Geoscience Reference
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been the objects of respect and veneration. Certain types of fish found in the Nile were
surrounded by mythology and superstition in ancient Egypt, where some species were sac-
red in particular settlements but not in others. The mormyrus, recognizable by its lengthy
down-turned snout, was revered in the city of Oxyrhynchus, where it was never eaten,
and considerable numbers of mormyrus have been found mummified in tombs in the Oxy-
rhynchus area. The Greek historian Plutarch tells how the fish sparked a violent confront-
ation between the inhabitants of Oxyrhynchus and the nearby city of Cynopolis after the
people of Cynopolis, where the dog was held sacred, were one day seen eating mormyrus.
The citizens of Oxyrhynchus rounded up all the dogs they could find and ate them in retali-
ation.
7. Kumbh Mela, the mass Hindu pilgrimage to the sacred Ganges
River dolphins have been venerated in several parts of the world. The South Asian river
dolphin of the sacred Ganges was given religious significance with its mention in the Rig
Veda and became one of the first protected species in history. It was accorded a special
status under the reign of Emperor Ashoka, one of India's most famous rulers, in the 3rd
century BC. In South-East Asia, both the Khmer and Lao people regard the Irrawaddy dol-
