These 2,500-year-old crocodile mummies were found at an Ancient Egyptian tomb on the Nile River.
Credit: Patri Mora Riudavets, Qubbat al-Hawā team (licensed under CC-BY 4.0)

See you later, alligator! In a while, crocodile. How long is a while? Try over two thousand years! In a recent dig in Qubbat al-Hawā, a burial site in Aswan, Egypt, archaeologists found 10 intact mummified crocodiles. We knew ancient Egyptians mummified their dead to be preserved for the afterlife, but why would they mummify crocodiles?

What does it mean to mummify? A mummy is a body that has been preserved through natural or artificial means. The most famous and elaborately prepared mummies are from Egypt. The ancient Egyptians mummified their dead because they believed the body had to be preserved for use in the afterlife. Egyptian embalmers prepared mummies by dehydrating (removing all moisture from) the body. The earliest Egyptian mummies were naturally preserved by being buried in hot, dry, desert sand. Around 4000 B.C., the Egyptians were experimenting with resin and linen wrappings to seal the body against moisture.

These 10 adult crocodiles lived nearly 2,500 years ago! They weren’t beloved pets mummified to join masters in the afterlife, they were a part of a ritual to the fertility deity Sobek. The crocodiles were found in a tomb on the west bank of the Nile River.

Sobek is portrayed with the head of a crocodile and the body of a man. Some ancient Egyptians believed he created order in the universe. He became associated with fertility. Crocodiles were very important to ancient Egyptian life. Ancient Egyptians ate crocodile meat and the fat of the crocodile was used for different medicines. Crocodiles live throughout the Nile River.

There have been other discoveries of mummified crocodiles. Most have them have been juvenile crocodiles or only pieces of remains. Egyptians mummified other animals as well. Archaezoologists, scientists who study animal remains at archeology sites, have found mummified cats, ibises, and baboons. This practice was an offering of the animal to the gods.

One of the crocodiles measured 7 feet long! The mummies had been wrapped in linen for preservation but it was eaten away by insects. There also wasn’t any resin securing the mummies, so the archeologists were able to study them in the site without having to use advanced technology like CT scans and X-rays. They think the crocodiles were mummified naturally by being buried in hot, dry sand. The researchers estimate that the crocodiles were entombed between 332 BC and 30 BC. They will radiocarbon date and study the DNA of the crocodiles to learn more. The archeologists studied the remains and concluded that there were two different species of crocodiles represented in the tomb. Some were Nile crocodiles and others were West African crocodiles. The discovery has added to our knowledge of ancient Egyptian culture, beliefs, and practices.

September 29, 2016

Archaeologists excavating at Çatalhöyük, an ancient town in present-day Turkey, have recently discovered a unique 8,000-year-old figurine buried beneath the floor of a home. The figurine is one of only a few intact (unbroken) examples of such sculptures ever found in the region. The discovery provides a fascinating glimpse into the ritual life among citizens of Çatalhöyük, one of the world’s earliest known cities.

Çatalhöyük, Turkey. Credit: WORLD BOOK map

People lived at Çatalhöyük between about 7,200 and 5,500 B.C., during the Neolithic Period (New Stone Age). During this period, the first farming communities arose in the ancient Middle East. Archaeologists estimate that ancient Çatalhöyük had a population between 5,000 and 10,000 people. Many consider it to be the world’s first true city. The people grew grain and herded sheep and goats. Çatalhöyük is famous for the spectacular art preserved inside the houses. Archaeologists have discovered thousands of small figurines at Çatalhöyük. Many are found broken from sites that appear to be refuse dumps for the town. Almost all of the figurines are fashioned from clay and depict animals, such as antelope, cattle, lions, and leopards. A smaller number of clay figurines are fashioned into human forms, and of these, the vast majority represent females. Human female figures are often depicted with greatly oversized breasts and buttocks, which may represent fertility. Human figurines carved from stone (the newly found figurine is made from marble) are uncommon at the site, and undamaged examples are even more unusual.

Archaeologists with the international Çatalhöyük Research Project discovered the new figurine this summer during excavations at one of the site’s earliest houses. The figurine depicts a woman with exaggerated physical features. It is about 18 inches (45 centimeters) long and carved from a single piece of marble. It weighs about 2 pounds (1 kilogram). The figurine was discovered in a niche (small space) in the floor of a house, covered with a large, flat piece of obsidian (volcanic glassy rock), a valuable stone for the citizens of Çatalhöyük. Archaeologists believe the figurine was intentionally placed in this spot, perhaps as part of a fertility rite or other ritual. They suggest the figurine may represent a mature woman of great wisdom or a family matriarch. Archaeologists believe such wise older women held high social status in Çatalhöyük society.

The site of Çatalhöyük is largely unpopulated today. The remains of the ancient city were covered up long ago. Today, archaeologists continue to excavate and make new discoveries at the site, which exists as two large mounds rising over the surrounding plains. Archaeologists do not fully understand why Çatalhöyük declined toward the end of the 5000’s B.C.