Turtle Fossil

While ancient Egypt 𓆎𓅓𓏏𓊖 is my first love, geology is my second! “Geology” in a very broad term that means the study of the Earth’s structure, makeup and history! Geology isn’t just the study of rocks 𓇋𓈖𓂋𓈙𓏦 (that is petrology) but paleontology (the study of past life on Earth) falls into that category! I love when I am able to combine my love of geology with ancient Egypt! Read below

William and I with the Turtle Fossil on display at the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH)

William and I are standing with an extinct land tortoise called a “Megalochelys atlas” (it used to be referred to as the “Geochelone atlas”) and I always lovingly refer to this fossil as the “Smiling Turtle” because it looks like it is very happy! This big guy lived during the late Pliocene Epoch which was about two million years ago and is the largest land tortoise to ever exist!

In ancient Egypt 𓆎𓅓𓏏𓊖, turtles 𓈙𓏏𓄿𓆉𓏦 were seen as an ambiguous force because they were creatures of both land 𓇾 and water 𓈗. Turtles 𓈙𓏏𓄿𓆉𓏦 were also seen as the enemy of Ra 𓇳𓏺𓁛, and in chapter 162 of the Book of the Dead, it is stated that “May Ra live, and may the turtle die.” The turtles 𓈙𓏏𓄿𓆉𓏦 that lived in the Nile 𓇋𓏏𓂋𓅱𓈗𓈘𓈇𓏺 were mostly nocturnal (and definitely not as large as this one), which is probably why they were considered to be Ra’s 𓇳𓏺𓁛 enemy. 

The very large Turtle Fossil on display at the American Museum of Natural History

This is my personal photograph and original text. DO NOT repost. 

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