00:10I am he who dwelleth amid his terrors. I seize my prey like a ravening beast. I am the great
00:17fish
00:18which is in Kamuy. I am the lord to whom bowings and prostrations are made in second. I am the
00:25great lord of the Nile. I am Sobek. This is supposedly a brief by the crocodile god Sobek from the
00:34book of
00:34the dead. In ancient Egyptian religion Sobek is the god of crocodiles and the Nile which was believed
00:42to have come from his sweat. He who gave life to vegetation and fertility to the land. He who was
00:49believed to have risen from the primeval waters of Nun to create the world. He who laid his eggs on
00:56the bank of the waters, starting the creation process. And he who made possible the rebirth of
01:03the deceased into the afterlife. This deity was also believed to be the god of pharaonic power,
01:10strength, virility, fertility, and military prowess. Although some myths tell that Sobek is as old as
01:19the world itself and is attributed to the creator of the world, other accounts say that Sobek was not
01:25a primordial god. These accounts say that Sobek's father is Set, the god of thunder, storms, war and
01:34chaos. While his mother was Neith, the goddess of war, hunting and wisdom. These same accounts added
01:42that Sobek had a family of his own. His wife was Renan Uthet, the goddess of plenty and brought good
01:50fortune to the ancient Egyptians. And his sons were Khonam and Khonsu. In addition to his wife, Sobek had
01:58goddesses Hatha, Hikit, and Torit, as his consorts. Sobek was seen as a protective deity with the
02:07petropaic qualities, invoked particularly for protection against the dangers presented by the
02:13Nile. He is known by other names, such as, Sebek, Soshay, Sobek, and Sobek. Sobek is primarily
02:23associated with the Nile crocodile or the West African crocodile. He often appears either in his
02:30full crocodile form or as a human with a crocodile head. Sobek is often shown wearing a plumed headdress
02:38with a horned sand disc or the 8f crown. In his hands he is shown to carry a scepter and
02:45the angst
02:45sign of life. Sobek controlled the waters and the fertility of the soil. Thus, he is known under
02:53several titles, such as Lord of the waters, the rager, and Lord of Fiam. Sobek particularly gained
03:01recognition in the Middle Kingdom, around 2055 to 1650 BC, under the rulership of the 12th
03:12dynasty pharaoh Amenemhat III. Amenemhat III had taken an interest in the Fiam of Egypt, which was a
03:20region heavily associated with Sobek. Thus, the Nile god gained prominence. Sobek's initial entity was
03:28fused with and dependent on Horus, under the name Sobek Horus, which is the fusion of Sobek and Horus.
03:36From that, he evolved into being dependent on Egypt's primary sun god Ra, under the name Sobek Ra,
03:44Q fusion of Sobek and Ra. And from that, through the expansion of his cults and a collective effort
03:52to make him the subject of religious doctrine, Sobek's entity evolved into being recognized as a fully
03:59independent god of the Nile. Initial myths portrayed Sobek as a dark god who had to be appeased to give
04:07the
04:07people his protection against crocodiles. Sobek was an aggressive and animalistic deity who lived up to
04:15the vicious reputation of the large and violent Nile crocodile he is. During that time, he was a god
04:22whom people reviled. He was given the names, he who loves robbery, he who eats while he also mates,
04:30and pointed of teeth. These old versions of the myth showed as a god believed to attack the deceased in
04:37the underworld. He was a friend to Set, and an enemy to the other gods. There was one tale of
04:45Osiris,
04:46where Isis had to place Horus into a little boat of papyrus reeds to protect him from a menacing Sobek.
04:54In that tale, Sobek ate the last piece of Osiris when Set scattered his pieces throughout Egypt.
05:02The crocodile god was punished for this crime, by getting his tongue cut off. However,
05:09later myths began to recognize the being side of Sobek. They began to portray him as a benevolent
05:16and protective god. And in contrast to that first told tale of Osiris, the later myths
05:23explained that it was actually, Sobek who carried the dead body of Osiris to the bank of the Nile on
05:30his back, to protect him against Set. Sobek became associated with Isis as a healer of the deceased
05:38Osiris, following Osiris violent murder by Set in the central Osiris myth. Thence, the Egyptians venerated
05:47Sobek as one who restored sight to the dead, who revived their senses and who protected them from Set
05:54the attacker of those souls that traveled through the land of the dead. Yes, Sobek is still known for
06:01his viciousness till today, but this time, his fierceness is meant to ward off evil while
06:08simultaneously defending the innocent. In times of need, he gives the pharaoh strength and fortitude
06:15so that he may overcome all obstacles. He also protects the pharaoh from all harm, especially
06:22evil magic. Some areas of ancient Egypt raised crocodiles on religious grounds, as living
06:30incarnations of Sobek. These ancient Egyptians kept the crocodiles in pools and temples, fed them
06:38delicacies and bejeweled them. Upon their deaths, they were mummified in a grand style as sacred,
06:45but earthly, manifestations of their patron god Sobek. This practice was particularly popular at the main
06:53temple of Crocodilopolis. And these acts explain why mummified crocodiles of all ages have been found in
07:02Egyptian tombs, including eggs with fetuses. It is important to note that not all the Egyptians loved the
07:10crocodile god Sobek, and his sacred animal, the Nile Crocodile. So while some people tamed crocodiles
07:18and worshipped them as the god Sobek himself, other people reviled the Nile god and mercilessly killed
07:25crocodiles because of their vicious and dangerous nature. Thus, Sobek was considered as an ambivalent god.
07:33Nevertheless, whether Sobek was loved or reviled, one thing was certain. And that is that all the people
07:41of ancient Egypt greatly feared the power and wrath of the crocodile god. Sobek's temples were found
07:49scattered throughout the land of Egypt, but the Fiam area in lower Egypt, popularly known as
07:55Crocodilopolis, was his sacred area. The town had a temple where a tame, sacred crocodile was kept by
08:04himself in a lake. The crocodile was hand-fed by the priests, supposedly for the awe and amusement of
08:12ancient tourists. There was equally another popular temple at Medinet Madi which was dedicated to Sobek,
08:20the goddess Renan Nutet and Horus.
