Even though it was in far from the best shape, this was my favorite temple. Our guide, Mohammed, told us that this temple was dedicated to the crocodile-headed god, Sobek, because each year, five days before the Nile flooded, the crocodiles would gather here. After years of this, the people began noticing and built a temple in Sobek's honor. Each year they would capture a crocodile and basically starve it to death and then mummify it to worship.
He also showed us heiroglyphics that described the Egyptian calendar: 3 seasons each 4 months long, each month was 3 weeks long, each week was 10 days long, which adds up to 360 days with 5 left over - those were the 5 that the crocodiles gathered before the flooding.
There is also a well which served as a Nil-O-Meter: the leaders would note how full it was each year, and taxes would be assessed accordingly. In other words, it served as a gauge for how well the crops would be irrigated and how wealthy the community would be for the year. I've certainly heard worse methods!
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