In ancient times, the Egyptian Nile Valley would have housed two species of crocodile, the Nile crocodile (Crocodylus niloticus) and the desert crocodile (Crocodylus suchus). Although the Egyptians recognized how dangerous these predatory reptiles could be, they nonetheless venerated a deity based on the creatures called Sobek, whom they often associated with fertility, military prowess, and the might of the Pharaoh.

He could be vicious at times, like the crocodile itself, but also a protective deity who helped the goddess Isis heal her murdered husband Osiris in some variations of the Osiris myth. Veneration of Sobek was particularly prominent in the Fayyum oasis of northern Egypt as well as the town of Kom Ombo further south, and his followers would even mummify actual crocodiles (along with their eggs) in his honor.

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