THE PYRAMIDS of the COLD • Chapter 24 How Osiris, despite being ‘inert', 'asleep' and 'lethargic’ fought Seth and Apep because he is nothing other than a dead weight

In summary: in the previous chapter of The Pyramids of the Cold, we’ve seen the real meaning of both Ra and Osiris, but we’ve only started to dig in the Osiris myth and the glorification that has been made by ancient Egyptians of the composite impactor of the Great Pyramid. Again, if the glorifications that have been made of the Egyptians’ prowess in science and technology, mostly or only focus on the Great Pyramid, it doesn’t mean similar designs of the composite impactor wouldn’t have been used before the Great Pyramid, and maybe after the Pyramid was built. It’s just that the Great Pyramid got immediately all the attention after its construction during the Fourth Dynasty: it isn’t an accident if all the ancient Egyptian texts we know today, only started to appear during the Fifth Dynasty with the so-called ‘Pyramid texts’. Most probably Egyptians stopped their scientific and technological program right after the Great Pyramid, and switched their preoccupations just after that to concentrate on how they could glorify what they’ve done and how they could have gained power and legitimacy to reign.

In this chapter we’ll see that the Osiris myth is describing Osiris engaged in two fights: the first one is with Seth, and the second one is with the Great Serpent Apep. We'll see later that Seth has been created to glorify the two bollards of the impactor, but now we're gonna see how ancient Egyptians have created Apep to glorify the water of the inclined well, pressurized by the fall of the impactor. 

But to pressurize air you need a confined space, so ancient Egyptians also had to design a very strong wooden caisson to contain that air; they've glorified tthis caisson in Ptah, but also into the trunk of the Djed pillar; and this is why when Osiris was seen as the ramming Osiris, Egyptians have created another deity that both combined the ramming ability and the reference to the Djed pillar. This new form of Osiris was known as Banebjedet, and was seen as a ram: the Osiris-Baneb-Djed(et) ramming ram.

“Relief of Banebdjedet of Mendes in the Temple of Khnum at Esna”: https://egypt-museum.egypt-museum.com/post/770060406310993921/banebdjedet-of-mendes-temple-of-khnum

Operating diagram of the Great Pyramid of Khufu, showing the central wooden Djed caisson in which was produced both pressurized air in the Grand Gallery and pressurized water in the inclined well. The story of the 'Great inert'  and 'asleep' Osiris fighting both Seth and the Great serpent Apep is all about this twofold phase of the Great Pyramid's operation. In short, Osiris was a dead weight, and he became the god of the deads.

24.01  Osiris is nothing but the glorification of the weight of the Great Pyramid's impactor: this is why Osiris was known as the Great 'inert', and depicted as 'asleep', 'apathetic' and 'lethargic'

Don’t try to find the ‘asleep’, ‘apathetic’ and ‘lethargic’ epithets of Osiris on the Wikipedia’s page of the god, because you won’t find anything. In 1998; egyptologists didn’t want to have to deal with the salt deposit that have been found in the Great Pyramid, which is the signature of evaporative cold, so they get rid of it under Zahi Hawass’ supervision, so don’t imagine they are willingly going to tell everybody about these extraordinary yet puzzling epithets. How could the Great Osiris been called the ‘Great asleep’, or the ‘Great apathetic’ or the ‘Great lethargic’? Clearly egyptologists don’t want people to have these epithets in mind about this great god. And yet, Osiris was indeed called with all these names; at least what should be expected of egyptologists is to tell about it, if not to explain it.

About Osiris' epithets: "The egyptologist W. Budge counts no less than forty of them. The Egyptians, always obsessed by their desire to reject death by any means, use metaphors or more or less explicit circumlocution to speak of Osiris and his state. The various Books of the Dead teem with them. One notices that the God never dead, he is asleep, he is apathetic, he is lethargic, etc. Here are some examples: "the great inert", "the king of those who are not", "the Lord of the living", "the master of eternity", "the one who governs Ro-Setau", "the first of the westerners". https://www.osirisnet.net/dieux/osiris/e_osiris_01.htm

24.02  But the Great inert and lethargic Osiris also was somehow full of some kind of power and depicted as a ram...

Of course, the fact that Osiris is nothing but the glorification of what was the weight of the Great Pyramid's impactor, its ballast so to speak, is actually perfectly explaining these epithets as well as the idea that Osiris, despite all these 'asleep' and 'inert' epithets was also associated with power, and in particular with the power of the ram.

"Osiris' soul, or rather his Ba, was occasionally worshipped in its own right, almost as if it were a distinct god […] This aspect of Osiris was referred to as Banebdjedet. […] As Banebdjed, Osiris was given epithets such as Lord of the Sky and Life of the (sun god) Ra. Ba does not mean "soul" in the western sense, and has to do with power, reputation, force of character, especially in the case of a god. […] Since the ba was associated with power, and also happened to be a word for ram in Egyptian, Banebdjed was depicted as a ram, or as Ram-headed." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osiris (in the 'Ram god' section)

Operating diagram of the upper part of the central wooden Djed caisson which was set inside the Grand Gallery of the Great Pyramid of pharaoh Khufu to produce pressurized air needed to refresh the flash-evaporative cooling passage. If Ra was the visible wooden part of the impactor, it was the Osiris weight which gave all its power, force, energy, speed and ramming capability of the composite structure. The first fight of Osiris really occurred inside that central wooden Djed caisson: it was pressurized air itself Osiris was really fighting, and that pressurized air has been glorified into Seth. The second fight of Osiris was still inside the Djed caisson, but inside the inclined well and it was against water: it is pressurized water Osiris was fighting and it is precisely that pressurized water that fought Osiris which has been glorified into the Great Serpent of the Underworld, Apep (Apophis).

24.03  And finally Osiris and Ra soon merged together to form one single deity Ra-Osiris

Of course, the weight of the impactor inevitably had to be associated with some sort of wooden transportation vessel (see previous chapter), to whom it would have given all its power and ramming energy. That wooden vessel, has been glorified by ancient Egyptians into sun god Ra, and of course his famous solar barque. So it isn't a surprise if the inert, asleep and lethargic Osiris, is the exact same one than the Osiris who is giving all his force, all his power and all his ramming energy to Ra: "Ra at this time becomes merged with Osiris, the judge of the dead, and Osiris is seen as the “corpse” and Ra as the “soul” of the single deity Ra-Osiris." https://www.worldhistory.org/Ra_(Egyptian_God)

Le 'réveil d'Osiris' (the 'Awakening of Osiris') at the Exposition Osiris, Institut du Monde Arabe, by Gautier Poupeau Skeleton infographic, International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation: https://www.ibsf.org/en/our-sports/skeleton

24.04  Who really has to wake up: Osiris or yourself?

What's both extraordinary and depressing about egyptologists is their ability not to see things as they are even if they are very clearly portrayed by the ancient Egyptians, but rather as they would like them to be, and who first and foremost can live up to their age-old vision of ancient Egypt, which has now been repeated over and over again for over 200 years without any changes ever having been made. Because let’s face it: when you’re been told that the above figure is representing the ‘awakening’ of Osiris, the healthy reaction would be to laugh, not naively applaud. But obviously, there is a lot of applause.

To understand the true history of ancient Egypt, we need a complete change of mind and paradigm, a total dusting off of the archaic vision imposed on us by the egyptologists of today and yesterday, to embrace a new egyptology based solely on the scientific analysis of facts and their interpretation without any preconceived ideas or apriori.

If you do engage yourself in this approach, you won’t be surprised, or scared or puzzled by the Osiris’ posture on the above figure of the god; you will immediately recognize the posture used by athletes on winter sliding sport skeletons; and then you will be able to start questioning yourself about the reason of this representation: why the hell is Osiris depicted like an athlete speeding up on a skeleton? This is what people should really talk about this figure of Osiris, and under no circumstances should anyone have even raised the possibility that Osiris was simply waking up.

A statuette of the Apis bull running at full speed on a sled (Acc. No. 13000a-b). Egypt at the Manchester Museum: https://egyptmanchester.wordpress.com/2012/07/23/object-biography-7-a-statuette-of-the-apis-bull-acc-no-13000a-b/

Sennedjem's outer coffin © Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco, Sandro Vannini/Laboratoriorosso: https://www.famsf.org/stories/sennedjem-and-egyptians-who-built-royal-tombs

24.05  Osiris is about the weigh of the impactor's weight, this is why though depicted as 'inert, lethargic and asleep' Osiris was also highly associated with the power of the ram as Osiris-Banebdjedet

"Osiris' soul, or rather his Ba, was occasionally worshipped in its own right, almost as if it were a distinct god […] This aspect of Osiris was referred to as Banebdjedet. […] As Banebdjed, Osiris was given epithets such as Lord of the Sky and Life of the (sun god) Ra. Ba does not mean "soul" in the western sense, and has to do with power, reputation, force of character, especially in the case of a god. […] Since the ba was associated with power, and also happened to be a word for ram in Egyptian, Banebdjed was depicted as a ram, or as Ram-headed." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osiris (in the 'Ram god' section)

“Relief of Banebdjedet of Mendes in the Temple of Khnum at Esna”: https://egypt-museum.egypt-museum.com/post/770060406310993921/banebdjedet-of-mendes-temple-of-khnum

24.06  The 'Djed' part of the name of Osiris-Banebdjedet is indeed about the central wooden Djed caisson

It took me some time before I really started to understand that not only pressurizing air in the central wooden Djed caisson was as important as pressurizing water in the inclined well, but maybe even more important for future reconstruction of the whole system, the idea that the central wooden Djed caisson wasn't limited to the Grand Gallery, like I first thought: the Djed caisson (glorified into god Ptah additionally to the trunk of the Djed pillar) was as much in the Gallery as it was in the inclined well (see its dedicated chapter). So it isn't a surprise that the ramming ability of Osiris, as Osiris-Banebdjedet is mentioning the Djed in his own name: the central wooden caisson, also known as the trunk of the Djed pillar was indeed his realm.

The design of the composite impactor of the Great Pyramid, showing the four metal skate blades that allowed Horus and Osiris to gain speed and energy in the central wooden Djed caisson of the Grand Gallery. Both the Four Sons of Horus and the Banebdjedet form of Osiris are about these four blades.

Tomb of Ay WV23. Above the entry of the annexe are the four sons of Horus, represented with human heads seated in pairs facing each other around a table of offerings. Kairoinfo4u: https://www.flickr.com/photos/manna4u/13044427033

24.07  Most probably Banebdjedet is taking the form of a ram because of the shape of his horns: without the four crescent-shape skate blades, Osiris wouldn't have been able to move an inch

I don’t know how many times I had the occasion to mention the facetious part of ancient Egyptians in the way they’ve created gods, goddesses and myths to glorify everything they’ve done in the field of science and technology; but there is another one here with the weird representation of Banebdjedet with two pairs of rams’ heads. If you only look at the faces of the rams, you won’t understand anything because the only meaning of these heads is to show the horns. Look how these horns have been highlighted; look how big and colorful they are compared to the faces of the animals. Look how they are kind of facing each other in each pairs.

We’ve just seen that if Osiris was called ‘the Great Inert and asleep’, yet still able to fight both Seth and the Great serpent Apep, it was because Osiris is nothing but the weight of the impactor; but this weight without the four appropriate skate blades wouldn’t have been able to move an inch and Osiris would have been really dead. So Egyptians created another deity: Banebdjedet, who would be the glorification of these four blades that were putting Osiris into motion; and because the twofold role of Osiris was to pressurize air and water, Egyptians have chosen to use the ram for him and for Banebdjedet.

We’ll see that Egyptians have also used this ‘facing each other’ characteristic in another reinterpretation of these skate blades with the Four Sons of Horus; Horus being the glorification of the composite structure of the impactor. In other words, the Four Sons of Horus and the Four Rams’ heads of Banebdjedet are about the exact same thing.

One major difference though: Horus being about both Ra and Osiris, he was projecting massive streams of water behind his path (that is what the ‘flail’ is all about, see its dedicated chapter); in the other hand Osiris was hidden inside the impactor and he didn’t projected any stream of water at all, and there is no flail associated with Banebdjedet.

The goal of the Osiris weight was to pressurize both the air and the water that were trapped inside the central wooden Djed caisson, whether the caisson was inside the Grand Gallery or inside the inclined well.

"Seth helps Ra fight Apophis on Ra's Solar Barque". From the Herweben Funerary Papyrus (Museum of Fine Arts, Boston) - Handbook of Egyptian Mythology (Geraldine Pinch): http://secretebase.free.fr/complots/zodiac/seth/seth.htm

24.08  The first fight of a ramming Osiris-Banebdjedet inside the Djed caisson is against Seth: the impactor's bollards

"Set hated his brother Osiris, and he gathered to himself seventy-two conspirators […]. And they made a plan that when Osiris returned they should kill him and place Set on the throne; but they hid their plans, and with smiling faces went out to meet Osiris when he re-entered Egypt in triumph. In secret they met again and again, in secret also they prepared a coffer made of costly wood painted and decorated with rich designs and glowing colours […]. Set, that Wicked One, had in secret measured the body of Osiris, and the coffer was made to fit the body of the King, for this was part of the plan. When all was ready, Set bade his brother and the seventy-two conspirators to a feast in his great banqueting-hall. […] Then Set stood up in his place and said, "He who lies down in this coffer and whom it fits, to that man I will give it." His words were sweet as honey, but in his heart was the bitterness of evil. One after one, the conspirators lay down in the coffer with jests and laughter; for one it was too long, and for another it was too short, and for a third it was too wide, and for a fourth too narrow. Then came Osiris to take his turn, and he, all unsuspecting, lay down in it. At once the conspirators seized the lid and clapped it on; some nailed it firmly in its place, while others poured molten lead into all the openings lest he should breathe and live. Thus died the great Osiris."

"The conspirators lifted the chest, which was now a coffin, and carried it to the river-bank. They flung it far into the water, and Hapi the Nile-god caught it and carried it upon his stream to the sea; the Great Green Waters received it and the waves bore it to Byblos and lifted it into a tamarisk-tree that grew by the shore." Excerpt from Sacred Texts: https://www.sacred-texts.com/egy/ael/ael08.htm#page_41

"Representation of the solar boat of Ra pulled by jackals and serpents. The boat is attacked by the serpent Apophis [Apep] but the latter is pierced by Seth." Funerary papyrus of Heruben. Soutekh67 on Wikipedia: https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fichier:Barque_solaire_contre_Apopi.jpg

24.09  The real meaning of the Great serpent Apep being attacked by Seth

The above image is only the representation of the impactor speeding in the central wooden Djed caisson on its four skate blades. It really is a very sophisticated piece where everything is both deconstructed into all its component parts, and then metaphorically reconstructed into a whole new ‘story’ so to speak.

• Like we’ve already seen the sun boat only is the representation of the impactor and its weird front piece attached to the ropes may very well be the representation of the Osiris weight itself (it would explain why this strange piece is directly connected to the ropes, hence suggesting that it is that piece that is putting the wooden sun boat into motion)

• For example, there isn’t really any ropes or any hauling party in there: Egyptians only wanted to demonstrate that the impactor could move very fast on its four skate blades; so they’ve used four running jackals that they coupled with four snakes because these snakes are representation of water, just like Apep, and the blades were indeed running onto the water that was inside the hollow guiding rails.

• Also, because the water of the inclined well was first the water that run into the caisson in the Grand Gallery and on which the impactor was sliding, Egyptians also represented the sun boat directly onto the whole coiled body of Apep

• Seth being the representation of the two protruding bollards of the impactor, Egyptians may have used the ‘pointy’ aspect of the bollards to give Seth a spear, but there probably is another metaphor I don’t get here

Operating diagram of the Great Pyramid, showing the extremely important role of the central wooden Djed caisson, and its asymmetrical design between the aerial part in the Grand Gallery and the flooded part in the inclined well.

24.10  The asymmetrical design of the aerial and flooded parts of the central wooden Djed caisson

Remember that Benebdjedet is the glorification of the four blades that allowed the Osiris weight to do its job and that if ‘Djed’ is even part of the name of Benebdjedet it only is because its realm was the central wooden caisson which have been glorified in the Osiris myth (see previous chapters) into the pillar of Djed.

Because not only the central wooden Djed caisson was the realm of Osiris-Banebdjedet, but that caisson also had the appropriate hollowed-out rails into it; and that central wooden Djed caisson that really is part of Banebdjedet himself is also most probably the meaning of the was scepter on the above image.

Just look how unnaturally the god is holding this scepter, isn’t there something strange? Here, I’m not sure about the interpretation, but I believe that what Banebdjedet is holding is the representation of the central wooden Djed caisson, with its big aerial part (a), and its smaller flooded part (b).

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/

24.11  The second fight of a ramming Osiris-Banebdjedet inside the Djed caisson is against Apep: the pressurized water in the inclined well

• The whole point of this bas-relief is to depict how the great serpent Apep (Apophis), the Egyptian glorification of the waters of the inclined well of the Great Pyramid is put under pressure by being pinned to the ground by the trunk of a tree; and of course that tree is the central wooden Djed caisson itself. The significance of the scene is manifold: firstly, it shows that the great serpent, hence the waters of the inclined well, were pressurized (the weight of the tree weighing down on Apophis' body), but it also shows that these same waters were as well all along the length of the trunk (the image is showing a big part of Apophis’ body climbing up the trunk, almost engulfing the trunk), and that is to indicate that these same waters were actually inside that trunk. In short: the pressurized waters of the inclined well were inside the tree, i.e. they were inside the central wooden Djed caisson.

This relief indicates that the central wooden Djed caisson wasn’t restricted to the Grand Gallery (where it generated pressurized air), but instead it got also inside the inclined well. This relief is extremely important.

• We'll see in next chapter why is Bastet in the picture, and that if the cat goddess is showing a knife it is not to kill the Great serpent, but to indicate that a piece of Apep needed to be cut out: that little piece of Apep cut out, is the small amount of pressurized water ejected from the well towards the flash-evaporative passage.

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Table of contents

Operating diagrams of the Great Pyramid

Timelines

Index