Sobek

The tale of Sobek

Every Egyptian lived beside the Nile, and every Egyptian knew what waited in its water: the Nile crocodile, as long as a boat and as quick as a striking snake. So they made the crocodile a god. Sobek is shown as a man with the head of a crocodile, often crowned with a sun disk and tall plumes, or simply as a great crocodile.

He is both terrifying and kind. He is a fierce protector, strong enough to frighten off the forces of chaos, and a god of the Nile's fertility, since the flood waters that brought life to the fields were his domain. Some texts say the Nile itself came from his sweat. Some say he created the world, rising from the dark waters of chaos to lay the first eggs on the banks. As the game's Sobek says: the river gives, the river takes; he is the second half of that saying.

Sobek and the pieces of Osiris

When Set tore Osiris into pieces and scattered them across Egypt, some tales say Sobek helped. In one story Sobek, hungry and fierce, ate one of the pieces, and the other gods punished him by cutting out his tongue, which is why crocodiles were believed to have none. In another he is a helper, sent into the water to recover pieces of Osiris's body or to save the sons of Horus, bringing them out of the river in a net.

The city of crocodiles

Sobek's greatest temple stood in the Faiyum, a lush oasis west of the Nile, in a city the Greeks later called Crocodilopolis. There a living crocodile, called Petsuchos, was kept in a sacred lake as the god's earthly body. The priests decorated it with gold earrings and bracelets on its front legs, and fed it bread, meat and wine mixed with honey. Visitors brought it gifts of food. When it died it was mummified and buried with honour, and a new sacred crocodile took its place.

At Kom Ombo, in the south, Sobek shared a double temple with the falcon god Horus, one half for each of them. Hundreds of mummified crocodiles, even crocodile eggs, have been found there.

Sobek in Battle of Myths

Sobek is a cost 2 Egyptian guardian and warrior. His ability, Death Roll, seizes his target in his jaws, dealing heavy damage and holding it helpless for a moment, while he heals himself. With every Egyptian hero he shares the Sun Cycle: by day the Egyptians strike faster, and at nightfall they are shielded.

Did you know?

• Several pharaohs of the 12th and 13th dynasties carried his name, such as Sobekhotep, "Sobek is satisfied", and the female pharaoh Sobekneferu.
• The Crocodile Museum at Kom Ombo displays some of the mummified crocodiles found in his temple.