Nine Crocodile Skulls Found Inside Ancient Egyptian Tombs

Archaeologists have uncovered nine crocodile heads concealed within ancient Egyptian tombs of nobles, a discovery that one archaeologist told Newsweek was "the first of its kind."

The discovery was made by a team of archaeologists at the Center of Mediterranean Archaeology, University of Warsaw, led by Dr. Patryk Chudzik.

The archeologists had been excavating parts of the Theban Necropolis region, which lies on the west bank of the Nile, in Egypt. The area used to be used for ritual burials during the New Kingdom period in ancient Egypt—between the 16th century BC and the 11th century BC. The skulls were found in the Necropolis of el-Asassif, towards the west bank of Theban.

"This is a completely unusual discovery and the first of its kind in the history of research in Egypt," Chudzik told Newsweek. "We know of many crocodile mummies that have been found along the Nile. They are all mummies of whole crocodiles that have been deposited in specially prepared catacombs of sacred animals, in this case, crocodiles or sacred animals of the god Sobek.

"In our case, things are different. Firstly, only the heads and not the entire bodies of these Nile reptiles have been deposited in the tombs where we work," he explained. "Secondly, they were not mummified but only wrapped in linen (there is a significant difference in this, as no preservatives were used). Finally, the remains were found in the tombs of humans, not the catacombs of sacred animals.

"So far, only a few crocodile teeth have been found near a tomb in Middle Egypt. This, however, was a little too little to be able to say anything more about the significance of these gifts, as this was undoubtedly the form of the crocodile heads brought to the tombs during the funerary ceremonies."

Many nobles are buried in the surrounding area, including a high-status official that lived during the time of King Nebhepetre Mentuhotep II—a pharaoh known for reuniting Egypt following the dark First Intermediate period, where much of the country was divided.

Another tomb belongs to another high-status official known as Cheti. It is believed the official served in the royal court, Heritage Daily reported.

The skulls belong to Nile crocodiles, a species that still dwells in the Nile river today. In ancient Egypt, crocodiles were worshiped and seen as a symptom of strength and agility. They were also strongly associated with an ancient deity named Sobek, often depicted with a crocodile head.

Researchers believe that the crocodile heads must have been gifts to the important officials buried there. While it is widely known how revered the reptiles were in ancient Egypt, this seems to be a tradition not previously studied.

"We cannot exclude the possibility that the crocodile heads were nevertheless of exceptional importance and indicative of the exceptional position of the deceased, as we do not know of such finds from tombs belonging to people from lower social classes," Chudzik said.

"In both our cases, we know that the owners of the tombs were the most important officials at the royal court. I can also tell you that during the past season, a few weeks ago, we found the remains of crocodile mandibles in another tomb, now in its third one. It, too, belonged to an important official, so we can already slowly speak of a phenomenon that was hitherto completely unknown."

University of Warsaw archeologists have been focusing on two tombs within the Theban Necropolis for nearly ten years.

Archaeologists are excavating the area to study how the Middle Kingdom of ancient Egypt, which took place during the First Intermediate period from 2040 BC, influenced the New Kingdom.

Researchers began searching Cheti's tomb in 2014 and are still unearthing new finds today.

"The discovery of these remains opens up an extremely interesting discussion on the significance of animal remains discovered in ancient Egyptian tombs. As it turns out, they were not mere sacrifices, but had symbolic significance, in the case of the crocodiles it was most likely a reference to the god Sobek-Ra," Chudzik said.

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