Sobek.

This is coolbert:

Here from the just viewed television program: "AdventuresWithPurpose", a bit of trivia that has an interesting military dimension to it.

From the program: "Lord of the Nile". The crocodile. Worshipped as a god by the ancient Egyptian. A god existing in the here and now and also in the after world, a god that encapsulates all that is good and all that is bad in one entity.

"Sobek . . . was the deification of crocodiles, as crocodiles were deeply feared in the nation so dependent on the Nile River . . . in some Egyptian creation myths, it was Sobek who first came out of the waters of chaos to create the world . . . [and] As a creator god"

And IN ADDITION:

"Sobek . . . was considered the army's patron, as a representation of strength and power."

Highly respected for "strength and power", the ability to kill and eat humans at will, posing a danger that few other animals do.

[more persons yearly are killed and eaten worldwide by crocodiles than by all other creatures put together. Crocs remain a serious to threat to the human species!! A big animal, quite willing and able to stalk, kill and eat people!]

The Nile crocodile - - Sobek - - once existing in teeming numbers, now ZERO being found in the Egyptian Nile, downstream from the Aswan high dam.

Sobek, a god, requiring proper supplication and obeisance, ritual sacrifice and incantation of a magical nature a MUST, the consequences for NOT doing so being quite dire.

"o⋅bei⋅sance - - noun 1. a movement of the body expressing deep respect or deferential courtesy, as before a superior; a bow, curtsy, or other similar gesture. 2. deference or homage"

Such was the consequences - - the fate for a Greek army attempting a crossing of the Nile - - the Greeks having NOT properly propitiated Sobek!!

"About 300 B.C., when the army of Perdiccas was crossing the Nile at Memphis, it forgot to pay Sobek homage, and 1000 soldiers were killed and eaten"

"Perdiccas marched to attack Ptolemy in Egypt. He reached Pelusium but failed to cross the Nile. A mutiny broke out amongst his troops, disheartened by failure and exasperated by his severity"

A mutiny - - in part a consequence of not obeying the local rules, not observing the proper procedures and practices to be followed in a land where the local animals perhaps are even more dangerous than enemy soldiers??!!

Please recall my prior MilitaryThoughts blog entry from way back when now. A Japanese military force, trapped in a Burmese mangrove swamp, attacked and eaten by salt-water crocodiles, reputedly about 1,000 Japanese being devoured in ONE NIGHT!!

Again, the television program, the dilemma as faced by those boating, rafting, swimming, in rivers and lakes infested with crocodiles:

"there were [are?] two major schools of thought about how to cope":

"while floating a crocodile infested river: 1) Be as noisy as possible 2) Be as silent as possible"

The idea being 1. The noise will SCARE AWAY the crocs. 2. The noise will attract the crocs. SO, WHICH IS IT!!?? Maybe there is no way to deal with the creatures other than stay away from the water as best you can? But if you have to go near the water - - what then?

I would have to think that the army of Perdiccas created a lot of splashing, thrashing and just plain disconnected motion in the water - - similar to the death throes of a large dying animal - - ATTRACTING THE CROCODILES IN PRODIGIOUS NUMBERS - - ALL FOR THE PURPOSE OF FEASTING ON THOSE IN THE WATER!! OH MY!

coolbert.