THE PYRAMIDS of the COLD • Chapter 18 Apep is how Egyptians glorified the waters of the inclined well under pressure: it did have to be restrained and cut into pieces

In summary: the idea that the ancient Egyptians were so 'in synbiosis' with their environment, and in particular with all animal life, that they came to venerate almost all the animals they encountered in their daily lives, in a completely 'natural' and 'inevitable' way, is not only false, but also so demeaning. How have we not understood for a long time that all these animal representations so fond of Egyptian mythology were in reality nothing more than a formidable metaphorical construction?

No, the ancient Egyptians did not have a phobia of snakes, just as they did not have a phobia of hippopotamuses, or on the contrary, they found such other animals too cute. Often, the serpent was used by the Egyptians when they wanted to talk about this or that magical use of water, but of course, the term 'magic' is itself just another metaphor: magic is in fact another way to describe and glorify the use of science and technology. This is what the ancient Egyptian religion really is: a tremendous treasure trove where everything that was created by the Egyptians in terms of science and technology was hidden in the form of metaphors, often from the animal world, and maybe the Great Serpent Apep is the most beautiful metaphor that ancient Egyptians have created in order to glorify their scientific knowledge and technological accomplishments.

The Great Serpent Apep is actually directly referring to the operation of the Great Pyramid of Khufu, because Apep (Apophis) is nothing but the deification of the waters of the inclined well, put under pressure by the operation of the composite impactor inside the central wooden Djed caisson of the Pyramid.

This is why the myths of the ancient Egyptian religion mention the fight of Ra of course, but also of many other divinities against the great serpent Apep: all the representations of Apep in which we see the will either to immobilize or to cut Apep into pieces, is only a metaphorical vision, and ultimately totally romanticized, due to the fact that the waters of the inclined well of the Great Pyramid, once they had been put under pressure by the fall of the impactor, had to be contained with force, but that a small part of these pressurized waters had to be expelled towards the evaporation cooling passage. In short, Apep is the glorification of the pressurized waters of the inclined well, and this is why the Great Serpent was represented ‘restrained’ and ‘cut into multiple pieces’, and also why Apep couldn't be really defeated: the inclined well had to resist to the pressure and contain these waters but it also had to eject a small part of it, cycle after cycle, while constantly supplied with more water from the biosand filter. In the myth, Apep never dies.

Operating diagram of the Great Pyramid of Khufu, showing the two parts of the central wooden Djed caisson: the aerial part in the Grand Gallery and the flooded part in the inclined well. As soon as the impactor was released from the top of the Gallery, the air trapped in the caisson got pressurized and the waters of the well started to be pressurized as well, even before the impactor really rammed into the well. Apep is nothing other than the glorification of these waters, pressurized in the inclined well: they first needed to be restrained, before a small portion of these waters were expelled, or 'spat out',  towards the flash-evaporative cooling passage.

18.01  The reason why Apep was known as “He who was spat out”

In the operating diagram of the Great Pyramid above, the impactor is symbolically represented in three different and successive positions: first, positioned at the very top of the Grand Gallery, ready to be released, then gaining speed on the slope of the Gallery, and finally, completely submerged in the waters of the inclined well. It is this pressurization of the waters of the inclined well that allows a small portion of them to be expelled into the flash-evaporative cooling passage, and this is why the Great Serpent Apep, the glorification made of these pressurized waters by the ancient Egyptians, was known as 'He who was spat out'.

“In some texts, Apep would trap the boat of Ra in his massive coils (referred to as sandbanks) or cause the waters of the underworld to flood to overwhelm him.” https://ancientegyptonline.co.uk/apep/

“There are a number of serpent gods or demons who appear in early texts (such as the Pyramid Texts) as representatives of evil or chaos. However, the mythology surrounding him largely developed during the New Kingdom in funerary texts such as the Duat (or Amduat). During the Roman Period, he was sometimes referred to as “he who was spat out” and considered to have been born of the saliva of the goddess Neith.” https://ancientegyptonline.co.uk/apep/

18.02  All snake representations in the ancient Egyptian art are nothing but metaphors, but they can be about many different things: ropes, running water, fogs of water, etc.

If the serpent is so frequently depicted in Egyptian mythology, it is evidently because the Egyptians used the animal to metaphorically represent a very specific aspect of scientific knowledge or technological achievement, and the serpent is likely the most commonly used animal in this concept of glorification employed by the Egyptians.

The problem when attempting to decipher a particular serpent is that we don't know a priori why the serpent was used, and what specific aspect of the animal was therefore instrumental in the process. Indeed, the serpent could have been used to glorify water because the serpent seems to move like water (a river, for example), or to glorify a rope because the rope can obviously be mistaken for a snake, or to glorify the way in which a cloud of microdroplets of water can be created in the same way that a spitting snake projects its venom.

We will see here that Apep was precisely supposed to be a serpent because he is nothing more than the glorification of the waters of the inclined well of the Great Pyramid, and that if he was tirelessly fought by Ra and his solar boat, it is because Ra is the impactor itself, the one who was at the origin of the pressurization of the well.

[Snake illustration] Les Creatonautes, by LatAm ARTE: https://www.latamarte.com/en/artists/iyye/

Isis temple, North wall of the Gate of Hadrian with a representation of the Nile god Hapi, crouched in his cave and surrounded by a serpent, Philae, Egypt: http://www.temples-egypte.net/philae/hadrien/paroiNord/registreMilieu.html

18.03  The snake as the glorification of water 1/ God of the Nile Hapi in his cavern creating a snake directly from water

On the above image from the Philae temple, Hapi (the Egyptian god of the water of the Nile, in his 'cavern') is actually depicted creating the snake from his own water. As of today, I would say that Hapi, just like everything else in the ancient Egyptian religion, is nothing but another metaphor. But this is not because Hapi is the Nile god, that the water used to power up the Great Pyramid was coming from the Nile: that water that was circulating all other the chambers and passages of the Great Pyramid, in and out its structure, would simply have looked like the Nile circulating all other Egypt. In my opinion, the water which powered up the Pyramid, was most likely to be rain water; and this is why the Pyramid had to have a huge water tank: if water from the Nile would have been used, they wouldn't have any problem getting 200 liters of water every 15 minutes or so to 'feed' the sarcophagus for water treatment.

Serpent artifact from the Louvre Museum, with the body of the snake taking the shape of the "water ripple" hieroglyph sign. Inventory number E4851: https://collections.louvre.fr/en/ark:/53355/cl010038229

18.04  The snake as the glorification of water 2/ The snake whose body resembles the sign of water

The snake artifact E4851 from the Louvre Museum, is showing a unique design: the tail of the snake is nothing else than a continuous succession of 'water ripple' signs, clearly highly suggesting that the snake is actually made of water. Most probably, the 'water ripple' sign and the representation of Apep with multiple cuts, as shown on the wall relief left photograph above, together, one above each over, is actually representing the same thing: the 'water ripple' sign is the representation of Apep being cut, over and over again.

Wall relief of Apep cut out into pieces, temple of Edfu. Photograph by Rémih: fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fichier:Edfu16.JPG

Sun god Ra on his solar boat, 'fighting' the Great Serpent Apep; in front of the boat, Seth is holding a spear. Egyptians didn’t only proved themselves masters in science, technology and medicine, they were also great masters in the beautiful art of encryption and the use of metaphoric constructions. Here, nothing really is what it looks like, and the two parts of the scene are actually depicting the exact same thing: the impactor of the Great Pyramid, speeding onto a very thin layer of water and then ramming into the huge amount of water of the inclined well. [the solar boat of sun god Ra, pulled by jackals and serpents and "attacked by the Great serpent Apep"] After the funerary papyrus of Heruben: https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fichier:Barque_solaire_contre_Apopi.jpg

18.05  The snake as the glorification of water 3/ The solar boat sailing directly onto Apep

We have already seen in a previous chapter of The Pyramids of the Cold that the sun god Ra was one of the glorifications of the Great Pyramid's impactor, and that it is for this reason that Ra appears for the first time in ancient Egyptian history only in the Pyramid Texts of the 5th Dynasty, while the Great Pyramid of Khufu was built towards the end of the 4th Dynasty.

The ancient Egyptians, in their desire to glorify all facets of their scientific knowledge and technological achievements, therefore created an impressive number of gods and goddesses, probably more than 2,000 in all. Thus, the sun god Ra was the Egyptians' way of glorifying the Great Pyramid's impactor, in his characteristic of rising high into the sky, only to descend and eventually disappear beneath the waters, whether the waters of the Nile for the sun, or the waters of the inclined well for the impactor. This is what Ra really is, a certain vision of the impactor, caught in an endless cycle, a kind of eternal movement. And the eternal fight of Ra against the Great Serpent Apep, is nothing other than the eternal pressurization of the waters of the inclined well by the impactor. In other words, Apep is the glorification of these waters, put under pressure by the impactor, and the Egyptians represented the two main actions related to these pressurized waters: the fact that these waters had to be contained, or restrained, and the fact that a small part of these waters had to be directed towards the evaporation passage. The Egyptians having illustrated this last action, by having to cut the Great Serpent Apep into multiple small pieces.

Below is an extraordinary mention of the tracks in which the composite impactor of the Great Pyramid was moving. Of course, this particular mention is purely accidental, so it is most funny than anything; but remember that these tracks, really hollow wooden rails, were running in both the aerial part of the central wooden Djed caisson in the Grand Gallery, and in the flooded part of the Djed caisson, in the inclined well itself. In order for the impactor to move from one part of the Djed caisson to the other, the hollow rails, the tracks, had to be continuous inside the two parts.

"Apophis, the god of chaos (isfet), was an enormous serpent who attempted to stop the sun-boat's journey every night by consuming it or by stopping it in its tracks with a hypnotic stare. During the evening, the Egyptians believed that Ra set as Atum or in the form of a ram. The night boat would carry him through the underworld and back towards the east in preparation for his rebirth. These myths of Ra represented the sun rising as the rebirth of the sun by the sky-goddess Nut. [...] Apep, also called Apophis, was the god of chaos and Ra's arch-enemy. He was said to lie just below the horizon line, trying to devour Ra as Ra traveled through the underworld."  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ra

The Great Serpent Apep (Apophis), bound in Tomb KV9 in Egypt's Valley of the Kings, originally constructed for Pharaoh Ramesses V, 20th Dynasty. [Overthrowing of Apep, Theban Tomb KV9, West Thebes] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KV9

18.06  The snake as the glorification of water 4/ The association with the baboon and the water clock

One of the most explicit metaphor used by ancient Egyptians to represent and glorify water as a major technological resource, though isn’t about a snake, but about a baboon. In the Annexes section, you’ll find an hypothesis of why did the Egyptians probably associated the baboon with the water (the animal was, and is still used today to find water reservoirs in dry areas in some countries, by what is called a ‘Temptation Trap’). But whatever the reason is, Egyptians did symbolically used the baboon to represent water, and this is why there are so many water clocks from ancient Egypt, with the representation of a baboon.

If you look closely to these water clocks, you’ll notice that the baboon is always turning his back to the water; and that is priceless when you look at the famous scene representing the ‘overthrowing of Apep’ from TT359: look at the baboon at the far right side of the relief, and notice how the animal is also turning his back to Apep. The intent here, was only to show that Apep really is water itself.

“Water Clock Decorated with a Baboon”, from the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New-York. Object Number: 17.194.2341: https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/572126

The Weighing of the Heart in the sarcophagus chamber of the tomb of Baennentiu, Qarat Qasr Salim, el-Bahriya depression, Libyan desert, Egypt, showing the representation of the 'peeing baboon'. Photograph courtesy of Roland Unger and posted on Wikipedia: "Justice scene: tomb owner Baennentiu conducted by Maat, Anubis and Horus with scales, Thoth, right wall in the sarcophagus chamber of the tomb of Baennentiu: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:BawitiSelimBanentiuSanctRight.jpg

18.07  Apep and the peeing baboon are both about water

I have no doubt that within a few decades, the new discipline that will study ancient Egypt as it really was, and not as it is unfortunately still perceived today, will essentially focus on deciphering all the metaphors that the ancient Egyptians left us. But here, with the baboon, we see another difficulty in this deciphering process: while the snake may have been used to metaphorically represent water, this same water has also been represented by animals other than the snake, in particular with the ‘peeing baboon’.

Here, what is very interesting is that two different animals have been combined to represent exactly the same thing: of course, the Great Serpent Apep represents the pressurized waters of the inclined well, but so does the baboon. In fact, the Egyptians used the snake to perfectly illustrate the need to contain the water under pressure, in this the snake is indeed perfect since we can easily imagine a hand-to-hand fight with a large snake where we would try to physically control it; but then what is the baboon doing here? In fact the baboon illustrates the way in which the inclined well is permanently supplied by a small quantity of regular water (a very weak, but very regular, maybe even permanent flow of water coming from the biosand filter of course); here it is therefore the way in which the baboon urinates that was used, and this is even perfectly represented in the scene of the weighing of the heart opposite, but also in many water clocks, where the water is evacuated by the penis of a baboon. Apep and the baboon actually work together here to magnificently illustrate how was operated the inclined well.

Peeing Hamadryas Baboon. The Prospect Park Zoo. Photograph by Mamoritai: https://www.flickr.com/photos/mamoritai/3336935638

“A part of the Book of Gates (ninth division) on the left wall of the corridor.” Tomb of Ramses V and Ramses VI, Valley of the Kings, Luxor, Egypt. Photograph by Diego Delso

Tomb of Ramses V and Ramses VI, Valley of the Kings, Luxor, Egypt. Photograph by Diego Delso

18.08  Apep and the large rectangular blue block in KV9 is above the waters of the inclined well and the well itself

Here, with this extraordinary representation of Apep in tomb KV9 of Ramesses V and Ramesses VI, the true nature of Apep  is actually exposed; notice the perfect correspondence between the overall shape of Apep on the one hand and the large rectangular block, painted blue, directly above Apep on the other: the height of the block is the same as the height of Apep, and the length of the block is also the same as Apep's. And of course, this dark block represents the closed domain in which Apep is supposed to have evolved, that is, the inclined well itself.

The restraining of the Great Serpent Apep is a metaphor of the containment . The restraining of Apep in the above relief from Ramesses V KV19 tomb, is another representation of the pressurized waters of the inclined well of the Great Pyramid of Giza. Once pressurized and contained into the well, a small amount of the 'powered' water' can be redirected towards the evaporative cooling passage.

18.09  The restraining of Apep is the representation of the containment of the pressurized waters of the inclined well

We've seen that the Great Serpent Apep was a metaphor of the waters of the inclined well once pressurized. The forces at play were so high that not only it was at the origin of some of the more impressive parts of the fights between Ra and Apep (the thunder noises, the rumble and trembling, etc.), but it also put the well on tremendous structural forces. That was the mission of the three upper girdle stones: maintain the structural integrity of the well.

So, when we are looking at the restraint of the Great Serpent Apep, on the above image from Ramesses KV19 tomb, we are looking at the representation of the water that was restrained inside the well. The ropes are representations of the restraint, and the red elements in a inverted U shape, are most probably directly referring to the three upper girdle stones: each of these girdles are actually two U-shaped half girdles stacked on top of each other.

“Apep (Aapep, Apepi or Apophis) was the ancient Egyptian spirit of evil, darkness and destruction. As the arch enemy of the sun god, Ra, he was a malevolent force who could never be entirely vanquished. […] Although he was believed to have existed since primeval times, Apep is not mentioned by name until the Middle Kingdom.” https://ancientegyptonline.co.uk/apep/

“There are a number of serpent gods or demons who appear in early texts (such as the Pyramid Texts) as representatives of evil or chaos. However, the mythology surrounding him largely developed during the New Kingdom in funerary texts such as the Duat (or Amduat). During the Roman Period, he was sometimes referred to as “he who was spat out” and considered to have been born of the saliva of the goddess Neith.” https://ancientegyptonline.co.uk/apep/

“In some texts, Apep would trap the boat of Ra in his massive coils (referred to as sandbanks) or cause the waters of the underworld to flood to overwhelm him.” https://ancientegyptonline.co.uk/apep/

Operating diagram of the Great Pyramid, showing the central wooden Djed caisson in its two aerial and flooded parts in the Grand Gallery and the inclined well. As soon as the impactor was released from the top of the Gallery, the air trapped in the caisson got pressurized and the waters of the well started to be pressurized as well, even before the impactor really rammed into the well. Apep is nothing other than these waters pressurized in the inclined well.

18.10   Both the wooden part of the impactor and the wooden cases of the central wooden Djed caisson were most probably made of Sycamore wood: one of the toughest wood available in the market, and extremely resistant to weather and hits because of its interlocked grain

• Knowing that the sycamore fig tree was most probably a representation of both the impactor of the Great Pyramid and the central wooden Djed caisson, both exposed to extreme conditions, it can be assumed that these two critical wooden parts of the Great Pyramid's internal design were most probably made from sycamore fig wood, one of the toughest wood in the market.

From the Majofesa website, about Ficus sycomorus* : "The sycamore wood is one of the toughest that exists in the timber market, according to hits, weather and time. It even acquired a sacred value thanks to its durability, as the Pharaohs and the most powerful men of the Ancient Egypt wanted their sarcophagi was built with this material to be preserved better and longer. It was believed that in time their mummies would reach a sacred aspect." https://www.majofesa.com/tablones-de-madera/sycamore-wood/

"The grain is interlocked." https://www.wood-database.com/sycamore/

• In other words, Sycamore wood would have been a perfect candidate for the purpose of both the impactor and the central wooden Djed caisson: its interlocked grain make this wood very hit and weather resistant.

*Ficus sycomorus, not to be confused with unrelated trees. From Wikipedia : "The term sycamore spelled with an A has also been used for unrelated trees: the Great Maple, Acer pseudoplatanus, or plane trees, Platanus. The spelling "sycomore", with an O rather than an A as the second vowel is, if used, specific to Ficus sycomorus."

[illustration] Sycamore wood: https://www.wood-database.com/sycamore/

The Sycamore tree putting its weight upon Apep and pressurizing the waters of the inclined well. [Overthrowing of Apep in the Theban Tomb TT359], located in Deir el-Medina, part of the Theban Necropolis. It is the burial place of the ancient Egyptian workman Inherkhau, who was Foreman of the Lord of the Two Lands in the Place of Truth during the reigns of Ramesses III and Ramesses IV (Wikipedia). Image thanks to kairoinfo4u: https://www.flickr.com/photos/manna4u/18578810231/in/photostream/

18.11  How ancient Egyptians represented themselves the pressurization of the inclined well by the Sycamore tree that is putting all its weight upon the Great Serpent Apep

The sycamore fig tree that appears on the above image of Apep in TT359 has raised some problem until I stopped thinking about it in a 'static' way and completely disconnected from the cutting that is made by the cat on the left part of the image. We've seen that Apep is a metaphor of the pressurized waters of the inclined, and that it's cutting is a representation of the small amount of that pressurized water that is ejected out of the well at every cycle. On this image, the cut is made right in front of our eyes: it means that at this very moment, the well is pressurized. It also means that the sycamore fig tree is about what is causing the pressurization. Just like all Egyptian art, the painting is actually rich in meanings, and we can see that scene in two ways:

1 • first, we can see it as the way the impactor was getting into the inclined well and pressurized its waters: in this scenario, the tree is the impactor

2 • but we can also see it differently: this time the tree is the central wooden Djed caisson, and the the snake is representing the waters pressurized inside that caisson

In my opinion, both interpretations are actually right:

1 • If we look closely, the trunk of the fig tree seems to be completely surrounded by the body of the snake, and nearly absorbed by it. The meaning is that the snake (the water) is actually all around the trunk of the tree; it means that the sycamore tree is actually depicted immersed into the water: then the Sycamore tree is the impactor.

2 • But there is another way of looking at that scene: this time we can consider that the snake isn't really outside the tree but really inside and if the snake (the water) is only around the trunk of the tree, it only is because the water was only flooding the lower part of the central wooden Djed caisson. Then the Sycamore tree is the central wooden Djed caisson.

3 • Also, it almost looks like Apep had been punched down by the tree and he is held down on the ground like fighters would do. All the weight of the tree is actually constraining the body of the snake, and that is the representation of the pressurization of the waters of the inclined well: then the tree is the impactor.

The Four Sons of Horus were known as “The Shining Ones”, because they really were about metal skate blades: the four skate blades of the impactor. [Norfolk Museums Service] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjigvuEbEAM

18.12  The Four Sons of Horus also fought Apep because they are the (skate) blades of the impactor

Because all of Egyptian mythology is nothing but metaphors on metaphors, and because dozens of deities, perhaps even hundreds, directly relate to how the waters of the Great Pyramid's inclined well were pressurized, there is not just one myth that tells how the Great Serpent Apep was fought, but many myths, each of which emphasizes a very specific part of how this well worked.

Here, in the image opposite, we have this same Great Serpent Apep, but he is no longer fought by Ra and his solar boat, but by the Four Sons of Horus. In a future chapter, we will see that these Four Sons of Horus were the way, or one of the ways, in which the ancient Egyptians glorified the four skate blades (probably made of bronze) on which the impactor slid inside their hollow rails, and the Egyptians here simply reused the fact that these skates, these blades of course, could also serve as a weapon of defense against Apep since the impactor, and therefore the blades themselves, actually came into direct contact with the waters of the inclined well.

The multiple cutting of Apep is a representation of the multiple ejections of a small amount of pressurized water from the inclined well of the Great Pyramid, towards the flash-evaporative cooling passage.

"Cat Killing a Serpent" facsimile painting copy of a scene in the tomb of Sennedjem (TT 1) in Deir el-Medina of western Thebes. The cat killing the serpent is associated with Chapter 17 in the Book of the Dead. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New-York: https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/548564

18.13  The cutting of the Great Serpent Apep in equal length segments of 14.6 meters

It is clear on the above images that the goal was not to kill the Great Serpent Apep, but to cut it in equal length segments; that's the 'dismemberment we've already seen. The cut is precisely made the same way we would do ourselves today, when we want to cut a string with a knife: we make a loop and make the cut vertically, from the top down. Also, on the right image, the sign above the serpent, is the Egyptian 'water ripple' hieroglyph (Gardiner N35).

"Apep was seen as a giant snake or serpent leading to such titles as Serpent from the Nile and Evil Dragon. Some elaborations said that he stretched 16 yards in length and had a head made of flint". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apep

Maybe this '16 yards' (14.6 meters) data is genuine and indicates the real measurement of a particular part of the inclined well's design that had to deal with the ejection of the pressurized water. Also the mention of Apep's head that is made of flint is certainly not to disregard. Flint is a material that was used to produce sparks and ignite fire; and that is probably referring to the 'lake of fire' or 'water of fire' that ancient Egyptians were commonly associating with Apep and the Underworld. Is the 'water of fire' the pressurized water? Was some kind of equipment dealing with pressurized water, actually made of flint, or is it just about the metaphor of the pressurized water that can hurt or burn?

The second phase of the inclined well’s operation consisted of the ejection of a small amount of the pressurized water towards the flash-evaporative cooling passage. The representations of the Great Serpent Apep being cut out into multiple pieces is the metaphoric illustration of this crucial phase. Apep never dies in the myths: he always regenerates. [Relief from the tomb of Sety I, KV 17] Photograph thanks to kairoinfo4u and posted on flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/manna4u/36879934835/in/photolist-2jvGusa-uiKg1k-u26AF2-YbXiKr-XzWp6J/ 

Operating diagram of the Great Pyramid, showing the central wooden Djed caisson in its two aerial and flooded parts in the Grand Gallery and the inclined well. As soon as the impactor was released from the top of the Gallery, the air trapped in the caisson got pressurized and the waters of the well started to be pressurized as well, even before the impactor really rammed into the well. Apep is nothing other than these waters pressurized in the inclined well, which first need to be restrained, before a small portion of them is expelled toward the evaporative cooling passage.

18.14  Apep really never dies: he always regenerates and he was known as "He who was spat out"

“In some texts, Apep would trap the boat of Ra in his massive coils (referred to as sandbanks) or cause the waters of the underworld to flood to overwhelm him.” https://ancientegyptonline.co.uk/apep/

“Apep (Aapep, Apepi or Apophis) was the ancient Egyptian spirit of evil, darkness and destruction. As the arch enemy of the sun god, Ra, he was a malevolent force who could never be entirely vanquished. […] Although he was believed to have existed since primeval times, Apep is not mentioned by name until the Middle Kingdom.” https://ancientegyptonline.co.uk/apep/

“There are a number of serpent gods or demons who appear in early texts (such as the Pyramid Texts) as representatives of evil or chaos. However, the mythology surrounding him largely developed during the New Kingdom in funerary texts such as the Duat (or Amduat). During the Roman Period, he was sometimes referred to as “he who was spat out” and considered to have been born of the saliva of the goddess Neith.” https://ancientegyptonline.co.uk/apep/

Phase Two of the inclined well’s operation: ejecting a small amount of the pressurized water that has been created towards the Bastet and Sekhmet check valve with counterweight so that the fog nozzle could transform it into a fog of microdroplets. [Relief from the tomb of Sety I, KV 17] Photograph thanks to kairoinfo4u and posted on flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/manna4u/36879934835/in/photolist-2jvGusa-uiKg1k-u26AF2-YbXiKr-XzWp6J/ 

18.15  The worship of Apep is a gradual process of dismemberment and disposal, with water references

These are excerpts from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apep: "In an annual rite called the Banishing of Chaos, priests would build an effigy of Apep that was thought to contain all of the evil and darkness in Egypt, and burn it to protect everyone from Apep's evil for another year. The Egyptian priests had a detailed guide to fighting Apep, referred to as The Books of Overthrowing Apep (or the Book of Apophis, in Greek). […] The chapters described a gradual process of dismemberment and disposal, and include : Spitting Upon Apep / Defiling Apep with the Left Foot / Taking a Lance to Smite Apep / Fettering Apep / Taking a Knife to Smite Apep / Putting Fire Upon Apep".

My interpretation is that the rituals practiced by the worshippers of Apep, once a year, were reproducing the operating cycle of the inclined well's pressurization: it started with giving water to Apep (the "Spitting upon Apep"), then putting him under pressure, like with the sycamore metaphor on the Tomb of Inherkau TT359 ("Defiling Apep with the left foot"), then restraining him ("Fettering Apep") and finally watching him cut into tiny pieces in the form of flying sparks as a metaphor of the small amount of pressurized water ejected from the well on every cycle ("Putting fire Upon Apep").

The ancient Egyptian Mehen 'board games' showing coiled snakes cut into equal size pieces, are representations of the endless ejection of a small amount of pressurized water from the well.

18.16  The Mehen artifacts are the representation of Apep being endlessly cut into equal size pieces: they maybe even never were intended to be 'board games' at all

Amazingly, this multiple times cutting of the Great Serpent Apep into equal length pieces (his endless dismemberment), is exactly what is depicting the famous ancient Egyptian Mehen 'board game'. In short, the Great Serpent Mehen is nothing but the glorification of the Great Serpent Apep, being endlessly dismembered, cycle after cycle and most probably these Mehen artifacts had never been intended as game boards at all.

"Mehen is a board game which was played in ancient Egypt. The game was named in reference to Mehen, a snake deity in ancient Egyptian religion." Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mehen_(game)

It is interesting to see that some of these Mehen artifacts also show the head of a goose, that is once again an animal that can attack snakes. Another interesting question, would be to know why isn't it a cat or a cat's paw that is joined to the artifact, but a goose. Is the fact that the goose is a farm animal important?

From "5 Farm Animals That Kill Snakes" at https://hayfarmguy.com/farm-animals-that-kill-snakes: "Geese may appear to be gentle and harmless, but they are among the type of farm animals that kill snakes. When the need arises, a goose loses all of its gentle nature and turns fierce. Countless times, geese have been seen overpowering small snakes by killing them. Scenarios like this often occur when the snakes try to attack the offspring of the goose. In the course of trying to protect its offspring, a goose can end up killing a snake."

Mehen board game. Photograph by Rowan Millar: https://www.flickr.com/photos/126337530@N04/28294095688

18.17  The link between the Mehen artifacts and the cutting of Apep: water distribution

• The Ballas Mehen was found covering a pot…

Following excerpts are from: "Ancient Egyptians at Play, Board Games across Borders". Walter Crist, Anne-Elizabeth Dunn-Vaturi, Alex de Voogt (Bloomsbury Egyptology): https://docplayer.net/62574499-Ancient-egyptians-at-play.html

"Of the few boards that have good archaeological provenance, the oldest comes from the late Naqada Tomb 19 at Ballas, now in the Ashmolean Museum (Petrie & Quibell 1896: 42), and dates to the end of the fourth millennium BCE (Rothöhler 1999: 11). Found covering a pot, it was likely a votive representation of a mehen board rather than one used for play, since it was only 10.5 cm in diameter (Kendall 2007: 37), but appears in the form of other full-sized game boards."

• And another one was most certainly also a jar lid

"Another mehen game without provenance, now in a private collection, may have been a jar lid much like the Ballas game as it is only 4.5 cm in diameter and unlikely to have been used for play considering it contains 336 very small spaces (Kendall 2007: 37). It depicts a coiled serpent, with a tail and head, much like the others already discussed, but with an important distinction: four holes* were drilled on different parts of the serpent and may have been filled with a colored paste or some kind of inlay, distinguishing those spaces from the others (Kendall 2007: 37)."

*Unfortunately, no picture of this particular Mehen artifact is available ; probably the position of these 4 additional holes could be of some interest.

18.18  Were any of the Mehen artifacts designed as game boards?

What we know for sure, is that some of the Mehen board games weren't designed to be played with, whether because they are too small, the segments too tiny, or for both of these reasons. The question is: were any of the Mehen artifacts designed as game boards?

The confirmation that the cutting of Apep in many equal length segments was actually related to the injection of pressurized water into the horizontal passage, comes from the Book of the Dead. Please note that on this picture, there are two snakes, but they are really one single Great serpent: Apep. What is represented here is that the attack on Apep is on two parts, on a temporal perspective: 1 • The attack on the head of the snake is representing the coughing up of the swallowed water: that is the small amount of pressurized water that was ejected, at every cycle, 2 • The multiple cutting of the snake into equal length segments indicates the repetition of that sequential cycle, over and over again

18.19  When Apep finally cough it all up: up and out; the perfect metaphor of the ejection of a small amount of pressurized water with air

Of course this part of the myth where Seth (the pressurized air of the Djed caisson) is causing the Great Serpent Apep (the pressurized water of the inclined well) to cough is absolutely essential: the goal of Seth and his lance, isn’t to kill Apep, but really to get it cough what he had already swallowed. Remember that the inclined well was most probably constantly refilled with the water that came from the biosand filter ‘sarcophagus’ and run through the hollow rails of the Grand Gallery were the impactor’s skate blades were running into. Egyptians simply had mixed up everything, and for example, the mention to the lance is probably referring to these skate blades.

But what’s really important is that the inclined well lost a small part of its pressurized water at the end of each cycle because it was ejected from the well towards the flash-evaporative passage, and that this same amount of water had to be replaced before the impactor entered the well at the following cycle.

"At about noon, the barque of Ra reaches the summit of a mountain where a serpent 50 cubits (26 meters) in length is found whose foremost 3 cubits are of silex. This serpent swallows in one gulp part of the stream. Seth, at the front of the boat, directs his lance of fire against him, and causes him to cough up all that he had swallowed. Behind the boat, a lion headed entity runs a blade through the serpent Apep." Book of the Dead, chapter 108, from “The Gods of the Egyptians; Studies in Egyptian Mythology", Volume 1 by Sir Ernest Alfred Wallis Budge, 1904: https://www.google.fr/books/edition/The_Gods_of_the_Egyptians_Volume_1/jSCKAAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0

Coughing icon by mos.ru: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cough#/media/File:Coughing_icon.svg

Preface

Next chapter

Previous chapter

Table of contents

Operating diagrams of the Great Pyramid

Timelines

Index