Crocodile
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Crocodiles, known as sobek in ancient Egypt [citation needed] , are large carnivorous, aquatic reptiles with a tough hide, long snout, and a heavy tail. Native to the Caribbean and Africa,[1][2] the crocodile resembles its relative, the alligator which chiefly inhabits the Louisiana Bayou.[3]
It is a ferocious animal known for violent, apparently unprovoked attacks on humans.[1][2]
History
1st century BCE
Widely endemic throughout Africa, crocodiles were historically a common sight along the Nile, ranging as far north as Lake Mareotis where they made their lairs along its banks.[2] They were at times a menace to the Egyptians living along those shores; in 48 BCE, a group of crocodiles trapped a drunken Greek man, Klaudios, at the top of a half-submerged, broken column off the island of the Lost Crypt. The creatures, anxious to devour Klaudios, were all slaughtered by the Medjay Bayek of Siwa as he came to rescue Klaudios.[4] Despite the inherent danger of gathering crocodile eggs, the venture was considered worthwhile, as the eggs were valued due to their observed medicinal properties, and one egg was worth 12 drachmae.[2]
Despite the danger they posed, and even because of it, Egyptians worshiped crocodiles mainly in the form of the god Sobek; the most significant place of worship was the city called Krokodilopolis by the Greeks in the Faiyum Oasis.[2]
18th century
In the early 18th century, the pirate Edward Kenway hunted crocodiles in the West Indies for their leather, which he used to craft a holster for his pistol and a pouch for his rope darts.[1]
Behind the scenes
- Crocodiles were significantly less threatening in Assassin's Creed: Origins than they were in Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag, as Bayek was able to confront and kill multiple crocodiles with his melee weapons, whilst Edward could only hope to repel them temporarily in open combat, and thus relied on stealth and ranged weapons to dispatch of them.
Appearances
- Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag (first appearance)
- Assassin's Creed: Origins