Egypt's first ever crocodile museum has opened in the Upper Egyptian town of Kom Ombo. Nevine El-Aref visits the new permanent exhibition The new Crocodile Museum stands on top of a 15-metre hillock on the doorstep of the Ptolemaic temple on the east bank of the Nile at Kom Ombo, where the ancient Egyptians worshipped the crocodile-headed Sobek, their god of fertility. The cult of Sobek as a crocodile centred on the ancients' dependence on the River Nile. People who worked or travelled on the Nile hoped that if they prayed to Sobek, the Nile crocodile god would protect them from attack by crocodiles. "Sometimes the ferocity of a crocodile was seen in a positive light, and Sobek in these circumstances was considered the army's patron, as a representation of strength and power," Mohamed El-Biali, director of Aswan antiquities, told Al-Ahram Weekly. Sobek was a powerful and frightening deity. According to Egyptian creation myths, it was Sobek who first came out of the waters of chaos to create the world. Sobek was therefore occasionally linked with the sun god Re. The cult of Sobek reached its zenith during the 12th and 13th dynasties, when a number of rulers incorporated him into their coronation names. Most of Sobek's temples were located in Fayoum and its surroundings, where some still exist. The other major cult centre was at Kom Ombo, close to the sandbanks of the Nile where crocodiles would often bask. In some temples to Sobek were pools to hold sacred crocodiles, which were fed prime cuts of meat and became quite tame. When they died, they were mummified and buried in special necropoleis. Sobek was depicted in Egyptian art either as an ordinary crocodile, or as a man with the head of a crocodile. Mahmoud Mabrouk, who is responsible for the museum's interior design, said he was also patron of the pharaoh's army and was shown with the symbol of royal authority. The ankh he held represented his ability to undo evil and thus cure ills. Once he had become Sobek-Re, he was also shown with a sun-disc over his head. El-Biali added that in other myths Sobek was credited with catching the four sons of Horus in his net as they emerged from the waters of the Nile in a lotus blossom. Kom Ombo in ancient times was an important crossroads on the caravan routes from Nubia and from the gold mines in the Eastern Desert. The Kom Ombo temple was built during the reign of the Ptolemaic pharaoh Ptolemy VI, and was dedicated to the worship two deities. The southern half was dedicated to Sobek, god of fertility and procreator of Hathor and Khonsu, while the northern half was dedicated to the falcon god Horus. Some subsequent additions were made up to the Roman era, most notably was by Ptolemy XIII who built the inner and outer hypostyle halls. Much of the temple has since been destroyed by Nile floods, earthquakes and builders who used its stones to construct other temples and sanctuaries. Last week Minister of State for Antiquities Mohamed Ibrahim officially inaugurated the temple at the end of almost three years of construction. It highlights the history of Kom Ombo and its crocodile-headed god, Sobek. On entering the museum visitors' first encounter is with a large marble statue of Sobek, which leads them on a tour back in history. The museum displays 22 crocodile mummies of different shapes and sizes which have been placed on sand inside a huge glass showcase to show how crocodiles lay down on the banks of the Nile. These mummies were carefully selected from 40 others that were previously discovered in Aswan. A number of crocodile coffins, wooden sarcophagi, foetuses and crocodile eggs are also exhibited, along with stelae and statues of Sobek with a human body and crocodile head. Replicas of Sobek's original tombs and niches are also on show. Sobek mummification processes are also illustrated, as well as a funerary ceremony and burial in the necropolis. During the opening ceremony Ibrahim announced that an extension to the museum would be built to highlight the other deity worshipped at the twin temple. Ibrahim believes that the most distinguished artefacts on show are the gold and ivory teeth and eyes that were inserted in the corpse of one of the crocodiles during mummification. Abdel-Hamid Maarouf, head of the ancient Egyptian department at the Ministry of Antiquities ,said the Crocodile Museum was the third site museums to be opened in Egypt after the Imhotep Museum at Saqqara and the Meneptah Museum beside that pharaoh's temple on Luxor's west bank. Maarouf pointed out that Sobek was worshipped in ancient time in Upper Egypt, especially at Kom Ombo where the great temple was built. After its natural death or after being hunting, Maarouf said, the crocodile was treated like a god, mummified and buried like royals with funerary items. The memorial plaque at the museum, like the one at the new Suez National Museum, does not include the names of any previous minister or official but instead bears a phrase of dedicated to the "Revolution Martyrs". Early this week Ibrahim embarked on an inspection tour to check on the latest achievements at the Sharm El-Sheikh National Museum in South Sinai. His tour came within the framework of a plan by the ministry to build national museums around the country with a view to preserving Egypt's heritage and creating new tourist attractions. The first phase of the project has now been completed following three years of feasibility studies and construction work. This phase included construction of the museum building and associated administrative structures as well as 26 bazaars and a bookstore. The second phase, which is now under progress, will include completion of the museum's interior and exhibition facilities, along with the installation of the security system. The museum will exhibit some 7,000 artefacts dating from prehistoric times until the modern era of Mohamed Ali. Artefacts have been carefully selected from museums all over Egypt, and will also include antiquities that have been unearthed in Sharm El-Sheikh and some that have been retrieved from Israel. Among the objects on display will be 11 authentic Coptic textiles belonging to an Egyptian named Nagla Riad, who inherited them from her aunt, artist Taheya Halim. The textiles are of different sizes and shapes and are decorated with images of animals, foliage and geometric shapes. According to Ibrahim, the museum's garden will itself be an open-air museum and entertainment area, featuring a cinema, theatre and 1000-seat conference hall. The museum will also boast a cafeteria and a bookstore specialised in history and antiquities books.
