Nile, Nile, Crocodile

Egypt is all about the Nile. That fat green vertical line on the map screams obviousness that just about everything to see is on or near the Nile. In fact, some of Egypt’s most special temples can only be accessed from the Nile. 

And in the Nile is the crocodile. The Egyptians revered them. In ancient times, they mummified them. Today, they charge admission to a museum showing crocodile worship dating back to 2500 BC. And, you have to pay more for the right to take photographs. Without flash. Which means that the photos are out of focus, with glare, and basically, fairly crummy.

In the Crocodile Museum in Kom Ombo, you can see sacred crocodiles thousands of years old, and learn how the Egyptians painted their crocodiles' nails in gold and decorated their bodies with jewels.

During the Greco Roman period, roughly from 366 BC to 450 AD, the Egyptians mummified their dead crocodiles. The crocs were revered during their lifetimes and then preserved for all eternity.  When a croc died, it was placed on a bier with carrying poles. 

Before that, much longer ago, the ancient Egyptians, way back in the Old Kingdom of 2500 BC believed that the gods sent physical manifestations of themselves in the form of crocodiles. Priests worshipped Sobek, a god who was often represented as a human with a crocodile head.