Fayyum

Main article: Egypt

Fayyum area is indicated on the map by the number 15

Oasis in the Libyan Desert

To the west of the Nile Valley, at approximately 29 ° north latitude, is the oasis of the Libyan Desert, separated from the valley of the river by the Libyan Range. This oasis is called Fayyum (dr. Egyptian. Payum, i.e. "sea"). Its other name was Te-She ("lake"). On the territory of the oasis was a lake. Ancient authors called this lake Meris, now it is called Birket Karun. The lake was fed by the waters of the Nile, which entered it along the Baho el-Yusuf branch (the sleeve departed from the western bank of the river somewhat north of modern Asyut), the length of the branch is approximately 334 km.

Kiman Faris (Shedit, Crocodilopol, Arsinoe)

Main article: History of Ancient Egypt

The main city of the oasis, located on the shore of the lake, was called Shedit, the Greeks called it Crocodilopol, later Arsinoe, now Kiman Faris, north of the oasis capital Medinet el Fayum.

Cult of Sebek in the form of a crocodile

In Shedit, the main god was Sebek (in Greek. Sukhos), embodied in a crocodile. The god Sebek had a number of hypostases that were worshipped in different places of the oasis. The deity was depicted in different ways: either in an anthropomorphic form, or in the form of a crocodile, or in the form of an animal with a human head.

Sebek is mentioned as the son of Nate already in the "Texts of the Pyramids" (Pyr., § 480, 510). Sebek was a local Fayyum deity, his functions included the management of the water kingdom and the provision of earthly fertility.

Beginning in the Middle Kingdom, the priesthood likens it to several all-Egyptian gods. So, in the texts of Ombos, he is compared with the god Min of Coptos, in one Kahun papyrus - with Amon-Ra of Thebans, in other papyrus of Kahun - with the god Horus, with the god Ra and others. The name of the god is included as a component in the theophoric names of the pharaohs of the KhІІ dynasty. The identification of Sebek with the main gods led to his inclusion in myths related to these gods, but there was no independent, independent, specific mythology around Sebek. Nevertheless, in Fayyum he was considered a demiurge and some epithets and features of the god Ra himself were transferred to him, for example, "which arose in the ocean itself." Sebek-Ra rules the world like a pharaoh, he is the "lord of the ennead."

Monuments of Greco-Roman time in Greek indicate that the Hellenized Egyptians and Greeks in Fayyum saw Sebek as a beneficent force. Sebek was asked to pray for the cure of diseases, for help in difficult living situations, etc. It was also believed that Sebek takes care of the fate of the deceased in the otherworldly world. As a kind, benevolent god, Sebek acts as an assistant to the god Ra in his fight against the forces of darkness. He is the same in the myths about Osiris. But not in all texts Sebek enjoys a good reputation. More often, he has the guise of a god hostile to the gods Ra and Osiris. The reason for such a sharply contrasting treatment of Sebek is rooted in the difference in local relations to the crocodile that Sebek embodied. Where there was no veneration of the crocodile, where he was always persecuted, the cult of Sebek, of course, was not instilled.

Unlike many other Egyptian deities, Sebek did not have a triad and one appears in religious texts. However, in demotic texts from Fayyum, a goddess appears accompanying Sebek. Her name - Sebeket - is formed artificially, grammatically. It is a feminine form of the name Sebek. The goddess is called the "mistress" or "mistress" with the addition of the epithet "great." She was depicted as a woman with the head of a lion or an anthropomorphic goddess.

The center of the cult of Sebek was the whole of Fayum. In addition, he was honored in various places in the western part of the Delta, located near Fayyum. In Upper Egypt, places of Sebek cult were modern Kom Ombo (see Aswan) and some other places.

The cult of Sebek enjoyed the special favor of the kings of the KhІІ dynasty, in particular the pharaoh Amenemhat ІІ, the Ptolemaic and Roman emperors.