Subscribe now for full access and no adverts
A large crocodile mummy from the Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery in the UK has revealed new insights into the popular crocodile cults of ancient Egypt. Used as votives to the Nile god Sobek, huge numbers of animals were killed and mummified, many of which had been hatched from eggs and reared in captivity. However, according to Herodotus, the largest crocodiles were caught in the wild, lured to the banks of the river by the sound of a pig being beaten. The team’s findings appear to confirm this report. Non-invasive X-ray and CT radiography on the well-preserved 2.2 metre long adult revealed a small bronze fish hook and undigested fish inside the abdomen, indicating the animal was killed almost immediately after having been captured, before it had fully digested the bait. The research (by L M McKnight et al) is published in Digital Applications in Archaeology and Cultural Heritage.
Text: Sarah Griffiths
