Crocodilopolis or
Krokodilopolis (
GreekGreek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
: ) or
Ptolemais Euergetis or
Arsinoe (Greek: ) or
Krialon was an ancient city in the
HeptanomisHeptanomis , the modern Mlesr-Wostani of the Arabian geographers, or Middle Egypt, may be described generally as the district which separates the Thebaïd from the Delta.Inasmuch, however, as the appellation of the Seven Nomes...
,
EgyptEgypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
, the capital of Arsinoites
nomeA nome was a subnational administrative division of ancient Egypt. Today's use of the Greek nome rather than the Egyptian term sepat came about during the Ptolemaic period. Fascinated with Egypt, Greeks created many historical records about the country...
, on the western bank of the
NileThe Nile is a major north-flowing river in North Africa, generally regarded as the longest river in the world. It is long. It runs through the ten countries of Sudan, South Sudan, Burundi, Rwanda, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tanzania, Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda and Egypt.The Nile has two major...
, between the river and the
Lake MoerisLake Moeris is an ancient lake in the northwest of the Faiyum Oasis, southwest of Cairo, Egypt. It persists in modern times as a smaller lake called Birket Qarun. The lake's surface is 140 ft below sea-level, and covers about ....
, southwest of
MemphisMemphis was the ancient capital of Aneb-Hetch, the first nome of Lower Egypt. Its ruins are located near the town of Helwan, south of Cairo.According to legend related by Manetho, the city was founded by the pharaoh Menes around 3000 BC. Capital of Egypt during the Old Kingdom, it remained an...
, in lat. 29° N. Its native Ancient Egyptian name was
Shedyet.
In the Pharaonic era the city was the most significant center for the cult of
SobekSobek , and in Greek, Suchos was the deification of crocodiles, as crocodiles were deeply feared in the nation so dependent on the Nile River...
, the
crocodileA crocodile is any species belonging to the family Crocodylidae . The term can also be used more loosely to include all extant members of the order Crocodilia: i.e...
-god. In consequence, the Greeks named it
Crocodilopolis, "Crocodile City", from the particular reverence paid by its inhabitants to crocodiles. The city worshipped a
sacredHoliness, or sanctity, is in general the state of being holy or sacred...
crocodileA crocodile is any species belonging to the family Crocodylidae . The term can also be used more loosely to include all extant members of the order Crocodilia: i.e...
, named
PetsuchosPetsuchos was the name given to the live crocodile at Crocodilopolis in Ancient Egypt, which was worshipped as a manifestation of the Egyptian god Sobek . The name Petsuchos means "son of Sobek", as the Ancient Egyptian word "pet" has a meaning of "son" or "offspring". Petsuchoi were worshiped...
, that was embellished with
goldGold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...
and
gemsA gemstone or gem is a piece of mineral, which, in cut and polished form, is used to make jewelry or other adornments...
. The crocodile lived in a special
templeA temple is a structure reserved for religious or spiritual activities, such as prayer and sacrifice, or analogous rites. A templum constituted a sacred precinct as defined by a priest, or augur. It has the same root as the word "template," a plan in preparation of the building that was marked out...
, with
sandSand is a naturally occurring granular material composed of finely divided rock and mineral particles.The composition of sand is highly variable, depending on the local rock sources and conditions, but the most common constituent of sand in inland continental settings and non-tropical coastal...
, a
pondA pond is a body of standing water, either natural or man-made, that is usually smaller than a lake. A wide variety of man-made bodies of water are classified as ponds, including water gardens, water features and koi ponds; all designed for aesthetic ornamentation as landscape or architectural...
and
foodFood is any substance consumed to provide nutritional support for the body. It is usually of plant or animal origin, and contains essential nutrients, such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, or minerals...
. When the Petsuchos died, it was replaced by another. After the city passed into the hands of the Ptolemies, the city was renamed
Ptolemais Euergetis. The city was renamed
Arsinoe by Ptolemy Philadelphus to honor
Arsinoe II of EgyptFor other uses see, ArsinoeArsinoë II was a Ptolemaic Greek Princess of Ancient Egypt and through marriage was of Queen Thrace, Asia Minor and Macedonia as wife of King Lysimachus and later co-ruler of Egypt with her brother-husband Ptolemy II Philadelphus For other uses see, ArsinoeArsinoë II...
, his sister and wife, during the 3rd century BCE. The region in which Crocodilopolis stood – the modern
FayyumFaiyum Governorate is one of the governorates of Egypt in the middle of the country. Its capital is the city of Faiyum, located about 81 mi south west of Cairo...
– was the most fertile in Egypt. Besides the usual
cerealCereals are grasses cultivated for the edible components of their grain , composed of the endosperm, germ, and bran...
s and
vegetableThe noun vegetable usually means an edible plant or part of a plant other than a sweet fruit or seed. This typically means the leaf, stem, or root of a plant....
s of the Nile valley, it abounded in dates,
figFicus is a genus of about 850 species of woody trees, shrubs, vines, epiphytes, and hemiepiphyte in the family Moraceae. Collectively known as fig trees or figs, they are native throughout the tropics with a few species extending into the semi-warm temperate zone. The Common Fig Ficus is a genus of...
s,
roseA rose is a woody perennial of the genus Rosa, within the family Rosaceae. There are over 100 species. They form a group of erect shrubs, and climbing or trailing plants, with stems that are often armed with sharp prickles. Flowers are large and showy, in colours ranging from white through yellows...
s, and its
vineyardA vineyard is a plantation of grape-bearing vines, grown mainly for winemaking, but also raisins, table grapes and non-alcoholic grape juice...
s and
gardenA garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the display, cultivation, and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature. The garden can incorporate both natural and man-made materials. The most common form today is known as a residential garden, but the term garden has...
s rivalled those in the vicinity of
AlexandriaAlexandria is the second-largest city of Egypt, with a population of 4.1 million, extending about along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea in the north central part of the country; it is also the largest city lying directly on the Mediterranean coast. It is Egypt's largest seaport, serving...
. Here, too, the
oliveThe olive , Olea europaea), is a species of a small tree in the family Oleaceae, native to the coastal areas of the eastern Mediterranean Basin as well as northern Iran at the south end of the Caspian Sea.Its fruit, also called the olive, is of major agricultural importance in the...
was cultivated.
The Arsinoite nome was bounded to the west by Lake Moeris (modern
Birkat el Qārūn) watered by the Canal of Joseph (Bahr Yusuf), and contained various pyramids, the necropolis of Crocodilopolis, and a celebrated
labyrinthIn Greek mythology, the Labyrinth was an elaborate structure designed and built by the legendary artificer Daedalus for King Minos of Crete at Knossos...
. Extensive mounds of ruins at
Al FayyumFaiyum is a city in Middle Egypt. Located 130 km southwest of Cairo, it is the capital of the modern Faiyum Governorate. The town occupies part of the ancient site of Crocodilopolis...
(Madīnet-el-Faiyūm), or el-Fares, represent the site of Crocodopolis, but no remains of any remarkable antiquity, except a few sculptured blocks, have hitherto been found there. In the later periods of the
Roman EmpireThe Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
, Arsinoe, as it was then called, was annexed to the department of
Arcadia ÆgyptiArcadia or Arcadia Ægypti was an ancient region in Roman-controlled Egypt. The territory was mostly carved from the former region, Heptanomis, and included the nomes of Memphites, Heracleopolites, Arsinoites, Aphroditopolites, Oxyrhyncites, which together form the northern portion of the...
, and became the chief town of an
episcopal seeAn episcopal see is, in the original sense, the official seat of a bishop. This seat, which is also referred to as the bishop's cathedra, is placed in the bishop's principal church, which is therefore called the bishop's cathedral...
.
Shortly after the renaming,
SamaritanThe Samaritans are an ethnoreligious group of the Levant. Religiously, they are the adherents to Samaritanism, an Abrahamic religion closely related to Judaism...
s were found there. It eventually became a flourishing center of
ChristianA Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
life, but in 642 the Copts surrendered the city to Amr ibn al-Ās, the
ArabArab people, also known as Arabs , are a panethnicity primarily living in the Arab world, which is located in Western Asia and North Africa. They are identified as such on one or more of genealogical, linguistic, or cultural grounds, with tribal affiliations, and intra-tribal relationships playing...
lieutenant of
MuhammadMuhammad |ligature]] at U+FDF4 ;Arabic pronunciation varies regionally; the first vowel ranges from ~~; the second and the last vowel: ~~~. There are dialects which have no stress. In Egypt, it is pronounced not in religious contexts...
. The region is celebrated for the discovery (1877–78) of a great many
papyrusPapyrus is a thick paper-like material produced from the pith of the papyrus plant, Cyperus papyrus, a wetland sedge that was once abundant in the Nile Delta of Egypt....
manuscripts, some of which are important to the earliest Christian history of Egypt; they are described in the Hellenic section of the reports of the Egypt Exploration Fund. The current city has several Coptic churches and
IslamIslam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
ic mosques, and remains a
titular seeA titular see in various churches is an episcopal see of a former diocese that no longer functions, sometimes called a "dead diocese". The ordinary or hierarch of such a see may be styled a "titular bishop", "titular metropolitan", or "titular archbishop"....
of the
Roman Catholic ChurchThe Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
.