Sobek (from the Temple of Kom Ombo)

In Egyptian mythology, Sobek was the crocodile-god who symbolized the fertility of the Nile River and the authority of the pharaohs. He was a son of Neith. Revered for ferocity and speed of movement, his cult originally flourished around El Faiyûm, where some temples still remain; the area was so associated with Sobek that one town, Arsinoe , was known to the Greeks as "Crocodilopolis". Sobek-worship flourished in and after the Twelfth Dynasty, with major centres in Kom Ombo and Thebes. In later times, he was regarded as a manifestation of the universal god Amun.

In art, he was depicted as a man with the head of a crocodile, a mummified crocodile, or an ordinary-looking crocodile. He was sometimes shown wearing a pair of plumes on his head, and sometimes a combination of a cobra and the sun disk.

The Book of the Dead relates that Sobek assisted in the birth of Horus, was responsible for fetching the sisters Isis and Nephthys to protect the deceased, and had a role in the destruction of Set. Other mythological sources credit Sobek with catching Horus's four sons in a net as they emerged from the waters of the Nile in a lotus blossom.

Alternative names: Suchos (Greek), Sebek, Sebek-Ra, Sochet, Sobk, Sobki, Soknopais

External links

• The crocodile god, Sobek, by Catherine C. Harris, from Tour Egypt.
• Sobek, god of crocodiles, power, protection and fertility, by Caroline Seawright, from Tour Egypt.