Recent study aims to uncover how ancient Egyptians treated Nile crocodiles

CAIRO – 2 November 2020: Ancient Egyptians had a great love for animals. Their love for animals reached the extent of honoring them as deities. Likewise, they were offered as sacrifices and embalmed.

The Nile crocodiles received special treatment from the ancient Egyptians, who worshiped the crocodile deity Sobek and embalmed tons of small crocodiles. Sobek and his reptiles were located in Fayoum, a place that enjoyed immense popularity in the Greco-Roman period (332 BC - 395 AD). 

The crocodile cemetery in Fayoum, especially the town of Tabtones, contained thousands of mummies, according to reports by daily.jsto website. The sheer number of crocodile mummies found meant that they were numbered in thousands.

Early Greek and Roman sources, such as those attributed to Herodotus, focus heavily on the care that the Egyptians paid to their crocodiles.

Written evidence for crocodile conservation is scarce, but evidence for other sacred animal husbandry programs is abundant. Sobek temples possessed a great deal of land in their own right, so it is possible that some of them were designated to breed crocodiles.

A wonderful discovery was made in Fayoum, where nearly ninety crocodile eggs were discovered buried in deep pits. These were to set be sacrificed, embalmed and sold to worshipers in the temples.