Crocodilopolis

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Crocodilopolis or Krokodilopolis (Greek: Κροκοδείλων πόλις) or Ptolemais Euergetis or Arsinoe (Greek: Ἀρσινόη) was an ancient city in the Heptanomis, Egypt, the capital of Arsinoites nome, on the western bank of the Nile, between the river and the Lake Moeris, southwest of Memphis, in lat. 29° N.

In the Pharaonic era the city was the most significant center for the cult of Sobek, a crocodile-god. In consequence, the Greeks named it Crocodilopolis, the "City of Crocodiles", from the peculiar reverence paid by its inhabitants to that animal. The city worshipped a "sacred" crocodile, named "Petsuchos", that was embellished with gold and gems. The crocodile lived in a special temple, with sand, a pond and food. When the Petsuchos died, it was replenished by another one. 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 Egypt, his sister and wife, during the 3rd century BCE. The region in which Crocodopolis stood – the modern Fayyum – was the most fertile in Egypt. Besides corn and the usual cereals and vegetables of the Nile valley, it abounded in dates, figs, roses, and its vineyards and gardens rivalled those in the vicinity of Alexandria. Here too the olive was cultivated.

The Arsinoite nome was bounded to the west by the Lake Moeris (modern Berket el kerûn) watered by the Canal of Joseph (Bahr Jusuf), and contained, besides various pyramids, the necropolis of Crocodilopolis, and a celebrated labyrinth. Extensive mounds of ruins at Al Fayyum (Medinet-el-Fayum, Medinet-el-Fyoom), 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 Empire, Arsinoe, as it was then called, was annexed to the department of Arcadia Ægypti, and became the chief town of an episcopal see. (Strab. xvii. p. 809, seq.; Herod. ii. 48; Diod. i. 89; Aelian. H. A. x. 24; Plin. v. 9. s. 11, xxxvi. 16; Mart. Capell. vi. 4 ; Belzoni's Travels, vol. ii. p. 162 ; Champollion, l'Egypte, vol. i. p. 323, seq.)

Shortly after the renaming, Samaritans were soon found there. It became eventually a flourishing center of Christian life, but in 642 the Monophysite Copts surrendered the city to Amru, the Arab lieutenant of Muhammad. The region is celebrated for the discovery (1877-78) of a great many papyri manuscripts, some of which are important for the earliest Christian history of Egypt; they are described in the Hellenic section of the reports of the Egypt Exploration Fund. The has several Coptic churches and Islamic mosques, and some manufactures, especially of woolen stuffs. Its trade in rose-water and nitre is considerable. The city remains a titular see of the Roman Catholic Church.

[edit] References

This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography by William Smith (1857).
This article incorporates text from the public-domain Catholic Encyclopedia, so may be out of date, or reflect the point of view of the Catholic Church as of 1913. It should be edited to reflect broader and more recent perspectives.
William Talbot, Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World, p. 75.