Crocodile Museum
๐ Location: Kom Ombo Temple precinct, ~40 km north of Aswan ย ยท ย ๐บ Focus: Mummified Nile crocodiles ย ยท ย ๐๏ธ Tickets: included in Kom Ombo Temple ticket
Tucked beside the river-front Temple of Kom Ombo โ itself unusual for being shared between two gods, Horus and the crocodile-headed Sobek โ the Crocodile Museum opened in 2012 to display the extraordinary cache of crocodile mummies found nearby. The little museum, built like a long dim-lit gallery, was inaugurated to give the temple's most distinctive offerings their own dedicated space.
The centrepiece is the row of 22 mummified crocodiles, ranging from 2 m juveniles to 5 m adults, in glass cases beautifully lit from below. Some still wear gilded plaques over their eyes and resin-coated linen wrappings. Surrounding cases show crocodile eggs, bronze statuettes of Sobek, papyrus offerings, a wooden Sobek mummy-case used to bury a small crocodile, and amulets and stelae left at the temple by pilgrims seeking the god's protection.
The museum also explains the Greco-Roman Faiyum-Kom Ombo crocodile cult โ Sobek priests fed and groomed live temple crocodiles and prepared them for elaborate burials when they died.
Highlights
- 22 mummified crocodiles in glass cases
- Wooden Sobek mummy-case
- Gilded crocodile eye-plaques and amulets
- Crocodile eggs and bronze Sobek statuettes
Visiting
- Opening hours: 7 am โ 4 pm; same hours as Kom Ombo Temple
- Tickets: included in the Kom Ombo Temple ticket
- Best time: late afternoon โ the temple itself glows at sunset
- Nearby: Kom Ombo Temple, Gebel el-Silsila, Aswan