While speedpainting Gigantophis last night I kept thinking about how Ardea bennuides was possibly the inspiration behind the ancient Egyptian "phoenix", and how fossils of long gone creatures have often inspired myth. Could it be that #Gigantophis had a hand (heh) in it too?

The ancient Egyptians believed that the sun god Ra went down and sailed through the Underworld every night, and every night, a gigantic aquatic snake, the lord of chaos Apep, would try to devour him. Apep was usually defeated (but never truly slain) by Ra's guardian, the god Set.

Is it possible that the ancient Egyptians found the remains of Gigantophis and other large snakes that roamed Egypt millions of years before, and this either inspired or confirmed the myth? Gigantophis has been estimated at over 10 m, but there's uncertainty about this.

That being said, Egypt has a wealth of ancient whale fossils, such as the huge, elongated #Basilosaurus. Whale fossils are much more common than Gigantophis ones as I understand. Could these have been found and interpreted as giant serpents by the ancient Egyptians?

We know that the Egyptians did find fossils; in at least one case, several were found carefully wrapped and buried at a site sacred to none other than Set. Scary remains of what they thought to be creatures of Apep, given back to the god for safekeeping? :) Just a thought!