The Ancient Egyptian City of Crocodilopolis

Crocodilopolis was an ancient city in the Heptanomis, Egypt, the capital of Arsinoites nome, on the western bank of the Nile, between the river and the Lake Moeris, southwest of Memphis. Its native Ancient Egyptian name was Shedyet. Today the area is part of the Fayoum Oasis.

Pharaonic era

In the Pharaonic era of Ancient Egypt the city was the most significant center for the cult of Sobek, the crocodile-god. In consequence, the Greeks named it Crocodilopolis, “Crocodile City”, from the particular reverence paid by its inhabitants to crocodiles. The city worshipped a sacred crocodile, named Petsuchos, that was embellished with gold and gems. The crocodile lived in a special temple, with sand, a pond and food. When the Petsuchos died, it was replaced by another.

Ptolemaic era

After the city passed into the hands of the Ptolemies, it was renamed Ptolemais Euergetis. The city was renamed Arsinoe by Ptolemy Philadelphus to honor Arsinoe II of Egypt, his sister and wife, during the 3rd century BCE. The region in which Crocodilopolis stood was the most fertile in Egypt. Besides the usual cereals and vegetables of the Nile River Valley, it abounded in dates, figs, roses, and itsvineyards and gardens rivalled those in the vicinity of Alexandria. Here, too, the olive was cultivated.

The Arsinoite nome was bounded to the west by Lake Moeris (modern day Lake Qarun) watered by the Canal of Joseph, and contained various pyramids, the necropolis of Crocodilopolis, and a celebrated labyrinth. Extensive mounds of ruins at Al Fayyum represent the site of Crocodilopolis, but no remains of any remarkable antiquity, except a few sculptured blocks, have until now been found there.

In the later periods of Egypt under the Roman Empire, Arsinoe, as it was then called, was annexed to the department of Arcadia Ægypti, and became the chief town of an episcopal see.

Shortly after the renaming, Samaritans were found there. It eventually became a flourishing center of Christian life, but in 642 the Copts surrendered the city to the Arabs under the command of Amr ibn al-Ās, the conqueror of Medieval Egypt.

Crocodilopolis today

Today the region is celebrated for the discovery of a great many papyrus manuscripts, some of which are important to the earliest Christian history of Egypt. The current city has several Coptic churches and Islamic mosques, and remains a titular see of the Roman Catholic Church.