Scanning Sobek: mummy of the crocodile god
Interesting display at the British Museum investigating the mummified remains of a
crocodile.
The crocodile had
come from one of the temples at Kom Ombo dedicated to the crocodile god Sobek
who was venerated for fertility and for its association with the annual Nile
flood. This creature had been bred there and kept in a sacred pool. Over 300
crocodile mummies had been found there.
I loved the
animation of the scan of the mummy which ran constantly which built up and
stripped away the layers. It revealed cow bones, the remains of its last meal,
and stones, which it swallowed to aid digestion and as ballast.
Most moving
however was that it had been mummified along with over 2000 hatchlings which
covered it’s body. If you looked carefully you could see these tiny crocodiles
all over its back.
Closes 21
February 2016.
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