevine El-aref) Overlooking the Aswan Nile shore, neighbouring the ancient Egyptian temple of Kom Ombo, the first ever crocodile museum in Egypt is scheduled to be opened on Tuesday. The museum, which is dedicated to the ancient Egyptian...
- Crocodile Museum To Open In Aswan
Ahram Online (Nevine El-Aref) After three years of construction, the Crocodiles Museum in Aswan will share the significance of crocodiles and the ancient Egyptian crocodile god Sobek with visitors by the end of January. Overlooking the Nile and across...
- Scan Reveals Crocodile Mummy Contents
Copenhagen Post With photos. Scan reveals surprise content of museum’s crocodile mummy The Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek museum made an exciting find this week. The museum, in conjunction with the Faculty of Life Sciences at the University of Copenhagen, scanned...
- Feature: Return Of The Sacred Ibis
Egypt Today (Richard Hoath) Egypt Today's regular natural history feature looks at the Ibis and discusses the possible return to Egypt of the type of ibis which was identified with the ancient Egyptian deity Thoth. The ancient Egyptians venerated...
- Crocodile Museum To Open In January
This is a short article about the opening of this museum after 3 years of construction. The museums collection includes 40 crocodile mummies from 2-5 meters as well as statuary of the crocodile god Sobek. Sounds to me to be a little to specific and a...