Athena Review Image Archive ™
Mummified Nilotic crocodiles (French Expedition, 1798-1800)
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Mummy wrappings and skulls of Nilotic crocodiles (Descrip. de l'Egypte, Hist. Nat. vol.
I, Reptiles, Pl.5, 1809)
The crocodile, commonly seen along the Nile River, was associated in ancient Egypt with the god Sobek, and was frequently mummified and placed in tombs at temples to Sobek. Abundant examples of crocodiles in mummy cases made of papyrus cartonage were found at Tebtunis in the Fayum region.
Retrieval of the papyrus cartonnage from such crocodile mummies by Petrie in the late 19th century often led to recovery of hieroglyphic texts, resulting in the specialized investigations of Fayum sites for papyrus texts pioneered by Grenfell and Hunt (1900).
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