Jack,
The croc treatment is rich in exotica and certainly attractive, worth having. I found this short report on a croc cult in Upper Egypt c. IV c. BCE in American Anthropologist 1932, p.550. So they did exist. Sorry for weird script layout re "copy & paste"
THE CULT OF THE CROCODILE
The recent discoveries by Professor Anti of Padua University at the site of
Tebtunis (Fayum, Egypt) show that crocodile worship was peculiar to that place
as at Kom Ombo (Upper Egypt). The site is regarded as Graeco-Roman and dates
as such from the IVth century B.C. It is evident that the local deity Sebek (Seknebtuni or Sebek, Lord of Tunis) was adopted by the Greek colonists engaged there
locally in agriculture. The exact origin of the crocodile cult is undetermined. The
reptile is regarded as a symbol of fertility and also strength.1 Nilotic people seem
to have regarded the reptile as a river god and there are vestiges of this belief today.
A fortress monastery, 400 feet by 200 feet, which was enclosed by a brick wall
13 feet thick and 20 feet high, was discovered at Tebtunis. The building was similar
to the Coptic fortress monasteries so familiar to tourists on the Nile. The priests of
the Tebtunis monastery appear to have practised all the arts and sciences for which
their medieval Christian successors became famous in Europe. Definite traces of
surgery, medicine, literature, painting etc. have been found in the dwellings.
This crocodile cult is found in many other places. The Illustrated London News
of May 30, 1931 contains photographs of the sacred crocodile of Ibadan (Nigeria)
which is said to be at least 150 years old and still possesses a hearty appetite.
It is a curious fact that certain natives from Argungo, near Sokoto, seem to
possess the power of charming these reptiles. Pilgrims from Argungo to Mecca used
to catch crocodiles in the Blue Nile(Sudan),and after killing them ate the flesh. The
writer had all his servants and camel-men laid up for several days with swollen
glands, which they attributed to a surfeit of crocodile flesh when traveling on the
Abyssinian frontier. It is possible that strict Moslems avoid eating the flesh of the
crocodile on much the same grounds that Europeans abstain from pork, Delta Nile
fish, goat’s milk and other recognised germ carriers in Africa.
ARTHUR E. ROBINSON
2 Brampton Road
England
St. Albans, Herts
|