Author’s Note

Have you ever seen the crocodile god Sobek? I have…

…well, a statue of him, anyway. He guards an ancient Egyptian temple in one of my favorite museums. His huge head sits on a plinth, and he has a sleek wig and fearsome teeth. He’s impossible to ignore. Every time I see him, I can almost hear him asking, “When are you going to write about crocodiles?”

Now that I have, I hope he’s pleased.

As the statue indicates, ancient Egyptians were fascinated with crocodiles. No wonder, because they are astonishing animals. Closely related to their dinosaur-era ancestors, they look a lot like them, too. Their bite is stronger than that of any other creature, and they can stay underwater for hours, lying in wait for their prey. Their blood is special as well, with factors in it that help them heal quickly.

Ancient Egyptians were aware of two types of crocodile: the Nile crocodile (Crocodylus niloticus) and the West African crocodile (Crocodylus suchus). Both were associated with Sobek, a complicated deity who represented fertility, power, protection, aggression, and Pharaoh.

Egyptian priests tended to use West African crocodiles in their ceremonies, probably because they are smaller and less ferocious than Nile crocodiles. I decided, however, to put Nile crocodiles in the waters by Lady Satiah’s palace. They can be upwards of fifteen feet long and weigh over four hundred pounds, and they consider humans fair game. In modern times, they were hunted almost to extinction, but they have since made a comeback. So if you visit the Nile, watch out for them!

The Nile was the great highway of ancient Egypt, but we still have a lot to learn about the vessels that traveled it. The earliest Egyptian boats were made with bundles of reeds. The reeds held a lot of air inside them, so they were good at floating. By Ra’s time, many royal boats were built with wood, including cedar of Lebanon. These vessels could be both large and fancy, with sails, steering oars, and cabins on deck for important passengers.

Most pharaohs spent plenty of time traveling up and down the Nile. They needed to keep an eye on various parts of their kingdom, and they had to attend important religious festivals in different cities. They tended to move from palace to palace throughout the year.

Pharaohs also tended to marry more than one wife, and some of these marriages were made for diplomatic reasons. Pharaoh’s Great Wife—the chief wife—usually lived with him, but his other wives were sometimes removed to another palace, along with their children. Some of those wives must have felt homesick and isolated, like Lady Yaba.

A pharaoh had the power to decide whom he named as his heir, so someone like Lady Satiah could hope that her own son might impress him and eventually ascend to the throne. There were other ways for a wife to gain power, too. Khepri’s story about the royal wife who led a plot against the pharaoh is true, as far as we can tell. The wife’s name was Tiye, the pharaoh’s name was Ramses III—and he really did end up dead.

A few more true details: Royal servants did indeed have fancy job titles like Painter of Her Mouth. Twenty Squares really was the name of a favorite game in ancient Egypt. And Pharaoh and his court really did regard fish as taboo.

We also know that ancient Egyptians associated cats with the goddess Bastet, who was said to protect women and children. Cats were probably the most popular pet in ancient Egypt. Some nobles preferred more exotic animals, such as lions, monkeys, baboons, antelope, leopards, and crocodiles. These animals were expensive to obtain and to keep, and their cost and rarity made them status symbols.

Scholars argue about whether ancient Egyptians kept actual zoos, but there’s some compelling evidence that they did, and that a hippo like Taweret might end up in one. Sadly, there’s also evidence that many of the animals were not treated well.

I don’t think anyone in Egypt ever tried to put a hoopoe in a zoo, but they are amazing birds. Their head feathers make them look like glamorous punk-rock stars. Their nickname is the butterfly bird, and they like to nest in cliffs and walls. They consider dung beetles delicious, and they do indeed say “Oop-oop!”