THE PYRAMIDS of the COLD • Chapter 65 How did the ancient Egyptians use flood cooling to extend the lifespan of copper drill bits and how was this process glorified - Part 2 • Hapi: how to remove drilling debris

Summary: along with the well-known god Hapi, this is one of the most significant representations of ancient Egyptian civilization, one that can finally be understood in all its complexity. Much has been said about the Sema-tawy; yet, if most accounts barely scratch the surface of the scene's true, hidden meaning, it is because that was precisely the intention.

As has been demonstrated repeatedly in The Pyramids of the Cold, the very nature of what we today call "ancient Egyptian religion" must be entirely re-evaluated through the lens of the science and technology of that era. Concealed beneath a magnificent veneer of religious, metaphysical, and philosophical concepts lies the sum of the ancient Egyptians' knowledge. In reality, this ancient religion was little more than an adventure story for the masses, a vehicle allowing the pharaohs to record, for eternity and in coded form, all the information that absolutely had to be passed down to future generations of ancient Egypt.

The religion consists of a series of staged scenes where metaphors give way to rebuses and wordplay, frequently drawing upon the diverse physical and behavioral traits of the animals with which the people lived in close contact. Animals, hippopotamuses, falcons, snakes, vultures, and so on, served merely as tools for the creators of this extraordinary body of work. In this chapter, we will see that the Sema-tawy holds a hidden meaning linked to a technology of particular importance to the ancient Egyptians 5,000 years ago. At a time when humanity was deep in the Bronze Age, this technology was arguably the most crucial of all: the means by which the Egyptians shaped the materials at their disposal, specifically, their drilling and cutting tools. What we would consider "low-tech" today was, in fact, the "high-tech" of that era. Specifically, the Sema-tawy illustrates a key stage of this technology: the step that allows for the removal of debris generated by the metal-drilling process (recall that rivet holes have been found in Egyptian spearheads dating back to the Naqada culture, between 4400 and 3000 BCE).

What is Hapi’s role here? Well, as everyone knows, Hapi is not strictly the god of the Nile itself, but rather the god of the Nile’s flood, his essence is entirely bound up with that inundation. His veneration in connection with the Nile is merely a repurposing of his primary function, a reinterpretation of his true nature. What lies hidden within the figure of Hapi is what is known today as "flood cooling," a crucial step in the drilling process. This involves drenching the drilling tool with a massive volume of water, not only to lubricate and cool the bit (thereby extending its lifespan, as discussed in the previous chapter regarding Wadj-Wer) but also to flush away chips, debris from the material being worked.

This is the true meaning of the Sema-tawy. Hapi is depicted first grasping the strands of swarf, the metal chips, that form long, rope-like coils whipping through the air; simultaneously, he uses his feet to push away the other portion of the chips, which tend to accumulate at the base of the workpiece being drilled. In other words, that peculiar shape at Hapi’s feet represents precisely that type of debris: the material that does not fly off but can significantly impede the drilling process. And here, the powerful association between Hapi and the famous Nile silt becomes clearer: Hapi’s true, profound, yet hidden, nature was not to carry the Nile silt itself, but to sweep all that debris along in his current.

This is evidence that the ancients Egyptians used extremely efficient mechanized stone-cutting tools, likely very similar to our modern ones. They presumably differed primarily in their drive or power mechanism. “Abu Ghorub is a small Old Kingdom Egyptian site with some remarkable artifacts still remaining, ones that show some astonishing signs of ancient high technology in their construction”. Ancient High Technology - the Machined Artifacts of Abu Ghorub - Old Kingdom Sun Temple. Video by UnchartedX: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_tQaDanMNE&t=542s

"Lost Ancient Technology Of Egypt: Curious Drill Holes In Stone", various photographs from Hidden Inca Tours: https://hiddenincatours.com/lost-ancient-technology-of-egypt-curious-drill-holes-in-stone/

65.01  Evidence of the use of cutting tools just as effective as our modern power saws or drills is found everywhere in Egypt... perhaps we should stop pretending they don't exist

This is arguably one of the clearest examples of the total lack of willingness among egyptologists to take a genuine interest in what ancient Egypt actually was, not the ancient Egypt that has been described and, above all, fantasized about for over two hundred years without the narrative ever changing, but simply ancient Egypt as it truly existed. We saw in Chapter 3 that when egyptologists found themselves cornered by evidence that completely challenged this famous narrative, such as the significant limescale deposits found throughout what was the "cold zone" of the Great Pyramid (deposits that serve as a signature of water evaporation), these so-called eminent scientists did not hesitate for a moment (it seems) to destroy the very deposits that had accumulated in the evaporation tunnel and the cold-storage chamber (the Queen's Chamber, the only chamber located at the pyramid's center). They destroyed deposits that could have answered at least two major questions: what temperatures the Egyptians were able to achieve, and what kind of water was used to do so (rainwater or Nile water). 

To me, this is a crime, a betrayal. Yet, most of the time, egyptologists do not go to such extremes to defend their enduring 19th-century vision; most of the time, they simply look away or lower their eyes, and that is the case here; for despite countless examples of stonework clearly demonstrating the use of some form of mechanization, egyptologists persist in telling us the same old pretty stories from the 1800s, painting a picture of people in loincloths handling large dolerite balls to tackle granite. What saddens me most is not even this betrayal by egyptologists, but the apparent total indifference shown by the general public. If you cannot see that the cuts and holes made here were achieved using genuine tools, precise, powerful, and highly efficient, then unfortunately there is nothing I can do for you, because all you need to do is open your eyes.

“Egyptologists have done an amazing job of piecing together the history of Dynastic Egypt, but what they have failed to properly explain are the presence of certain anomalies, such as drill holes that we find in profusion, in hard stone such as rose granite (above) at many of the ancient sites.” https://hiddenincatours.com/egyptian-core-drill-holes-in-stone-evidence-of-machining-before-the-pharaohs/

If you undertake an intensive drilling process, at some point you will need to use a coolant; this also offers the advantage of lubricating the tool and clearing away drilling debris, both large and small. “Po-Boys Cheap drilling fluid works on steel DIY drilling steel coolant”. Video by Mac Wolgamott: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1WpfPtD7X4

High volume low pressure flood cooling, by Piotr Fox Wysocki. This method is used during the drilling process for three reasons: cooling, lubrication and evacuation of the debris: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NcC-34prNNY

65.02  If Wadj-wer represents the cooling of the drill bit through copious flood flushing, the flood coolant itself embodies Hapi, while the Nile silt corresponds to the drilling debris, cuttings and chips

In the previous chapter, chapter 64 of "The Pyramids of the Cold", we explored the true, hidden meaning of the god known as Wadj-wer. We saw that the epithets "Great Green," "Everlast," and "Eternal" actually referred to a deity, or rather, a personification, created by the ancient Egyptians to glorify a drill bit's ability to withstand the test of time through the use of flood cooling technology; we saw that the Was scepter really is that drill bit and that the so mysterious suspended Ankh crosses beneath the “offering plate” are only representing the coolant dripping from a drilling plate.

In this chapter, we will see that this flood coolant performs a second function essential to the proper operation of a drilling tool: the removal of drilling debris. We will discover that the flood coolant itself was deified as Hapi, the god of the Nile flood.

Understanding Hapi in this light also allows us to largely decipher the famous Sema-tawy scenes, revealing in particular exactly what Hapi is doing with his hands and feet. Through this remarkable process of glorifying and deifying scientific or technological elements, the ancient Egyptians sought to attach a narrative that would be comprehensible to all citizens; thus, they linked the Sema-tawy imagery to the concept of the reunification of Upper and Lower Egypt.

Since Hapi, acting as the flood coolant, was responsible for clearing away debris from both the ground and the air, the Egyptians utilized this dual action (where the two movements were almost diametrically opposed) to represent another dichotomy: one of profound significance to the Egyptian people as a whole. In other words, building on the fact that flood coolant performs a dual function, they linked it to the dual nature of Egypt, specifically, the separation (whether real or imagined) between Lower and Upper Egypt.

In this context, the reference to the flooding Nile is perfect, as it highlights how both the flood coolant and the Nile in flood become laden with material, debris in the former case, and silt in the latter. In reality, when one hears of "Nile silt," what is actually being referred to, in a coded, hidden manner, is the drilling debris flushed away by the coolant.

The Was-scepter, which appears to pierce right through what is usually presented as an offering table, is nothing other than the glorification of the drill bit itself (chapter 34). “Depiction of the Egyptian Mediterranean God "Wadj-wer" meaning "great green". based on a relief from the mortuary temple of Sahure in Abuseer.” The Was scepter that Draw by PharaohCrab: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wadj-wer#/media/File:Wadj-wer.svg

Limestone slab showing the Nile flood god Hapy (Hapi). 12th Dynasty. From the foundations of the temple of Thutmose (Tuthmosis) III, Koptos, Egypt. The Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology, London. With thanks to the Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology, UCL. Photograph by Osama Shukir Muhammed Amin, FRCP (Glasgow) [here modified]: Wikipedia

65.03  Regarding the method the ancient Egyptians used to convey their ideas: how to exquisitely blend a didactic spirit with a playful one, simply by telling a short story that a child could understand

It is hard to say whether this depiction glorifies the pouring spout or the drilling bit (the Was scepter) more, but the story told here is typical of the true nature of ancient Egyptian religion: a vast collection of scientific and technological tributes.

For here, the aim is indeed to show the viewer how a simple spouted pitcher is made. The artist begins by depicting a simple pitcher without a spout (the one closest to the figure presenting the scene), followed by the spout itself (and to clearly show that the spout is pierced, a Was scepter runs right through it, the Was scepter being the glorification of the drill bit itself), and finally the pitcher with the spout integrated. It is simple, clear, precise, and effective. At the same time, this remarkable and moving depiction demonstrates once again that the Was scepter is indeed linked to the concept of making and using a simple hole. Nothing could be more natural for the Was scepter, which is nothing less than a glorification of the drilling tool.

In the next chapter, we will examine the true significance of Hapi; I will explain how the Egyptian god of the Nile flood originates precisely from the drill-cooling technique known today as "flood cooling." We will see that everything is linked and interconnected: the reason Wadj-wer and Hapi were depicted in exactly the same way in human form is that, while Wadj-wer represented the glorification of the drill bit, fully submerged in cooling and lubricating water, that very water was subsequently glorified as Hapi. Thus, in Chapter 65 of The Pyramids of the Cold, we will see that the key to understanding Hapi lies not only in the Was scepter but also in the flood-cooling technique; this method not only cools and lubricates both the drill bit and the material being drilled but also clears away the debris generated during the operation. Naturally, this concept of flushing out debris with a large volume of water is the origin of the importance attached to the famous Nile silt carried by the river's floodwaters.

Everything in Egyptian religion is essentially a reinterpretation and glorification of tangible elements, whether used by the pharaohs in this specific instance or simply known to them, as we have seen repeatedly (notably with Atum and Nut). When Atum represents the Egyptian deification of the natural process of water evaporation, its result, Nut is the deification of the evaporated water itself (Chapter 02).

Rare representation of the Sema-tawy, showing what the scene is really about a hole, a drilling hole. But, contrary to what one might initially think, I do not believe the hole depicted here actually refers to the drilled hole itself, but rather serves as a fairly sophisticated, figurative representation of the groove from which helical chips emerge, chips that Hapi, metaphorically speaking, seizes with both hands in order to clear them away." Susa, Statue of Darius the Great", Tehran, National Museum. Photo by Jona Lendering: https://www.livius.org/pictures/iran/susa/susa-statue-of-darius-the-great/statue-of-darius-the-great-base-with-sema-tawy-front/

65.04  The Sema-tawy is all about the method of evacuating drilling chips with water, even the helical chips which rise up into the air

Here is a depiction of the Sema-tawy featuring Hapi, the god of the Nile flood, a representation of immense importance, as it is, to my knowledge, the only one that "dares," so to speak, to literally show the very object of the entire scene: a hole. Yet, of course, this is no ordinary hole; it is one created using the finest technology of the era, a drilling process that likely involved some early form of mechanization (which remains to be fully understood) but certainly utilized a water-flooding cooling technique. This method was essential for clearing away both the material fragments accumulating at the drill site and the drilling residues that spontaneously formed into actual strands swirling through the air. In this image, Hapi uses his foot to push aside the first type of debris, which lies on the ground, while grasping the second type, the helical chips in the air, with his hands.

But contrary to what one might initially think, I do not believe the hole depicted here on the above representation of the Sema-tawy actually refers to the drilled hole itself, but rather serves as a fairly sophisticated, figurative representation of the groove from which helical chips emerge, chips that Hapi, metaphorically speaking, seizes with both hands in order to clear them away. In reality, the water used in the flood cooling of drill bits actually enters these grooves and directly extracts the helical chips. That is the profound meaning of Sema-tawy.

“Drilling involves the creation of holes that are right circular cylinders. This is accomplished most typically by using a twist drill, something most readers will have seen before. The figure above illustrates a cross section of a hole being cut by a common twist drill. The chips must exit through the flutes to the outside of the tool. As can be seen in the figure, the cutting front is embedded within the workpiece, making cooling difficult. The cutting area can be flooded, coolant spray mist can be applied, or coolant can be delivered through the drill bit shaft.” https://www.efunda.com/processes/machining/drill.cfm

Since the Egyptians needed to represent, in a concealed, coded manner, the cylindrical shape assumed by drilling debris (whether resembling long ropes or small, broken, individual cones), they incorporated lotus and papyrus cones into their depiction of the Sema-tawy. If some of these plants appear broken, it is precisely because the aim was to illustrate that, while large, vine-like strands might be created during the drilling process, they often snapped to form smaller fragments.“ [left] Are these chips good? Could they be any better somehow?” r/Machinists: https://www.reddit.com/r/Machinists/comments/1knnz21/are_these_chips_good_could_they_be_any_better/

[Right] photo Mick Palarczyk: https://paulsmit.smugmug.com/Features/Africa/Egypt-Abydos-temples/i-4MZMnRh/A

65.05  How did the ancient Egyptians represent in a figurative and coded manner the conical shape of intact or broken drilling debris using the lotus and the papyrus

If the papyrus and the lotus are depicted in the Sema-tawy scene, it is because these plants perfectly illustrate the peculiar helical shape assumed by the debris formed when metal is pierced. In a sense, the two plants serve here to glorify this curious cylindrical form, a feature clearly highlighted in the adjacent photograph.

In a sense, what Hapi bears on his head represents his true purpose as the glorification of the water coolant: to clear away long drilling debris and tiny, broken fragments. Here, the two associated plants are clearly not both present, there is not both the lotus and the papyrus, but only one of them, and it was evidently necessary to depict the one of these plants either intact or broken.

Hapi. Dynasties 26 to 30, circa 664-343 B.C.E. Musée des Beaux-Arts de Lyon: https://www.mba-lyon.fr/en/fiche-oeuvre/nile-god-hapi

About the "Papyrus and lotus flowers at Abydos", (a photograph by Mick Palarczyk), you will notice that these two plants, these two cones, are, as it were, "presented" to the Was scepter, the true significance of which is to glorify the drill bit itself as seen in chapter 34. It is rather like saying to the Was scepter: "Hey great Was, look what you have done."

“Papyrus and lotus flowers at Abydos". In this relief detail we see pharaoh Seti I presenting papyrus (left) and lotus flowers (right) to Geb and Nut (who are outside the frame of the picture). The relief can be found on the east wall of the Inner Osiris Hall in the Seti I Temple at Abydos. The scenes in this hall depict rites in the Osiris Mysteries which were enacted once a year at Abydos to celebrated the resurrection of Osiris, the son of sky goddess Nut and earth god Geb. The Seti Temple at Abydos was begun by Seti I and completed by his son Ramses II in the 13th century BC." [text from Egypt 29944] ’Papyrus and lotus flowers at Abydos’, photograph by Mick Palarczyk. https://paulsmit.smugmug.com/Features/Africa/Egypt-Abydos-temples/i-4MZMnRh/A

“Chips produced during (a) Drilling process, (b) Helical milling process”. Experimental investigation on the performance of helical milling for hole processing in AZ31 magnesium alloy. https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Chips-produced-during-a-Drilling-process-b-Helical-milling-process_fig6_346314610

65.06  The true hidden nature of the Sema-tawy: hot to get rid of chips during the drilling process, by sweeping them away along with the flood coolant current

What Hapi is doing with his feet simply demonstrates that he, the god of the flood, is the one clearing away the chips that naturally accumulate at the base of the drill bit. Here, by grasping these various vine-like strands, Hapi shows us that he is also responsible for removing the rope-like formations that chips can create under certain drilling conditions.

This entire Sema-Tawy scene is about the removal of debris generated by the drilling process; the ancient Egyptians’ approach was no different from our own, though their implementation was undoubtedly tailored to the technical capabilities of their era. Yet the core concept, the technique of flood cooling, was identical. Without it, it would almost certainly have been impossible to drill into the hardest stone found in Egypt, or even to produce the stone-sawing marks visible in the photograph above.

65.07  Drilling chips can look like just ropes, very long ropes

The fact that drilling debris can take the form of very long, unbroken structures, bearing a striking resemblance to actual ropes, is, of course, the very origin of the central element in the Sema Tawy scene; in it, the two facing deities are depicted pulling on what look like ropes to tie a knot, thereby demonstrating that the scene in question is indeed about binding or joining together.

“I think I had a 30 ft one because the chip breaker on my insert disintegrated and I was doing a half inch depth of cut to remove a casing pipe. The thing came off the machine red hot then became ridiculously long and circled my machine was fucking scary had to break it up so that it would go into our smaller chip bins.” https://www.reddit.com/r/Machinists/comments/1l4d2za/whats_your_longest_spiral_chip/

“My longest was about 50', it snaked its way under the lathe 3-4 times and coiled up like a snake”, by Mizar97: https://www.reddit.com/r/Machinists/comments/1l4d2za/whats_your_longest_spiral_chip/

What's your longest spiral chip? Photographs by r/ machinists: https://www.reddit.com/r/Machinists/comments/1l4d2za/whats_your_longest_spiral_chip/

Hapi was the Egyptian god of the Nile's flood. Relief at the base of the left entrance statue in front of the Luxor Temple, Egypt. Photograph by Olaf Tausch: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/af/Luxor_Tempel_15.jpg

65.08  The true yet hidden nature of Hapi is about sweeping away all the drilling chips along his current

What is Hapi’s role here? Well, as everyone knows, Hapi is not strictly the god of the Nile itself, but rather the god of the Nile’s flood, his essence is entirely bound up with that inundation. His veneration in connection with the Nile is merely a repurposing of his primary function, a reinterpretation of his true nature. What lies hidden within the figure of Hapi is what is known today as "flood cooling," a crucial step in the drilling process. This involves drenching the drilling tool with a massive volume of water, not only to lubricate and cool the bit (thereby extending its lifespan, as discussed in the previous chapter regarding Wadj-Wer) but also to flush away chips, debris from the material being worked.

This is the true meaning of the Sema-Tawy. Hapi is depicted first grasping the strands of swarf, the metal chips, that form long, rope-like coils whipping through the air; simultaneously, he uses his feet to push away the other portion of the chips, which tend to accumulate at the base of the workpiece being drilled. In other words, that peculiar shape at Hapi’s feet represents precisely that type of debris: the material that does not fly off but can significantly impede the drilling process.

And here, the powerful association between Hapi and the famous Nile silt becomes clearer: Hapi’s true, profound, yet hidden, nature was not to carry the Nile silt itself, but to sweep all that debris along in his current.

If the entire lower section of the mysterious element Hapi is stepping on is missing, as it clearly is on this particular above image, this is not because the artist intended to create a sort of close-up shot, as one might do today; rather, it reflects a decision not to depict what cannot be seen, since the missing portion is actually the area being bored out, the very place where the debris from the drilling process are coming from and accumulates at the surface. “Relief of the resting place of the boat of the god Khonsou in his temple in Karnak - Ramses III made the ritual act of Semah-Taouy.” Author of the image Neithsabe: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Karnak_Khonsou_080522_c.jpg

65.09  The mysterious element Hapi is stepping on is nothing other than the drilling debris that accumulates over time at the point where the drill bit enters the material

Here we have a perfect illustration of the fact that egyptologists have never really sought to understand the codes used by the ancient Egyptians in their pictorial art, so convinced were they that it was precisely nothing more than art.

But that is not the case:if the entire lower section of the mysterious element Hapi is stepping on is missing, as it clearly is on this particular above image, this is not because the artist intended to create a sort of close-up shot, as one might do today; rather, it reflects a decision not to depict what cannot be seen, since the missing portion is actually the area being bored out, the very place where the debris from the drilling process are coming from and accumulates at the surface.

[illustration] accumulation of chips and other debris during the drilling process of various materials: https://www.amazon.in/Cobalt-Drill-Jobber-Length-Metal-5Pcs/dp/B0BQNXBZGZ?th=1

“Carpenter Murat Tosun, one of Osman Erkurt trusted assistants, tighten the ligatures of a "sewn" planking of a conjectural reconstruction of Cycladic boats, in Osman Erkurt's workshop”. Photograph by Piero Castellano: https://www.lightrocket.com/galleries/30976/experimental-archaeologist-rebuilds-ancient-ships

65.10  "Sema" means "union" because it really is about "assembly"

If there is one truly emblematic representation of ancient Egypt, it is the one known as Sema-tawy. In this scene, we see two deities, frequently Hapi, depicted in a dual form, though Thoth, Horus, or Seth may also appear. In every instance, however, the Sema-tawy depicts two deities facing each other and tying a knot using the two plants emblematic of these regions: the lotus flower (representing Upper Egypt) and the papyrus (representing Lower Egypt), bound together by the “sema” hieroglyph, which signifies "union."

The Egyptian title “zmꜣ-tꜣwj” (Egyptological pronunciation: “sema-tawy”) is usually translated as "Uniter of the Two Lands," yet the full depth of its meaning is often misunderstood. Let us not forget that this entire scene is, in reality, a glorification of the act of drilling into a material and cooling it with a flood coolant that also serves to flush out all the drilling debris. And therein lies the true meaning of the Sema-tawy: the reason drilling techniques were so revered in ancient Egypt is that drilling is primarily used to join components together. Drilling into wood creates the thousands of holes required to construct Egyptian sewn boats, while drilling into metal allows metal parts to be joined by riveting. That is why "sema" means "union", or, more accurately, "assembly."

“In Egyptian history, the Upper and Lower Egypt period (also known as The Two Lands) was the final stage of prehistoric Egypt and directly preceded the unification of the realm. The conception of Egypt as the Two Lands was an example of the dualism in ancient Egyptian culture and frequently appeared in texts and imagery, including in the titles of Egyptian pharaohs. “The Egyptian title zmꜣ-tꜣwj (Egyptological pronunciation sema-tawy) is usually translated as "Uniter of the Two Lands" and was depicted as a human trachea entwined with the papyrus and lily plant. The trachea stood for unification, while the papyrus and lily plant represent Lower and Upper Egypt.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Upper_and_Lower_Egypt

“Dual depiction of Hapy, the ancient Egyptian god of the Nile and its flood, in the sema-tawy motif of unification of the two lands. He ties together the symbols of upper Egypt (the lotus, left half) and lower Egypt (the papyrus, right half), while the vegetation, large breasts and belly symbolize fertility and the blue skin symbolizes the Nile's life-giving water. This drawing is inspired by a relief sculpture in Abu Simbel temple in Egypt”. Draw by Jeff Dahl: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hapi_(Nile_god)#/media/File:Hapy_tying.svg

Hapi, in his cavern. The King's Chamber may have served no other purpose than to allow the inclined well to be drained; indeed, the chamber might well have remained empty throughout the pyramid's operational life.

Operational diagram of the Great Pyramid of Khufu for the production of intense cold via flash-evaporation. Throughout the period when the Great Pyramid was in operation, it is highly probable that the structure was not yet complete and was therefore merely a gigantic mastaba, with a flat roof situated roughly below the base of the King's Chamber's gabled rafters. It is possible that the sole purpose of the King's Chamber was to supply the quantity of water needed to sufficiently increase the pressure on the granite block (that is Bes), that had previously held in place the Taweret plug of the well.

65.11  Hapi and the process of draining the inclined well of the Great Pyramid following its operational phase

I will now return briefly to the heart of The Pyramids of the Cold, namely, the operation of the Great Pyramid. While the process enabling the Egyptians to generate intense cold via flash-evaporation is quite clear, spanning the area from the biological sand filter (installed in a space since converted into an electrical room, located between the King’s Chamber antechamber and the entrance to the Grand Gallery) to the evaporation tunnel (known today as the "horizontal passage," despite its 0.30% slope over a length of 32 meters), what occurred upstream of the filter remains entirely obscure.

This is particularly true regarding the role of the King’s Chamber itself. The only "illustration" of this chamber I thought I understood was the famous scene depicting Hapi, the god of the Nile flood, seated in his cavern. It is safe to postulate that this scene actually refers to the King’s Chamber; however, since Hapi, as the god of the Nile flood, symbolizes the sudden release of a massive volume of water, this concept clashes sharply with the Pyramid’s controlled, steady use of water. In all likelihood, some 200 liters of water were released by the filter every twenty minutes or so to be "vaporized" within the evaporation tunnel. What, then, is the connection to Hapi—and the very idea of ​​a flood—in all this? The answer is unequivocal: none. The interesting part is that, once the pyramid had fulfilled its function, the Egyptians did indeed need to trigger a massive, sudden release of water, a process directly linked to draining the inclined well. By simply increasing the pressure on the "Bes block", the block that had previously held the plug at the bottom of the inclined well in place, they were able to drain the well in an instant (likely taking only a few tens of seconds).

What is truly mind-boggling is that this suggests the famous King's Chamber may have served no other purpose than to allow the inclined well to be drained; indeed, the chamber might well have remained empty throughout the pyramid's operational life.

The god Hapy binds the lotus and the papyrus, the symbolic plants of the two Egypts. Bas-relief from the Luxor Temple in Egypt. Photograph by Hedwig Storch: https://fr.vikidia.org/wiki/Fichier:Hapy.JPG

65.12  Regarding the systematic use of double meaning in everything done by the ancient Egyptians

What is fascinating about the ancient Egyptians is the extent to which everything they left for us to discover within what we now call their ancient "religion" is laden with double meanings. I believe the best illustration of this principle can be found in the famous Dendera "light bulbs," which are essentially a glorification of the fog of water micro-droplets that spontaneously evaporate, thereby creating evaporative cooling, while leaving behind an impressive amount of limescale that accumulates throughout the system responsible for this cooling effect. In the various depictions of the Dendera lights, the figures carrying the "bulb" are shown with a curious double silhouette that almost entirely covers their bodies. The Egyptians were masters of the art of encoding and concealing as much information as possible, ensuring the average person could not grasp what lay right before their eyes, and this double silhouette holds (at least) two meanings. First, the figure holding the bulb is generating the cold and is thus depicted suffering from it (the double silhouette represents goosebumps); yet, this same figure can also be viewed as the very structure responsible for the evaporative cooling, what I am now inclined to describe as the "evaporation tunnel." Naturally, it was within this tunnel (the "horizontal passage" of the Great Pyramid) that hundreds of kilograms of limescale formed due to water evaporation, limescale that was deliberately destroyed by Zahi Hawass in 1998, just as internet blogs were emerging; these blogs, in turn, signaled the end of the monopoly on the narrative previously held by official egyptologists and they decided to destroy and eliminate what they couldn’t explain. We thus have one and the same silhouette representing at least two completely different meanings, yet another perfect illustration of the exceptional level of sophistication achieved by the ancient Egyptians.

“Solid rivets are one of the oldest and most reliable types of fasteners, having been found in archaeological findings dating back to the Bronze Age. Rivet holes have been found in Egyptian spearheads dating back to the Naqada culture of between 4400 and 3000 B.C. Archeologists have also uncovered many Bronze Age swords and daggers with rivet holes where the handles would have been. The rivets themselves were essentially short rods of metal, which metalworkers hammered into a pre-drilled hole on one side and deformed on the other to hold them in place.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rivet

[illustration] “Rivet. 1352 BCE, 1336 BCE. Dynasty 18, reign of Akhenaten”. National Museums Liverpool: https://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/artifact/rivet

We see the same thing here with the Sema Tawy scene. First, it depicts the "flood cooling" technique used alongside the material-drilling process; second, it likely glorifies the very process of using rivets, given that one of the primary applications of drilling was to create the holes required for these rivets. In the Sema Tawy, we therefore find both a coded description of the ancient Egyptians' most high-tech drilling process, complete with the use of a coolant fluid (to cool, lubricate, and flush out debris), and an illustration of how the resulting holes were utilized.

Take another close look at the Sema Tawy scene with the concept of the rivet in mind, and you will easily recognize the rivet head being inserted into the pre-drilled hole, followed by the second part of the rivet that requires hammering, an action performed here using the foot.

If the meaning of the Sema-tawy is truly solely about the unification of Upper and Lower Egypt, can someone explain to me what the figure, who appears to be the Pharaoh, is doing on his throne, which is set atop the highly enigmatic "structure" at the center of the scene? What is he doing holding a sistrum, assuming it is indeed a musical instrument? And what, in the first place, does the flooding of the Nile actually have to do with the unification of Upper and Lower Egypt? “Hap-Reset and Hap-Meht [Hapi], Temple of Hathor, Dendera, by Olaf Tausch: ancientegyptonline.co.uk/hapi/

65.13  The sistrum appears first in the Sema-tawy, not only because its meaning literally refers to the act of shaking, a gesture inherent to drilling, but also, as we shall see, because the sistrum is effectively a hand drill itself

While it is still impossible at this stage of the study to form a concrete idea of ​​just how far the ancient Egyptians had advanced in drilling technology, it is reasonable to assume, given that they had developed a "flood cooling" technique, that their drills were actually quite sophisticated; and this explains the presence of all those drill holes, visible on many blocks of granite, an extremely hard stone, at numerous locations across Egypt, even today.

In any case, one thing is certain about such tools, whether modern or ancient: their operation is accompanied by intense noise and vibration. So, how did the ancient Egyptians represent this? They simply associated the scene of a drill being flood-cooled with the sistrum, an instrument whose very name means "shaking" and which is supposed to make a lot of noise.

“A sistrum […] literally "that which is being shaken", from σείειν seiein, "to shake" is a musical instrument of the percussion family, a form of rattle, used most notably by the ancient Egyptians.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sistrum

Ultimately, the sistrum is nothing more than the glorification, in a highly stylized form, of what is, to us, merely a simple, ancient tool: a hand drill. For the ancient Egyptians, however, it was undoubtedly one of the most high-tech tools of all their equipments, and they naturally glorified it in the form of the sistrum. Millers Falls No. 2B Egg Beater Hand Drill – 107427: https://www.jimbodetools.com/products/millers-falls-no-2b-egg-beater-hand-drill-107427

Close-up of the hand drill's crank. “Hap-Reset and Hap-Meht [Hapi], Temple of Hathor, Dendera. Photograph by Olaf Tausch CC BY 3.0: https://ancientegyptonline.co.uk/hapi/

65.14  What was the point of inventing the hand drill if not to use it with a crank? The Sistrum isn't just about the noise that makes the drill: it really is the hand drill with a crank handle

In the next chapter of The Pyramids of the Cold, we will see how the ancient Egyptians, driven by a desire to embed all their knowledge within their religion, utilized the sistrum to represent the hand drill itself within this encrypted system. Their religion must be viewed from two distinct angles: the meaning intended for the general public and the true significance regarding scientific and technological knowledge, a dual meaning that effectively overlays the "mainstream" version. We will examine how the Egyptians "dissected" the components of the hand drill and constructed an object from scratch that bears a resemblance to the concept of Frankenstein's monster: they took each individual part and depicted it separately. Thus, while the sistrum serves as a form of allegory for the hand drill, the Egyptians also took the opportunity to depict the crank in complete isolation. This is the case here: the figure holds the hand drill in one hand and the crank in the other.

Vintage Millers Falls Egg Beater Style Hand Drill No. 70 All Original: https://www.ebay.com/itm/385782204528

65.15  Genuine sistrum from Ethiopia, showing the two mandatory toothed pulleys of the tool, and the one of the crank handle

This is yet another example showing that, while the ancient Egyptians were extremely cautious in the process of transposing and encoding their knowledge into the remarkable medium of record and transmission that was their religion, the peoples and civilizations that followed them engaged in a different kind of transmission, one that involved reinterpreting all or part of what the Egyptians had originally created.

On Egyptian sistrums, everything is thoroughly disguised, concealed, and deconstructed, making the task of deciphering them often extremely difficult, whereas these non-Egyptian reinterpretations generally did not aim to stray so far from reality.

The above sistrum found in Ethiopia offers a perfect example of this. Since the sistrum represents a glorification of the drill bit, a device that operates through the combined use of interconnected, toothed pulleys where one drives the other(s), the Ethiopians evidently chose not to play the same game as the Egyptians; instead, they literally constructed the sistrum using two toothed pulleys on the sides, connected to one another, not by their centers but rather by their extremities, just like it should be.

And by the way, what tool do you think the artisan used to craft this object? Don't you see that the entire object is actually a sort of disguised ode to the drill bit?

Ancient Ethiopian sistrum: https://www.shikra.de/product_info.php?products_id=7067&language=en

Relief of Sethi I and Hathor, with a counterweight on her back: https://collections.louvre.fr/ark:/53355/cl010009693

65.16  Hathor is the deification of a toothed pulley up to 362 teeth, and like any self-respecting toothed pulley, the teeth are on the "head" of the pulley.

You will notice that on almost all the surviving examples of Egyptian Sistrum, Hathor’s face is consistently, or nearly consistently, depicted at the base of the object. But if this object is indeed a stylized, coded representation of a hand drill, then where is the tool's key component? Where is the toothed wheel, essentially the pulley that operates the mechanism? Well, that toothed wheel is Hathor. That is why Hathor was called the "Mistress of the Counterweight," and why, in the bas-relief featuring Seti I, what she is actually offering are ball chains: because she herself is the toothed pulley (note the counterweight on her back).

This explains why Hathor was described as the goddess of dance and drunkenness: the metaphor is all about the pulley’s ceaseless motion, turning one way, then the other, endlessly, much like the movements of a dancer or an intoxicated person. It also explains why she was said to have seven, or even up to 362, manifestations of herself. Do you want to know how the ancient Egyptians managed to lift blocks weighing hundreds of tons? Well, without toothed pulleys, they would have stood little chance of success. Egyptians have likely developed 7-pinion pulleys, as well as others with up to 362 teeth.

Sistrum at the Louvre museum: https://collections.louvre.fr/ark:/53355/cl010006326

65.17  Now, what will you personally decide to do: continue to work with old, albeit comfortable, 19th-century concepts, or take a genuine interest in the tremendous work of encoding and transposing the entire body of knowledge of the ancient Egyptians?

Even though the ancient Egyptians mastered the art of conveying information in encrypted form through their religion, perfectly blending metaphors, double meanings, rebuses, images, and wordplay, everything they created can still be decoded and deciphered.

For over two hundred years, egyptologists have steered clear of this challenge; admittedly, the 19th-century perspective that still defines modern Egyptology is incredibly comfortable, as it requires absolutely no questioning or effort to truly understand the material. For anything out of the ordinary, they simply play the "this is religious" or "this is funerary" card, implying that there is no need for us to think critically or seek an explanation that is simple and accessible to everyone. Yet, the ancient Egyptians, the people themselves, were no different from us; if you truly believe an entire civilization can be built solely on grand concepts like "this is a symbol of..." without providing a down-to-earth explanation, you are mistaken.

Hand a beautiful, modern luxury watch to an egyptologist of the future, and they will tell you, "This is a symbol of wealth and self-fulfillment." Fair enough, but behind those lofty, almost philosophical ideas lies a very down-to-earth reality: beyond the symbolism, it is simply a watch, a very expensive watch, certainly, but a watch nonetheless.

Jim Hutton as detective Ellery Queen, posing with a magnifying glass, courtesy of NBC Television: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnifying_glass#/media/File:Jim_Hutton_Ellery_Queen_1976.JPG

Preface

Previous chapter (Wadj-wer, the drenched drill bit)

Table of contents

Chapter 34 (the Was scepter, the drill bit)

Operating diagrams of the Great Pyramid

Timelines

Index