THE PYRAMIDS of the COLD • Chapter 63 The 'cooling water' of a spitting Kebechet

In summary: if we can be absolutely certain of the cold production itself, not only because of the presence of massive salt deposit in the evaporative passage and in the Queen's chamber where cold was stored, but also because of the representation that Egyptians have made of the creation of the fog of microdroplets in the Dendera light, the use of this cold for cooling chemical manufacturing of natron is still hypothetical. But here, with Kebechet, we’re gonna see how Egyptians have glorified the role that water took as a refrigerant.

Because the fact is that with Kebechet, egyptologists are perfectly aware of the idea of ‘cooling water’, they simply are wrong about its interpretation: the ‘cooling water’ of kebechet is only seen as ‘refreshing water’, just like we’ve already seen with the so-called ‘Refreshment of the Gods’ Step Pyramid of Djeser. Apparently egyptologists have no problem considering the idea that gods had to be refreshed, but we’ll agree that if you think it through it’s a little weird right? Did gods used to do hard physical work or exercise in the hottest hours of the day under a  blazing sunshine so that they needed so much to be refreshed? What about some lemonade, or a nice massage?

Of course, egyptologists couldn’t have understood  that what ancient Egyptians have left for us today, so to speak, is only about science and technology; that Egyptians were not only the great masters of knowledge but also the great masters of bragging and encrypting what they’ve done, all at the same time. Here, this is Kebechet that is the glorification of cold water, and this is no accident if they represented the goddess as a snake with a raised head: Kebechet is not only about cold water and the idea of cooling in general, but she also is about how that cold is made, and they’ve used the same metaphor they’ve used with the snake of the Dendera light spitting its venom. Kebechet is about cold water and the fog of microdroplets that is creating that cold after evaporation.

[illustration of the goddess Kebechet/Qebhut as a golden snake] “The small statue depicts a snake deity with a feather on its tail. The statue is placed on a standard, an object carried at the top of a pole and used as an emblem or to mark a rallying point in battle. The statue was once kept inside a shrine of black varnished wood. The statuette, which belongs to Tutankhamun's collection, portrays Qebhut, goddess of freshness and daughter of the god Anubis, who played a mythological part in the funerary ceremonies.” Cultnat: https://www.flickr.com/photos/cultnat/15214048578

[Dendera Light relief drawing] Please notice that what seems to be important here isn't the snake, but the spat venom of the snake. Also, you can see that the characters holding the snake are showing a double outline, the same way that the character holding (or offering) the Dendera Light does, on the right part of the drawing. The Dendera Light is produced by the snake, or as explained: by the venom of the snake. In short, this particular relief is describing how was produced the fog of microdroplets of sprayed water that created flash-evaporative cold. Image: Dendera Light drawing from the New York Public Library (Digital Collections). Author : Auguste Mariette, 1821-1881

63.01  The venom spray of a spitting snake: that is what 'cold water' Kebechet is really all about

Ancient Egyptians themselves did actually explain, in their own way, that the Dendera light is actually produced in the exact same way a spitting snake is creating a spray, or a fog with its venom. That is what Kebechet is all about: she indeed means 'cold water' but she also could be called 'spitting' Kebechet, and she is all about the fog of microdroplets that is creating evaporative cold with water.

If you read the Wikipedia's page on Kebechet, you'll have merely a couple of lines about her (I'm just overstating a little bit here), so every excerpt here comes from the World History Encyclopedia and has been written by Joshua J. Mark, published on 17 February 2014. I really hope Joshua and his institution will forgive me copying a big part of their text, and I really encourage you to go see the original post as there is a lot more content to read about Kebechet: I only copied what really linked the goddess with cooling water: https://www.worldhistory.org/Qebhet/

"Qebhet (also known as Kebehwet, Kabechet or Kebechet) is a benevolent goddess of ancient Egypt. She is the daughter of the god Anubis, granddaughter of the goddess Nephthys and god Osiris, and is the personification of cool, refreshing water as she brings drink to the souls of the dead in the afterlife Hall of Truth."

"Qebhet never had her own cult or area of specialization beyond a comforter of the souls of the dead. She is mentioned frequently in the Egyptian Book of the Dead as she brings water to the souls as they stand awaiting judgment by Osiris and the Forty-Two Judges in the afterlife. Her name is frequently translated as "cooling water" and she was associated with the life-giving waters of the Nile River. She was originally a serpent deity, known as "the celestial serpent" in the Pyramid Texts (c. 2400-2300 BCE) but was re-imagined as a goddess associated with the land of the dead, daughter of Anubis and "the king's sister", though who the `king' is remains unclear."

"One of the most important aspects in honoring the dead in ancient Egypt (as well as Greece and elsewhere) was their remembrance and no one wished to think of their departed loved one thirsting while awaiting trial before the great god Osiris in the afterlife. Qebhet, therefore, played an important role in the rituals of death in that she assured the still-living that their loved one was cared for and, furthermore, that they themselves would also be when it came their own time to stand in the hall of judgement. Further, the ritual cleansing of the body of the corpse by clean water was a vital element in the burial of the dead and Qebhet symbolized this purification."

"She was also thought to play an especially vital role in the revival of the soul after death. Egyptologist Richard H. Wilkinson writes how Qebhet personally tended the soul of the dead king and "refreshed and purified the heart of the deceased monarch with pure water from four nemset jars [ritual funerary vessels] and that the goddess helped open the `windows of the sky' to assist the king's resurrection" (223). To `open the windows of the sky' meant to liberate the soul from the body and Qebhet seems to have come to perform this service for all the dead, not just the royalty. Her grandmother, Nephthys, was known as "Friend of the Dead" and Qebhet came to be associated with this same kind of care and concern for the departed souls."

"Qebhet is often pictured as a serpent or an ostrich bringing water. She was never worshipped to the degree of Isis or Hathor - or even much lesser deities - but was revered and respected and, at certain times, became associated with the Nile and cults which grew up in worship of the river. This is hardly surprising as she was always closely associated with pure, clean water."

"As the Nile was associated with Milky Way and the courses of the gods, Qebhet also became linked with the sky in both daylight and darkness. In her role as a purifier, she would also have been linked with the concept of ma'at, eternal harmony and truth, which was the central guiding principle in ancient Egyptian culture personified by the goddess of the same name."

Pyramids of the Giza, by Kenny OMG: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pyramids_of_the_Giza_Necropolis.jpg

63.02  The original sin made by egyptologists: thinking that the Great Pyramids were linked to eternity because it was the place were mummies were buried instead of where the mummification salt natron was produced

The academic explanation to the question of why the great pyramids have been built by ancient Egyptians and why they have been associated with eternal life of pharaohs, is to say that they needed to be buried inside these gigantic structures to access immortality. In short, the body of the pharaohs had to be placed inside the pyramids to gai immortality. But it doesn’t make any sense: did we find the mummy of any pharaoh in a pyramid? Of course not.

But now, just think it through: what was really giving to a dead pharaoh eternal life, if not the mummification process itself? And that is the key. Mummification is the key! It only is when your body is transformed into a mummy that you become immortal; and of course, what did you need for the mummification process? Natron; you needed the mummification salt natron used by the embalmer; and that salt was not harvested directly onto the ground, or at least not for the natron used on pharaohs: the rulers of Egypt wanted 100% pure natron manufactured by magical science, and it was only produced within the great pyramids.

This is why the great pyramids, and the Great Pyramid in particular has been associated with the pharaoh's eternal life.

Operating diagram of the Great Pyramid of Khufu, designed for the production of flash-evaporative cold. If we can be absolutely certain of the cold production itself, not only because of the presence of massive salt deposit in the evaporative passage and in the Queen's chamber where cold was stored, but also because of the representation that Egyptians have made of the whole process in the Dendera light, the use of this cold for cooling chemical manufacturing of natron is still hypothetical.

63.03  How to literally illustrate and glorify evaporative cooling: the salted tears and the animal wet cold nose metaphor

The difficulty about ancient Egyptian art is that everything you look at does have a profound meaning. Nothing, and I can’t insist enough on that crucial point, nothing is without meaning.

There is a perfect example of this Egyptian way of thinking: first they show you that what is important on the face of the animal is water by representing magnificent tears coming out of the eyes of the animal’s head, and then they tell you what the real meaning of the whole thing is all about, and that is again about the cold. The nose and tears have the same color because they are both about water.

Interestingly, tears are also salted; and if you already have read the first Sections of the study, you do know that salt has accumulated inside the evaporative cooling passage (the horizontal passage) and the chamber where the cold was stored (the Queen’s chamber).

If you have animals at home like a cat or a dog, you do know that their nose should be both moist and cold. And of course, this is all about evaporative cooling. If you want to demonstrate evaporative cooling using your environment, pointing towards cold wet noses is obvious.

Of course, in the Great Pyramid it was a much more sophisticated and much more efficient kind of evaporative cold (it was using flash evaporation by the creation of fog of microdroplets of liquid water), but the basic principle is the same: when liquid water evaporates, cold is created.

“Moist noses are also one of the ways that dogs can regulate their body temperature and cool down. Unlike humans, dogs don’t have sweat glands. They secrete sweat from the pads of their feet and their noses.” https://www.vetwest.com.au/pet-library/does-a-cold-wet-nose-mean-your-pet-is-healthy/

Photograph by Greger Ravik: https://www.flickr.com/photos/gregerravik/35759298170

Preface

Previous chapter

Table of contents

Operating diagrams of the Great Pyramid

Timelines

Index