Crocodile on a shrine-shaped base

Crocodile on a shrine-shaped base

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

A crocodile on a shrine represents the god Sobek. Sobek was an important god throughout Egypt, and with important cult centers in both Upper Egypt and the Fayum. Associated with the Nile floods and fertility, Sobek's centrality in the Fayum led to his being associated with royal power during the Middle Kingdom, and then directly with the god Re. By the Ptolemaic period, he was identified with numerous deities, taking on the aspect of a universal god.

Egyptian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Crocodile on a shrine-shaped baseCrocodile on a shrine-shaped baseCrocodile on a shrine-shaped baseCrocodile on a shrine-shaped baseCrocodile on a shrine-shaped base

The Met collection of ancient Egyptian art consists of approximately 30,000 objects of artistic, historical, and cultural importance, dating from about 300,000 BCE to the 4th century CE. A signifcant percentage of the collection is derived from the Museum's three decades of archaeological work in Egypt, initiated in 1906 in response to increasing interest in the culture of ancient Egypt.