10 Mummified Crocodiles Uncovered in Egypt

 

10 Mummified Crocodiles Uncovered in Egypt 

A team of archaeologists from the University of Jaén, who have been digging for years in the Qubbet el-Hawa necropolis, opposite Aswan, made a surprising discovery in 2019 in an intact tomb: they found the mummified remains of ten crocodiles (five skeletons and five skulls)

Sacrifices to Sobek, the Crocodile-Headed God.

While performing excavations at a site known as Qubbat al-Hawā in southern Egypt, archaeologists from the University of Jaén in Spain made a strange and startling discovery. They unearthed a tomb that contained the remains of 10 mummified crocodiles, which once swam the waters of the River Nile in large numbers during the time of the ancient Egyptian pharaohs.

Qubbat al-Hawā is the site of an ancient Egyptian necropolis and is located on the western bank of the Nile opposite the historic city of Aswan. Its collection of over 100 tombs features the resting places of many aristocrats and priests, mostly from the age of the Old and Middle Kingdoms (2,700 to 1,800 BC).

The small, rock-cut tomb of the crocodiles, which contained five skeletons and five crocodile skulls, was located right next to six tombs that held the bodies of many local dignitaries, signifying the importance of this unique ritual burial. While the necropolis at Qubbat al-Hawā was still in use as late as the Roman period, the Belgian researchers have confirmed that the crocodiles were entombed sometime during the pre-Ptolemaic era, or before 304 BC.

In ancient Egypt, crocodiles were used in rituals dedicated to Sobek, the god of water, fertility and pharaonic power and influence. In addition to his role in helping Egypt’s pharaohs achieve and preserve political and military strength, Sobek was also said to protect the people from the dangers associated with the Nile.

See, Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences 

Image, Patricia Mora Riudavets / (Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences)