The Pyramids of the Cold published by french layman B. Coursol

The cavity of Al-Ma'mun only served the purpose of collecting the inclined well waters for the shutdown procedure of the pyramid. The draining of the well was triggered by the breaking of the wedging block (represented in the Bes deity) that was supporting what is now known as the upper granite plug of the ascending passage, and that was represented in the Taweret hippopotamus deity.

Photograph of the cavity of Al-Ma'mun : "Great Pyramid Passages, Volume 1, by John and Morton Edgar, 1910" : Plate LXIV, page 166 : https://archive.org/details/GreatPyramidPassagesVol11910Edition/page/n174/mode/1up

 

8.01  The Al-Ma'mun cavity was the water collector for the waters of the well

"Another good job completed yesterday, was the cutting of notches for the feet and hands in the part by which one climbs alongside the Granite Plug up to the First Ascending Passage. When we desire to ascend this passage, -we leave the Descending Passage by the hole forced on its right or west side by Caliph Al Mamoun, about ninety feet down from the Entrance. This hole is in line with the front of the granite stone which lies on the floor of the Descending Passage, The limestone block, "which now rests against the upper end of the granite stone (Plate IX), forms a convenient step by which to gain entrance, for the lower edge of the hole is about two feet up from the floor of the Descending Passage. From here the forced hole tends upward and west- ward Into a large cavernous space about twelve feet in height. Communicating with this space at the upper portion of its north-westward side is the inner or southern extremity of the long passage which Al Mamoun caused to be excavated from the north face of the Pyramid Plate V. In order to reach the upper end of the Granite Plug, and so ascend the First Ascending Passage, we require to scale the south-east wall of this cavernous space. During my first week here, I secured two photographs showing Hadji Ali Gabri climbing this wall — Plates LXIV and LXV. In both of these he is seen standing "with one foot on a ledge which is situated about three feet above the loose, sandy floor of the space, and the other in a notch. By taking advantage of this ledge and of the notches, we made the ascent at that time without undue difficulty. But now that we have had fresh notches cut, and the old ones deepened, the ascent and descent are much easier. One of the photographs (Plate LXV) presents a near view of the ledge, and also shows the lower end of the First Ascending Passage to better advantage than the other."

Morton Edgar, in "Great Pyramid Passages, Volume 1, by John and Morton Edgar, 1910", paragraph ref. 328, page 167 : https://archive.org/details/GreatPyramidPassagesVol11910Edition/page/n175/mode/1up

 

Hatshepsut’s birth scene, from Édouard Naville "The Temple of Deir el Bahari" (London, 1896), volume. 2, plate. 50. Image courtesy of the University Library Heidelberg, "The Ebony shrine, northern half of the middle platform" : https://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/naville1896bd2/0050

 

The inclined well of the Great Pyramid of Giza, in period of operation (before the shutdown procedure and the draining of the well).

 

8.02  Taweret is the representation of the draining of the well because of the water breaking metaphor

The draining of the inclined well would have result in a huge amount of water gushing out of the bottom of the well after the upper granite plug had moved down and revealed the breach.

The metaphor with the water breaking is the origin of Taweret as the goddess of childbirth.

"In Ancient Egyptian religion, Taweret is the protective ancient Egyptian goddess of childbirth and fertility. The deity is typically depicted as a bipedal female hippopotamus with feline attributes, pendulous female human breasts, the limbs and paws of a lion, and the back and tail of a Nile crocodile.[...] She commonly bears the epithets "Lady of Heaven", "Mistress of the Horizon", "She Who Removes Water", "Mistress of Pure Water", and "Lady of the Birth House" [...] The name "Taweret" (Tȝ-wrt) means "she who is great" or simply "great one". Source : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taweret

 

As clearly said by Anneke Stracke in her thesis "The Hippopotamus of Deir el-Medina", goddess Taweret was clearly associated with water :

Excerpt from page 30 of her thesis : "Of the twelve objects within this catalogue that include hieroglyphic epithets of Taweret… three of them make clear mention of her role as a goddess of water. While it is not unthinkable that a hippopotamus goddess should be associated with water, it is still quite unusual that a quarter of all epithets of the goddess which survive from Deir el-Medina feature this role so heavily. The epithets preserved in Deir el-Medina refer to “the pure water”, “lady of the well” and “Taweret, who is in the midst of the purification waters of Nun”.    https://studenttheses.universiteitleiden.nl/access/item%3A2624829/view

 

In short, some of Taweret's epithets are : "the Lady of the Well", "the Big One", "the Great One" and "She Who Removes Water", and she is referring to the upper granite plug (block #3).

In other words, Taweret is the upper granite plug : "The Great One", "The Big One", "The Lady of the Well" and "She Who Removes Water".

 

The original shape of the Bes wedging block of the inclined well of the Great Pyramid of Giza.

On this incredible picture, the wedging block is actually represented twice : not only we have the original design of the real block, but we have also its metaphorical representation in the god Bes. Image courtesy of Dosseman, from Two Bes-shaped legs for a bed, wood, New Kingdom :   https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Allard_Pierson_Museum_Bes_Legs_for_bed_7603.jpg

 

8.03  The actual original design of the wedging block

More than just being able to validate the couple Taweret/Bes as the 2 blocks sealing the inclined well, we can do even better and have a pretty good idea of the real design of the Bes wedging block, thanks to the "Two Bes-shaped legs for a bed", at the Allard Pierson Museum and Knowledge Institute in Amsterdam, Netherlands.

As I have already said, the simple solution that I came up with, is most certainly wrong or at least incomplete.

The major problem is that the little imprint in the floor of the well between G8 and G9 is located against the West wall. If my idea was correct, this imprint would have been located right in the middle of the width of the well, so that there wouldn't have been any force applied against the wall.

Obviously, something is missing, and the wedging block was only part of the solution, but at least, we can start with something and we now also have what is most probably very close to the real original design of that wedging block : a very large base (A) that would have anchored the block into the floor of the well, and a very fragile protruding upper part (B), that was immobilizing the Taweret block, but which was also ready and easy to break on demand.

 

The diagram of the girdle stones layout in the ascending passage of the Great Pyramid of Giza, functioning as a flooded inclined well. Photograph from tomb KV 11 of Ramesses III, side chamber, image # 21076 by Matjaz Kacicnik, courtesy of ARCE, American Research Center in Egypt in partnership with the American University in Cairo Egyptology Department : https://thebanmappingproject.com/images/21076jpg

During the entire operating period of the pyramid, the bottom of the inclined well was sealed by the Taweret blog : the upper granite plug. Taweret was maintained in position by a wedging block presenting an easy to break protruding part, getting out of the floor of the well. The breaking of that fragile part released the Taweret block and the waters of the well were drained through the dormant breach, between the Girdle Stones G8 and G9.

 

8.04  The lower end-to-end girdles are arranged in 2 sets with different orientations

When you look attentively to the drawing of the Edgar brothers (plate CXXVIII), showing the girdle imprints on the floor of the passage (red and green short lines), you can see something absolutely amazing : these girdle stones were arranged in 2 sets of girdles, and that these 2 sets were positioned at a different angle to the vertical axis.

This particular layout reveals a dormant breach, just waiting to be opened up, and it is located right where the Al Ma'mun cavity has been digged.

 

8.05  The breach opening for the shutdown procedure of the pyramid

The 2 sets of girdles with different orientations are opening up to reveal a dormant breach. More amazing is that at the exact location where the breach is positioned, we can find a tiny squared imprint in the floor with a granite plug still stuck inside, and on the other side of the wall is the huge Al-Ma'mun cavity, leading to the subterranean part of the Great Pyramid.

My guess is that this particular layout was designed to drain the well for the shutdown procedure of the pyramid : a small granite block would have been positioned in the small imprint (colored in blue on the drawing), placed against the wall, directly next to the dormant breach.

This is Petrie talking about the part just ahead (south) of the granite plugs : "The present top one is not the original end ; it is roughly broken, and there is a bit of granite still cemented to the floor some way farther South of it". Source : The Pyramids and Temples of Gizeh par W. M. Flinders Petrie. Chapter : Ascending Passage, page 21.

 

When time has come to shut the pyramid down, the impactor is lifted up to the top of the grand gallery one last time, unless this time there is no float anymore. When the impactor is released and enter the inclined well, it doesn't pop back up to the surface but sink to the bottom of the well with high velocity. When it hits the granite plug block n°3 that was dormant all along by this small granite block in the imprint, it opens the breach and all the water is drained trough the cavity of Al-Ma'mun.

The draining of the well was necessary in order to empty completely the pyramid of all its content. More about it farther below, same post (dormant breach, little imprint, draining of the well into the cavity of Al-Ma'mun...).

 

The representation of the releasing of the impactor of the Great Pyramid of Giza, for the inclined well draining procedure.

Burial chamber relief, tomb of Seti I, KV17 in the Valley of the Kings. Photograph thanks to kairoinfo4U : https://www.flickr.com/photos/manna4u/36500349182/

 

8.06  The falcon headed man pulling the rope and triggering the draining of the well

The first thing to see on that KV17 relief, is that the Apis bull is blocked in his progression by what looks like kind of a paper clip : the bull's third hoof is stuck by this paper clip like element.

But this situation is not permanent : if the falcon headed man pulls down the rope he is holding to, then we can easily imagine that the paper clip thing flattens itself… and the Apis bull gets released.

The movement of Apis then pulls the 2 ropes on his back, and the element stuck into the ground gets out… and the "secret pouring hole" of Taweret is revealed.

The water flow can now start.

This scenario, I've already described it when I was talking about the necessity of draining the inclined well at the end of the period of operation of the Great Pyramid, so that all the equipment was evacuated.

What I said, is that this operation was triggered from the grotto, and that the draining occurred in a very particular location inside the well, resulting into the fact that the lower girdle stones were set into 2 different orientations in a vertical plane, opening up a dormant breach between the G8 and G9 girdle.

 

8.07  The release of the impactor by a slide bolt latch ?

In previous posts I've suggested the idea that once at the top of the gallery, the impactor had to be blocked in place before being released into the slope for another descent, and I've imagined that maybe another latch bolt was used for this purpose.

But maybe another kind of mechanism was used, and if I'm saying that, it is because the "paper clip" like element on Seti's I tomb is very much looking like a perfect slide bolt latch.

It is easy to see that if the falcon headed man pulls down the rope, this "paper clip" element instantly flattens itself and the bull can move again. The question is to know if this element was only metaphorical on the relief or if it also was inspired by the real thing.

 

The representation of the releasing of the impactor of the Great Pyramid of Giza, for the inclined well draining procedure, triggered from the grotto of the pyramid.

Photograph of the grotto inside the Great Pyramid of Giza : Plate CLI page 278 in "Great Pyramid Passages, Volume 1, by John and Morton Edgar, 1910" : https://archive.org/details/GreatPyramidPassagesVol11910Edition/page/n293/mode/thumb

 

8.08  The falcon headed man laid flat on the ground and on his back... in the grotto

If someone triggered the last impactor release from inside the grotto, he would have been laid flat on the ground, right behind its opening and on the raised floor of the grotto.

If we look closely, we can even see that the grotto of the Great Pyramid is also suggested around the falcon headed man… unless it is pure coincidence that the ropes are drawn the way they are, forming a perfect virtual enclosure around him.

 

The shelter in the grotto of the Great Pyramid of Giza.

"Great Pyramid Passages, Volume 1, by John and Morton Edgar 1910" page 276 : https://archive.org/details/GreatPyramidPassagesVol11910Edition/page/n285/mode/2up

 

8.09  The shelter in the grotto

This Great Pyramid grotto thing reminds me of the Geb, Shu and Nut scene, where nothing can be understood without having water in mind.

Nut cannot be understood without water, as the similarity with Tefnut's name ('tf'= to spit and 'nwt'=water) and the water pot emblem of Nut can suggest. The exact same way, to understand the design of the grotto, you do need to add water.

More precisely, the grotto has been designed fearing water : the grotto is a shelter from water coming down the vertical well shaft. This is the reason why there is a deep hole in the floor to accumulate the water and preserve the upper part of the grotto.

This upper part has another particular design : its end part has been set the further away to the doorway as possible ; the doorway East wall protecting the very last end of this upper part.

This is a perfect design of a shelter, the further away from the doorway in an elevated section with a protective retention basin at the entrance.

 

8.10  How to break the Bes wedging block

The grotto is clearly designed to offer an elevated shelter where one would have been protected from water getting inside. There is even a "deep hole" that would have work as a protective basin when water would have get in, and that would have slowly empty itself because it has been dig into natural rock.

The problem is to understand why water was supposed to pass through the well-shaft, because it means that part of, or all the Grand Gallery would have been flooded.

So, the question is now, why did ancient Egyptians flooded the Grand Gallery ? And the reason is because of the wedging block.

We've seen that this Bes wedging block was designed with a very fragile protruding part on which the Taweret block was put. The resistance of this wedging block was calibrated to sustain the pressure induced by the waters of the inclined well.

But how do you break the wedging block if you do not have access to it ? You increase the pressure.

The only thing that would have break the Bes wedging block, is by increasing the height of water above the Taweret block and increase the pressure at the bottom of the well.

 

8.11  The fixed caisson of the Grand Gallery

The interesting thing about the (hypothetical) fixed caisson in which the impactor was moving, is that the Grand Gallery didn't need to get fully flooded : they would just have to flood the fixed caisson. The pressure at the bottom of the well is only depending on the height of water, not the volume of water.

 

The "road marking-like" layout of the blocks inside the "forced entry passage" of the caliph Al-Ma'mun.

Photographs of the "forced entry tunnel" of Al-Ma'mun, thanks to Mike Dash in his blog "A Blast from the Past" : https://mikedashhistory.com/2011/09/01/inside-the-great-pyramid/ 

Road markings at Achnacloich Rail Bridge, thanks to Bear Scotland (Perth) : https://www.bearscot.com/new-road-markings-at-achnacloich...

 

8.12  The "forced entry tunnel" supposedly digged by the caliph Al-Ma'mun

Please note the very particular layout of stone blocks that appear on the above photograph of the "forced entry tunnel of the caliph Al-Ma'mun" : massive light color blocks are literally encased between small thin dark color blocks.

In my opinion, it would be the perfect layout to help workers to dig a tunnel from the exterior of the pyramid, that would lead them directly to the granite blocks and the inclined well drain hole. It looks like a perfect traffic sign to me !

 

8.13  The problem of the King's chamber shafts

The question now is to imagine the entire sequence of the draining of the well, starting with the person who would have get inside the grotto, and trigger the all thing.

Once inside the shelter, this person pulls down a rope connected to the impactor, resting at the top part of the Gallery. The impactor is released for the last time, and start to slide down the slope, like usual. But this time, the impactor is also connected to the King's chamber closing apparatus and it results in the release of the waters of the King' chamber.

This scenario of the draining of the well, involving the waters of the King's chamber to increase the pressure at the bottom of the well and the breaking off of the wedging block, does also solve another problem I couldn't figure out until now : the presence of the 2 shafts leading to the King's chamber.

 

If I'm right about the fact that when the pyramid was in operation, the elevation was stopped around the level of the Lady Arbuthnot's chamber (please read the Section on the sarcophagus), then the question is what would these shafts been implemented for?

 

8.14  The elevation sequence of the Great Pyramid construction and the Al-Ma'mun "forced entry tunnel"

Thanks to the understanding of the Al-Ma'mun tunnel, we can reconstruct the main sequence of events of the construction of the Great Pyramid of Giza : 

1 • The construction of the pyramid is stopped at the level of Lady Arbuthnot's chamber

2 • The pyramid is then fully operational and serves for weeks, months or years, but only when the inundation of the Nile is high enough (it probably explains the presence of the Nilometers)

3 • When the pyramid is not needed anymore, the elevation starts again and the structure is finalized.

4 • During the following inundation period of the Nile, the draining of the well can be realized.

5 • A passage to the granite plugs is digged from the outside of the pyramid and the entire equipment of the pyramid can be taken out. This passage is the "forced entry passage" supposedly digged by Al-Ma'mun.

 

Ancient Egyptian god Sobek as a Nile crocodile with ram's horns. Both of these attributes are referring to the impactor of the Grand Gallery which was plunging into the waters of the well like a crocodile and ramming into them with tremendous power.

 

8.15  The crocodile putting its weight upon Taweret and forcing her to move

In this Apis and Taweret relief from the tomb of Seti I, we've just seen that Apis is a representation of the recess granite block of the impactor, released from the top of the Grand Gallery, and that Taweret is representing the upper granite block that was sealing the bottom of the well.

This Taweret sealing block was forced to move, a few meters only to reveal the breach, and that it was the recess granite block that (somehow) triggered the movement.

On the relief, this particular part is represented in the crocodile putting its weight upon Taweret.

We've already seen this weight metaphor about Apep and the pressurization of the water of the well : the sycamore tree, the men or just legs are putting weight on Apep, and they are doing this vertically. The only goal was to put pressure.

Here, with the crocodile, the pressure is made to trigger the movement of the Taweret block, and the crocodile isn't put on top of her head but one her back, like you would do to push someone forward : you push hard on his back.

 

8.16  The crocodile is also a metaphoric representation of the impactor

It is interesting to see that the impactor was represented in many different ways, depending on the context, and the angle of vision necessary to the narrative.

• The sycamore tree, the men and the legs are representations of the weight of the impactor and the induced pressure.

• The calves (bulls and cows) and the rams (horns) are about the shock, the impact, the collision with the waters of the well.

• The crocodiles are about the way that the impactor was getting into the water and stayed underwater for a short period of time, before getting back onto the shore.

 

Sobek illustration thanks to Jeff Dahl : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sobek#/media/File:Sobek.svg

Crocodile image thanks to ninfaj and posted on flickr

Ram fighting, National Games, Shahrisabz, Uzbekistan : https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Asrlar_Sadosi_2008c.jpg

Image of Basque ram fighting : https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Combat_de_b%C3%A9liers#/media/Fichier:Aharitopeka.jpg

 

Diagram of the Great Pyramid of Egypt in operation, before the shutdown procedure and the draining of the inclined well.

 

8.17  Summary of the study : hidden behind the academic vision of the ancient Egyptian religion, a vast number of metaphors are describing some of the most advanced science and technological knowledge of that time : ancient Egyptian gods were nothing else than pharaohs' metaphoric self-glorifications of their theoretical and experimental scientific accomplishments in physics and chemistry.

Pharaohs used the power of Science to legitimate themselves as kings of Egypt : they forged an entire religion, based on science to rule their kingdom, and they presented that science as Magic.

The end game of this technological program that probably started on the very first Dynasty, was the Great Pyramid of Giza where evaporative cooling was engineered in the known part of the pyramid from the pressurized water produced in the inclined well, known today as the ascending passage.

The evaporative cold simply took advantage of the power of water, and was most probably necessary to cool down chemical manufacturing of sodium carbonate and sodium bicarbonate produced by an ammonia-soda Solvay process, as suggested by the very strong ammonia smell and the limestone kiln in the so-called burial chamber of the Red Pyramid. At that time, sodium carbonate was called natron, and it was the salt used for the mummification of the pharaohs (Sections 14, 15 and 16).

The cooling seems to have represented the most difficult part of the process, as suggested by the Step Pyramid's official name : according to scholars, the very first pyramid complex, the Step Pyramid of Djoser, was called "the refreshment of the Gods". No doubt that a more accurate translation would certainly be "the cooling of the Gods".

It means that ancient Egyptians were the first civilization to master a Solvay-like process for sodium carbonate manufacturing, long before it got reinvented in the 1800's in Europe. The key elements of that process is the temperature control of the chemical reactions (the cooling), and the dome shaped plate necessary for the counterflow chemical reactions to occur in an efficient way. That counterflow reaction plate is what really is the disc of Sabu.

As shown with Akhenaten and Nefertiti, the creation of the evaporative cold was the most sacred accomplishment of all (Section 17), and this is exactly what the Dendera Light is all about : the Dendera Light is the fog of microdroplets of liquid water that evaporates and creates the cold. Talking about the snake inside the Dendera Light Bulb : "The field surrounding Ra’s snake form is referred to in ancient Egyptian literature as protective magical energy in liquid form that all gods and pharaohs possess" (Faulkner, Section 2).

Everything that had been done in the Great Pyramid of Giza inspired most of the ancient Egyptian religion, and it had been glorified into what we know today as the Underworld.

The Underworld is referring to the chambers and passages of the Great Pyramid of Khufu, and in particular to the Grand Gallery where a hauling gantry beetle operated a wooden coffin shaped impactor that had a small nested granite block inside it. The impactor generated endlessly, over and over, maybe every 15 minutes the pressurized water that was then transformed into a fog of microdroplets inside the horizontal cooling passage.

The Grand Gallery of the Great Pyramid where the act of hauling was done, is the "Secret Hauling Cavern of the Underworld" described in the Amduat "Book of the Hidden Chamber".

The most important chamber of the Great Pyramid wasn't the King's chamber that only was the main water tank of the pyramid, but the Queen's chamber, the only one on the central axis of the pyramid. Because the Queen's chamber was inaccessible from the rest of the pyramid, it was glorified into the "Hidden Chamber of the Underworld" (Section 11), and because the Queen's chamber was the coolest place in the pyramid (about 5°C / 41°F), and with a constant 100% Humidity rate, this chamber was the one where the biggest amount of very hard salt encrustation had been documented by the first explorers of the pyramid in the 1800's and before it had been removed in 1998 by Zahi Hawass (Section 1). Very hard salt encrustation is the signature of the evaporative cooling process, even nowadays.

The most incredible thing is that pretty much everything I've just said, actually appears in one single myth, but it doesn't originate from ancient Egypt : it is the "Churning of the Ocean" Hindu myth that produces the immortal nectar Amrita. The fact is that the endless churning of water that ends up with the production of an elixir that gives eternal life, is exactly what were doing ancient Egyptians in the inclined well : natron was the salt used for the mummification of pharaohs.

Natron gave eternal life to pharaohs, just like the Amrita (Section 19).

 

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The girdle stones layout of the inclined well of the Great Pyramid of Giza. Photograph from tomb KV 11 of Ramesses III, side chamber, image # 21076 by Matjaz Kacicnik, courtesy of ARCE, American Research Center in Egypt in partnership with the American University in Cairo Egyptology Department : https://thebanmappingproject.com/images/21076jpg

During the entire operating period of the pyramid, the bottom of the inclined well was sealed by the Taweret blog : the upper granite plug. Taweret was maintained in position by a wedging block presenting an easy to break protruding part, getting out of the floor of the well. The breaking of that fragile part released the Taweret block and the waters of the well were drained through the dormant breach, between the Girdle Stones G8 and G9.

 

Magical stele (detail), Egyptian, Late Period, 26th–31st dynasty, c. 664–332 BCE. Limestone. Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Bequest of Gerhardt Liebmann, 1991.642 : https://harvardartmuseums.org/article/a-salve-for-your-snake-bites

 

9.01  Taweret is protecting the drain hole but she is also ready to open it

Taweret is often represented with the Sa symbol pressed onto her belly, like on the above image of a magical stele : it shows that Taweret is protecting the Sa symbol. But here, she also has a knife in her hand : she is also the one who can destroy it.

Taweret is both protecting and ready to destroy the Sa symbol.

 

 

9.02  The Sa symbol is the drain hole of the well : "the loop of the Sa symbol was believed to give birth to water"

The fact that Bes and Taweret are the only deities associated with the Sa symbol could only mean that this symbol is a representation of the breach itself.

On the above first images of Taweret, we can see that the Sa symbol is hiding a "pouring hole" that is strongly suggesting the draining of the water. On the last image of Taweret, she is depicted giving birth to a snake, meaning : to water.

Also, it is known that "the loop of the Sa symbol was believed to represents the mouth of a fish giving birth to water". Source : https://www.landofpyramids.org/sa-symbol.htm

 

Was Scepters are the representation of the girdle stones of the Great Pyramid of Giza inclined well.

Draw of a relief on the North wall of the Gate of Hadrian with a representation of the Nile god Hapi, crouched in his cave and surrounded by a serpent, Isis temple at Philae, Egypt : https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fichier:Hapy_Philae.JPG

How to Catch a Snake : https://www.wikihow.com/Catch-a-Snake

 

9.03  Dominion over water : the Was Scepters are representations of the Girdle Stones

The Hatshepsut’s birth scene relief turns out to be a real gold mine, because not only we can validate the Bes and Taweret interpretation, as well as the understanding of the Sa symbol, but we can also decipher another symbol from this relief : the Was Scepter.

On the left side of the Bes and Taweret scene, we can see the Sa symbol flanked by 2 Was Scepters. These scepters are not randomly positioned : they are both turning their faces towards the Sa symbol. They are flanking the Sa symbol and looking right to it like it was their baby. Don't you think the Was Scepters have a very touching/loving/amusing kind of look, facing the Sa symbol ?

Well, I do, and I also think that somehow, the Sa symbol really is their little baby !

We've just seen that the Sa symbol was a representation of the drain hole of the well, and we also know that this drain hole was set in between 2 particular girdle stones : G8 and G9 (more information on that matter, on previous posts).

What it means is that the Was Scepters are representations of the girdle stones.

And it makes perfect sense. We know that snakes were representations of the water used to power up the Great Pyramid, so what better way of representing the control over that water, than by the control over snakes.

If Was Scepters are very much looking exactly like snake handling tongs, it is because they really are snake tongs. Except of course these snake tongs are actually metaphors.

Ancient Egyptians didn't want to talk about the control they had over snakes, but over the "magical" pressurized water of the well : they wanted to talk about the containment of the waters of the well.

This idea of having power over snakes that would be associated with the Was Scepter, is exactly what is saying the second above image. Both hands are doing the same thing : the firm grip on snakes (control over snakes) on one hand is equal to the Was Scepter hold in the other hand.

Also, from Wikipedia's page on the Was Scepter : "Was sceptres were used as symbols of power or dominion, and were associated with ancient Egyptian deities such as Set or Anubis as well as with the pharaoh. Was sceptres also represent the Set animal. In later use, it was a symbol of control over the force of chaos that Set represented."

This "force of chaos" is the pressurized water of the well.

 

Was Scepter from Djoser's Step Pyramid, constraining water and redirecting some of it.

Was Scepter from Djoser's Step Pyramid, now at the Imhotep Museum, part of a doorway with blue faïence tiles from beneath the Step Pyramid, thanks to kairoinfo4U : https://www.flickr.com/photos/manna4u/5260508828/

9.04  The containment of the pressurized waters of the well and the sequential ejection

The idea that Was Scepters are representations of the girdle stones of the Great Pyramid and metaphors of the containment of the waters of the inclined well, is exactly what is suggested by the above images from Djoser's Step Pyramid where a Was Scepter is "holding tight" something in his hands. That something, with no particular shape, is water.

Djoser's Was Scepter is constraining that water with one arm, and at the same time he is redirecting some of it with the other arm. The weird "scorpion" shape element with its 2 cuffed arms is representing the small amount of pressurized water getting out of the well towards the horizontal cooling passage.

Also, we've already seen that the Step Pyramid was involved in a cooling process : "Of course, Imhotep is most famous as the builder of Djoser's unprecedented step pyramid complex, called the "The Refreshment of the Gods.” Source : https://www.arce.org/resource/search-imhotep-tomb-architect-turned-god-remains-mystery

Again, the idea that the Was Scepter is a metaphor for some liquid in motion is already known :

"De Lubicz via Paul LaViolette speaks of the was as "a living branch that conducts nourishing, vivifying sap, fluid that ascends..." and even found some was scepters "made from the living branch of a tree that had been cut so as to include a section of the lower source branch as well as two offshoots coming from its upper end". (Genesis of the Cosmos, page 30)". Source : http://www.joanlansberry.com/setfind/earlywas.html

 

The Tyet Isis knot is a representation of the drain hole of the Great Pyramid inclined well, in its closed position.

Isis-knot Amulet https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/opencollection/objects/4131 and Tyt-Amulet from the Brooklyn Museum : https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/opencollection/objects/3994

 

9.05  The Tyet "girdle of Isis" knot is the drain hole in its closed and locked position

The interpretation of the Sa symbol being the drain hole is actually incomplete : because it is known that the loop was "giving birth to water", it would be more appropriate to consider the Sa symbol as the drain hole in its opened position, as are suggesting its opened legs.

It would mean that ancient Egyptians had most probably also represented the drain hole in its closed position, when the girdle stones would have completely sealed the hole.

And that is precisely what they did : the Tyet Isis knot is the drain hole in a closed position.

The above Tyet amulet from the Brooklyn Museum, is even showing the girdle stone representation itself : that is the inverted U shaped element that we've already seen in the relief of Apep being restrained by these same girdles.

We don't have to be fooled by the fact that on the Apep relief, the legs of the girdles aren't the same length : this is only the result of the perspective that used the artist to represent kind of a 3D effect.

Also : "The tyet (Ancient Egyptian: tjt), sometimes called the knot of Isis or girdle of Isis, is an ancient Egyptian symbol that came to be connected with the goddess Isis." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tyet

 

The restraining of Apep is a representation of the containment of the pressurized waters of the Great Pyramid inclined well.

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

 

Diagram of the Great Pyramid of Egypt in operation, before the shutdown procedure and the draining of the inclined well.

 

9.06  Summary of the study : hidden behind the academic vision of the ancient Egyptian religion, a vast number of metaphors are describing some of the most advanced science and technological knowledge of that time : ancient Egyptian gods were nothing else than pharaohs' metaphoric self-glorifications of their theoretical and experimental scientific accomplishments in physics and chemistry.

Pharaohs used the power of Science to legitimate themselves as kings of Egypt : they forged an entire religion, based on science to rule their kingdom, and they presented that science as Magic.

The end game of this technological program that probably started on the very first Dynasty, was the Great Pyramid of Giza where evaporative cooling was engineered in the known part of the pyramid from the pressurized water produced in the inclined well, known today as the ascending passage.

The evaporative cold simply took advantage of the power of water, and was most probably necessary to cool down chemical manufacturing of sodium carbonate and sodium bicarbonate produced by an ammonia-soda Solvay process, as suggested by the very strong ammonia smell and the limestone kiln in the so-called burial chamber of the Red Pyramid. At that time, sodium carbonate was called natron, and it was the salt used for the mummification of the pharaohs (Sections 14, 15 and 16).

The cooling seems to have represented the most difficult part of the process, as suggested by the Step Pyramid's official name : according to scholars, the very first pyramid complex, the Step Pyramid of Djoser, was called "the refreshment of the Gods". No doubt that a more accurate translation would certainly be "the cooling of the Gods".

It means that ancient Egyptians were the first civilization to master a Solvay-like process for sodium carbonate manufacturing, long before it got reinvented in the 1800's in Europe. The key elements of that process is the temperature control of the chemical reactions (the cooling), and the dome shaped plate necessary for the counterflow chemical reactions to occur in an efficient way. That counterflow reaction plate is what really is the disc of Sabu.

As shown with Akhenaten and Nefertiti, the creation of the evaporative cold was the most sacred accomplishment of all (Section 17), and this is exactly what the Dendera Light is all about : the Dendera Light is the fog of microdroplets of liquid water that evaporates and creates the cold. Talking about the snake inside the Dendera Light Bulb : "The field surrounding Ra’s snake form is referred to in ancient Egyptian literature as protective magical energy in liquid form that all gods and pharaohs possess" (Faulkner, Section 2).

Everything that had been done in the Great Pyramid of Giza inspired most of the ancient Egyptian religion, and it had been glorified into what we know today as the Underworld.

The Underworld is referring to the chambers and passages of the Great Pyramid of Khufu, and in particular to the Grand Gallery where a hauling gantry beetle operated a wooden coffin shaped impactor that had a small nested granite block inside it. The impactor generated endlessly, over and over, maybe every 15 minutes the pressurized water that was then transformed into a fog of microdroplets inside the horizontal cooling passage.

The Grand Gallery of the Great Pyramid where the act of hauling was done, is the "Secret Hauling Cavern of the Underworld" described in the Amduat "Book of the Hidden Chamber".

The most important chamber of the Great Pyramid wasn't the King's chamber that only was the main water tank of the pyramid, but the Queen's chamber, the only one on the central axis of the pyramid. Because the Queen's chamber was inaccessible from the rest of the pyramid, it was glorified into the "Hidden Chamber of the Underworld" (Section 11), and because the Queen's chamber was the coolest place in the pyramid (about 5°C / 41°F), and with a constant 100% Humidity rate, this chamber was the one where the biggest amount of very hard salt encrustation had been documented by the first explorers of the pyramid in the 1800's and before it had been removed in 1998 by Zahi Hawass (Section 1). Very hard salt encrustation is the signature of the evaporative cooling process, even nowadays.

The most incredible thing is that pretty much everything I've just said, actually appears in one single myth, but it doesn't originate from ancient Egypt : it is the "Churning of the Ocean" Hindu myth that produces the immortal nectar Amrita. The fact is that the endless churning of water that ends up with the production of an elixir that gives eternal life, is exactly what were doing ancient Egyptians in the inclined well : natron was the salt used for the mummification of pharaohs.

Natron gave eternal life to pharaohs, just like the Amrita (Section 19).

 

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Photograph credit : Ptah-Sokar-Osiris Figure, 306–30 B.C. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New-York. On view at The Met Fifth Avenue. 

 

10.02  The design of the impactor : the wooden cradle float

Hopefully, ancient Egyptians did give to us many representations of the wooden cradle : they are the Ptah-Sokar-Osiris figure bases. Not only do they show us the general shape of the impactor, but some of them are also showing where was inserted the stone block, and it wasn't in the middle, but at the very end of it, near its extremity.

The most interesting Ptah-Sokar-Osiris figure I found is the above artifact "Accession Number: 21.9.1a–c" from the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The entire base of the figure is completely covered with decorations, with 2 exceptions (highlighted in red), side by side : a small blank rectangular shape and a big one.

Even if the small one is still mysterious to me, the big one is in my opinion, still blank, because it was at this exact position that the stone block was inserted in the cradle.

 

Ptah-Sokar-Osiris Figure, 306–30 B.C. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New-York. On view at The Met Fifth Avenue.

 

The Ptah-Sokar-Osiris figure bases are representations of the wooden cradle float that was operated in the Great Pyramid

It is important to note that this big rectangular shape, is not blank of any decoration because it would be covered with the feet of the figure anyway : the blank rectangular shape is much bigger that the imprint of the feet onto the figure base, and the mummy had clearly let a imprint inside that rectangular shape, that appears in a different yellowish color around the hole.

That figure base though, would be set right on top of the representation of the stone block : the figure bas would have been associated with the power and the force of the inserted stone block.

And that is precisely what some figures of Imhotep are showing : Imhotep standing of what looks like a granite block.

This why, even if I'm not sure of it, I would think that the inserted stone block was made of granite : the impactor had its power from a granite block.

 

Left : Figurine of Seated Imhotep E3640 from the Louvre Museum. Date de création/fabrication : Basse Epoque (attribution d'après style) (-664 / -332 BCE). © Musée du Louvre / RMN-Grand Palais / Hervé Lewandowski. Second image : figure of Imhotep EA40666 from the British Museum.

 

10.03  The design of the impactor : the inserted granite block (alone)

Imhotep was a scientist, an architect and an engineer, so we shouldn't be surprised about the way he is depicted in his seated figurines : he holds the knowledge in his hands, seated with his feet in contact with what represented the most important piece of the Great Pyramid operating, the granite block that was inside the wooden cradle float.

We could argue that the "Imhotep's stone" is not the granite block that was inserted inside the wooden cradle float, and that it was just representing the fact that Imhotep was the first architect to use stone blocks instead of bricks.

But I don't think it is : on the Metropolitan Museum figurine of Imhotep donated by Padisu (previous set of photographs above), this block quite doesn't show at all, and it is pretty much absorbed by the base, which I believe is the cradle, but here it doesn't really matter.

If the intent was to show a block because Imhotep used blocks, they wouldn't have quite completely hide it.

 

Left : Ptah-Sokar-Osiris Figure of Ankhshepenwepetca from the Metropolitan Museum. (712–664 B.C. Third Intermediate Period). Second photograph : Statue of Seated Imhotep from the Metropolitan Museum (332–30 B.C. Ptolemaic Period). Third photograph : Imhotep, donated by Padisu (664–30 B.C. Late Period–Ptolemaic Period). On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 134. Right : Seated Statuette of Imhotep from the Brooklyn Museum. On View: Old Kingdom to 18th Dynasty, Egyptian Galleries, 3rd Floor.

 

10.04  The design of the impactor : the inserted granite block (within the wooden cradle float)

On the above photographs of Imhotep and Ptah-Sokar-Osiris figures, what is interesting to see is how is implemented the granite block in the design of the figures. Some of them are showing a big portion of it, while in others, the block is almost completely not showing at all, but still present.

Of course, the last picture from the Brooklyn Museum is one of my favorites, because it only shows the granite block, alone, without the wooden cradle float.

 

Left : Ptah-Sokar-Osiris Figure of Ankhshepenwepetca from the Metropolitan Museum. (712–664 B.C. Third Intermediate Period). Second photograph : Statue of Seated Imhotep from the Metropolitan Museum (332–30 B.C. Ptolemaic Period). Third photograph : Imhotep, donated by Padisu (664–30 B.C. Late Period–Ptolemaic Period). On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 134. Right : Seated Statuette of Imhotep from the Brooklyn Museum. On View: Old Kingdom to 18th Dynasty, Egyptian Galleries, 3rd Floor.

 

10.05  From Imhotep's "Refreshment of the Gods" Pyramid... to the "Pyramids of the Cold"

Imhotep biggest influence was not in the medicine field, but in architecture. He is the one who built the first true pyramid in ancient Egypt, made of stone blocks and not dried mud bricks : the Djoser's Step Pyramid. Interestingly, this unprecedented step pyramid was called "The Refreshment of the Gods" ; and that obviously echoes the evaporative cooling process used in the Great Pyramid.

My conviction is that the term "refreshment" is not fully accurate: Imhotep's first pyramid was certainly not the "refreshment pyramid", but "the Pyramid of the cold".

 

Ancient Egyptians didn't master an ammonia Solvay-like process overnight : it had to be a long experimental journey, over many generations (the Disc of Sabu is dated from the First Dynasty, 3100 BCE to 3000 BCE ; and the Djed Pillars from even before that). Most probably, their biggest challenge from the beginning was cooling down the reaction chambers.

It is certainly not by accident that Imhotep not only was the first one to build structures out of limestone blocks, but also the first one to add columns to their design. Columns echoes to the Solvay towers but also to modern cooling towers (read the post about Sneferu's Red and Bent Pyramids for more on the subject).

 

The grand gallery of the Great Pyramid of pharaoh Khufu at Giza, Egypt. Source: The Great Pyramid Passages And Chambers" Volume 1 by John and Morton Edgar, 1910 : https://archive.org/details/GreatPyramidPassagesVol11910Edition/page/n299/mode/1up

 

The representation of the pressurization of the inclined well waters of the Great Pyramid of Giza, by putting the Sycamore tree weight upon Apep, that represented the waters of the well themselves. Look how the Sycamore tree trunk is completely enveloped by the body of the snake (snake = water) and how pinned down by the Sycamore tree is the snake.

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). Original image thanks to kairoinfo4u, and posted on flickr : https://www.flickr.com/photos/manna4u/18578810231/in/photostream/

 

10.06  Pressurization of the inclined well metaphor 1 : the sycamore fig tree upon Apep

This metaphor of the impactor is about its weight and the pressure it is causing.

 

The sycamore fig tree that appears with Apep has raised some problem until I stopped thinking about it in a "static" way and completely disconnected from the cutting made by the cat on the left part of the image.

We've seen that Apep is a metaphor of the inclined well waters, and that it's cutting is a representation of the small amount of pressurized water getting out of the well.

On this image, the cut is made right in front of our eyes : it means that the well is pressurized. The presence of the sycamore fig tree has to tell us what is causing the pressurization.

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 snake (the water) is all around the trunk : the sycamore tree is immersed into the water.

2 • 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. The weight of the trunk is constraining the body of the snake : that is the representation of the pressurization of the water.

The trunk of the sycamore is a metaphor of the impactor getting inside the inclined well (represented by the body of the snake) and pressurizing the well.

The sycamore fig tree is the impactor.

 

10.07  The interlocked fibers of the Sycamore wood Ficus sycomorus* and its high hit resistance

Knowing that the sycamore fig tree was a representation of the impactor, we now have to ask ourselves if that impactor was made from sycamore fig wood or if this is another metaphor.

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."

"The sycamore wood is heavy, moderately hard and strong. Its fiber is straight, occasionally wavy, and the grain is fine and uniform. The sycamore wood is easy to work because of its linked fibers, which allow breaking and cutting it easily. It supports very well the gluing, screwing and nailing, and the finish is usually great. Sycamore has a fine and even texture that is very similar to maple."

"The grain is interlocked."

In other words, the Sycamore would have been a perfect candidate for the purpose of the impactor : its interlocking fibers make this wood very hit 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."

 

Image on the left : the snake god Nehebkau (also spelled Nehebu-Kau), Spell 87 from the Book of The Dead. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nehebkau. Center : The Spearing of Apep (From the Papyrus of Nekhtu-Amen).

 

10.07  Pressurization of the inclined well metaphor 2 : the legs, feet and paws upon Apep

This metaphor of the impactor is about its weight and the pressure it is causing.

 

Here, it is the same kind of association with the legs and the snakes : legs are also referring to the weight that is putting pressure upon snakes (upon water), whether they are onto the snake, or under the snake, like with Nehebkau (above).

It is amazing and fascinating to see that logic can be completely forgotten and different pieces of the puzzle voluntarily misplaced. This treachery obviously has the only intent to give us misleads. The positions of the legs under the snake and the Sycomore tree just next to Apep instead of onto Apep, in many representations are precisely that : misleads.

One could try to decipher the serpent walking on human legs, forever, he'll never understand the trick : the real meaning of the legs are about pressure upon something. Legs should be represented onto the serpent like on the second above image, not the opposite.

 

Tomb KV9 of Ramesses V-VI. Fourth corridor, decoration on left wall: ninth division of the Book of Gates. Photograph by R Prazeres, on Wikipedia

 

10.08  Pressurization of the inclined well metaphor 3 : the full body weight upon Apep

This metaphor of the impactor is about its weight and the pressure it is causing.

 

This scene from Ramesses KV9 tomb, is also a representation of the pressurization of the inclined well. This time, this is not the impactor that is used to put weight on the body of the snake, but the characters themselves. Probably they are also meant to represent the cutting of the snake in equal length segments.

 

10.09  Apep and the combination of 4 different metaphors

In my opinion, the metaphors about Apep are the most striking of all the metaphor combinations used by ancient Egyptians I know of, and it is in 4 acts :

1 • The metaphor of the pressurization of the inclined well : the sycamore tree

2 • The metaphor of the pressurized waters : the Great Serpent Apep

3 • The metaphor of the pressurized waters containment : the restraining of Apep by the ropes (see farther below).

4 • The metaphor of a portion of the pressurized water injected into the cooling passage : the Great Serpent Apep cutting and the Mehen artifacts                

 

What all this metaphoric art is saying about the ancient Egyptian lost civilization is really admirable. I already had the utmost respect for the beauty of the Great Pyramid functioning and its marvelous impactor operating cycle, but I am starting to believe their artistic capabilities were at least equally outstanding.

The fact that their extraordinary extremely high sophisticated society was so diminished by modern people is totally beyond me. In all honesty, we should be ashamed of ourselves.

 

 

10.10  Sliding movement in the central gutter of the Grand Gallery metaphor : the Solar Barque

This metaphor of the impactor is about its movement into the central gutter of the Grand Gallery.

The solar barque was used as a representation of the impactor because it was moving inside the central gutter of the gallery on a film of liquid water, exactly like a water slide ; while the Ptah-Sokar-Osiris figure wood bases were used to reproduce the actual shape of the impactor.

 

Left image from the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), Providence : Ptah-Sokar-Osiris / wood, gesso, and paint, 332-30 BCE. Second and third images from the Metropolitan Museum : 86.1.88a–d and 25.3.204. Last image from National Museums Liverpool : 1973.1.685

 

10.11  Shocks and impacts with the waters of the well metaphor : the Ptah-Sokar-Osiris ram's horns

This metaphor is about the shocks that the impactor induced when hitting the waters of the inclined well.

The ram's horns significance is one of the easiest representation of the grand gallery operation to comprehend : the entire process was to make the moving caisson ram into the water of the inclined well, so that its energy would be converted into pressurized water directed to the horizontal cooling passage.

The moving caisson was an impactor for the inclined well water.

 

 

10.12  The strenth and power metaphor of the impactor : the bull representations

• The Apis Bull is a representation of the impactor

The Apis Bull drawing made by J.F. Champollion is a gold mine, because from this drawing we can conclude that the Bull is a representation of the impactor.

Not only the splashing water cannot be atributed to anything else than the impactor running down the Grand Gallery at full speed (around 60 or 65 km/h, or 40 miles per hour, maybe), but the front part of the drawing is also exceptionnal, because it is showing the pressurization of the water by the impactor.

 

• The Apis bull walking onto the snake... and the water passing through that snake

On the Apis Bull drawing made by J.F. Champollion, it looks like the feet of the Bull are put just next to the snake, but the real meaning is that they are put onto the snake.

It is here the same metaphor ancient Egyptians used about putting weight upon the Great Serpent Apep (whether it is the weight of a sycamore tree, of entire human bodies or just legs).

The Apis Bull is putting its weight upon the snake.

And as a result, water is passing through the snake : the blue dots onto the flail and onto the snake are a representation of the water passing through them.

 

Photographs from the British Museum. From left to right : EA9768, EA9743, EA23046 and EA9757.

 

10.13  The toy cars analogy

I suspect that some of these Ptah-Sokar-Osiris figures were used like kids play with toy cars today, and that it was mimicking the original caisson movement inside the gallery. It would explain why so many bases of the figures are so worn out, compared to the standing figures themselves.

It is certainly not by accident that the figure itself and the Sokar hawk are not fixed to the base, but are removable.

The mummy would have been positioned looking towards the top of the gallery, slowly ascending the slope, but once on top, it would have been turned over for the descent.

 

10.14  The recovery of the impactor

Was the wooden cradle float efficient enough to make the impactor really floats at the surface of the inclined well waters or was it only floating in mid-water, I couldn't say. Maybe the goal was only to avoid the impactor to hit the Taweret block that was the bottom of the well.

If a fixed wooden caisson was implemented, they first had to open a small section of it at the bottom of the gallery so that they could reattach the impactor to the central rope before it could be moved back to the top of the gallery.

 

Left is the north part of the recess looking north towards the descending passage, a block on the west side. Right is the south part of the recess with the entry to the subterranean chamber, a block on the west side. The 2 blocks really look different, but apparently everybody says that it is the same block.

 

10.14  The granite block found in the recess of the subterranean chamber

The question now, is to determine which granite block was inserted into the cradle, even if we still have to consider the possibility that the block probably didn't really need to be made of granite : it would have been completely protected inside the cradle and so, could have been probably made of limestone as well.

If the weight was made of granite, we have 4 granite blocks that could have been used inside the cradle, but I am still wondering if the 2 photographs above are showing the same block or not. For now, the only data I have are as follows :

1 • the granite block located inside the recess of the subterranean passage that leads directly to the subterranean chamber. Dimensions : 64.77 cm x 50.8 cm x 43.18 cm, and no holes. (25.5 inches x 20 inches x 17 inches)*.

This block is the only granite block found in the Great Pyramid passages, with no holes. In my opinion, it is the block that was inside the moving caisson. Its volume : 0.142 m³. Considering 2700 kg / m³, the recess granite block would weight about 380 kg.

2 •  the granite block, called Petrie's Block, on which an iron grill-door had been fixed inside the descending passage. About this stone, Morton Edgar says : "Although the large granite block on which the grill-door is fixed, takes up nearly the full width of the passage, it did not interfere with our work". Source : Great Pyramid Passages Volume 1 1910 edition by John and Morton Edgar (section 287, page 142). Dimensions : 80.01 cm x 53.34 cm x 11.76 cm, and 3 holes*.

3 • the granite fragment on the ledge of the subterranean pit, with 2 holes*. Dimensions unknown to me.

4 • the granite block in the grotto. Dimensions : 53.34 cm x 45.72 cm x 43.18 cm, and 2 holes*.

 

In conclusion : the granite block found in the subterranean recess was most probably the one used inside the impactor.

 

* Source : Pyramids of the Giza Plateau: Pyramid Complexes of Khufu, Khafre, and Menkaure, by Charles Rigano.

 

Diagram of the Great Pyramid of Egypt in operation, before the shutdown procedure and the draining of the inclined well.

 

10.15  Summary of the study : hidden behind the academic vision of the ancient Egyptian religion, a vast number of metaphors are describing some of the most advanced science and technological knowledge of that time : ancient Egyptian gods were nothing else than pharaohs' metaphoric self-glorifications of their theoretical and experimental scientific accomplishments in physics and chemistry.

Pharaohs used the power of Science to legitimate themselves as kings of Egypt : they forged an entire religion, based on science to rule their kingdom, and they presented that science as Magic.

The end game of this technological program that probably started on the very first Dynasty, was the Great Pyramid of Giza where evaporative cooling was engineered in the known part of the pyramid from the pressurized water produced in the inclined well, known today as the ascending passage.

The evaporative cold simply took advantage of the power of water, and was most probably necessary to cool down chemical manufacturing of sodium carbonate and sodium bicarbonate produced by an ammonia-soda Solvay process, as suggested by the very strong ammonia smell and the limestone kiln in the so-called burial chamber of the Red Pyramid. At that time, sodium carbonate was called natron, and it was the salt used for the mummification of the pharaohs (Sections 14, 15 and 16).

The cooling seems to have represented the most difficult part of the process, as suggested by the Step Pyramid's official name : according to scholars, the very first pyramid complex, the Step Pyramid of Djoser, was called "the refreshment of the Gods". No doubt that a more accurate translation would certainly be "the cooling of the Gods".

It means that ancient Egyptians were the first civilization to master a Solvay-like process for sodium carbonate manufacturing, long before it got reinvented in the 1800's in Europe. The key elements of that process is the temperature control of the chemical reactions (the cooling), and the dome shaped plate necessary for the counterflow chemical reactions to occur in an efficient way. That counterflow reaction plate is what really is the disc of Sabu.

As shown with Akhenaten and Nefertiti, the creation of the evaporative cold was the most sacred accomplishment of all (Section 17), and this is exactly what the Dendera Light is all about : the Dendera Light is the fog of microdroplets of liquid water that evaporates and creates the cold. Talking about the snake inside the Dendera Light Bulb : "The field surrounding Ra’s snake form is referred to in ancient Egyptian literature as protective magical energy in liquid form that all gods and pharaohs possess" (Faulkner, Section 2).

Everything that had been done in the Great Pyramid of Giza inspired most of the ancient Egyptian religion, and it had been glorified into what we know today as the Underworld.

The Underworld is referring to the chambers and passages of the Great Pyramid of Khufu, and in particular to the Grand Gallery where a hauling gantry beetle operated a wooden coffin shaped impactor that had a small nested granite block inside it. The impactor generated endlessly, over and over, maybe every 15 minutes the pressurized water that was then transformed into a fog of microdroplets inside the horizontal cooling passage.

The Grand Gallery of the Great Pyramid where the act of hauling was done, is the "Secret Hauling Cavern of the Underworld" described in the Amduat "Book of the Hidden Chamber".

The most important chamber of the Great Pyramid wasn't the King's chamber that only was the main water tank of the pyramid, but the Queen's chamber, the only one on the central axis of the pyramid. Because the Queen's chamber was inaccessible from the rest of the pyramid, it was glorified into the "Hidden Chamber of the Underworld" (Section 11), and because the Queen's chamber was the coolest place in the pyramid (about 5°C / 41°F), and with a constant 100% Humidity rate, this chamber was the one where the biggest amount of very hard salt encrustation had been documented by the first explorers of the pyramid in the 1800's and before it had been removed in 1998 by Zahi Hawass (Section 1). Very hard salt encrustation is the signature of the evaporative cooling process, even nowadays.

The most incredible thing is that pretty much everything I've just said, actually appears in one single myth, but it doesn't originate from ancient Egypt : it is the "Churning of the Ocean" Hindu myth that produces the immortal nectar Amrita. The fact is that the endless churning of water that ends up with the production of an elixir that gives eternal life, is exactly what were doing ancient Egyptians in the inclined well : natron was the salt used for the mummification of pharaohs.

Natron gave eternal life to pharaohs, just like the Amrita (Section 19).

 

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Amduat Papyrus Inscribed for Tiye from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New-York ; Accession Number: 25.3.33 (ca. 975–945 B.C). https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/549650

 

11.01  The Amduat (the "Book of the Hidden Chamber") is the story of god Ra through the Duat-Underworld

"The Amduat, literally "That Which Is In the Afterworld", also translated as "Text of the Hidden Chamber Which is in the Underworld" and "Book of What is in the Underworld"; is an important ancient Egyptian funerary text of the New Kingdom of Egypt. Like many funerary texts, it was found written on the inside of the pharaoh's tomb for reference. Unlike other funerary texts, however, it was reserved only for pharaohs (until the Twenty-first Dynasty almost exclusively) or very favored nobility."

"It tells the story of Ra, the Egyptian sun god who travels through the underworld, from the time when the sun sets in the west* and rises again in the east*. It is said that the dead Pharaoh is taking this same journey, ultimately to become one with Ra and live forever."

"The underworld is divided into twelve hours of the night, each representing different allies and enemies for the Pharaoh/sun god to encounter. The Amduat names all of these gods and monsters. The main purpose of the Amduat is to give the names of these gods and monsters to the spirit of the dead Pharaoh, so he can call upon them for help or use their name to defeat them."

*Sunset is symbolising death, and sunrise is symbolising rebirth.

 

The Amduat, literally "That Which Is In the Afterworld", also translated as "Book of the Hidden Chamber Which is in the Underworld" and "Book of What is in the Underworld"; is an important ancient Egyptian funerary text of the New Kingdom of Egypt. Section of the papyrus belonging to Nesmin, with the fourth hour of the Amduat. Papyrus from  The Royal Collection Trust, c.300-275 BC. RCIN 1145263. https://www.rct.uk/collection/1145263/section-of-the-papyrus-belonging-to-nesmin-with-the-fourth-hour-of-the-amduat

 

11.02  The Underworld is referring to the chambers and passages of the Great Pyramid

The real hidden meaning of the Underworld is about most of the inside layout of the Great Pyramid of Giza : the Grand Gallery, the inclined well (the ascending passage), the horizontal cooling passage and the Queen's chamber.

I've already approached the Duat-Underworld in the post about Apep, and I've said that the Underworld was a representation of the inclined well, but I was wrong : the inclined well is only a part of the Underworld.

At the time when the Great Pyramid was operating, meaning that cold was produced in its Lower part and used on its Upper part, where the Solvay reaction chambers were (most probably) set and needed to be cooled down, the main activity was on this particular Upper part : on the "flat roof" of the pyramid.

That was on that level that the master engineers, contractors and site managers (most probably) had their headquarters. So everything underneath this level is what have been called "the Underworld", and that includes the Grand Gallery, the inclined well (the ascending passage), the horizontal passage and the Queen's chamber.

We'll see on the Amduat Hour 5, that the Queen's chamber was the Hidden Chamber.

 

11.03  The Grand Gallery and the Inclined Well in the Amduat

In Hour 4 of the Book of the Hidden Chamber (the Amduat), the "sloping passageways" of an "oval-shaped cavern" are described as "the mysterious paths of the place of Hauling".

"In the fourth hour of the Amduat, Re enters a dark and dry new region called Rosetau, meaning 'act of towing'. His solar bark is indeed depicted as being towed by four gods over a dry, sandy land populated by snakes. The solar bark itself has been transformed into a double-headed serpent as only snakes can successfully get across this desert and dangerous region."

 

In these particular excerpts, everything is about the Grand Gallery and/or the inclined well :

• The "sloping passageways" are referring to the Grand Gallery and to the inclined well

• The "oval-shaped cavern" is referring to the Grand Gallery alone, and is about its shape

• The "dark and dry new region called Rosetau" is referring to the Grand Gallery alone and is about its environment

• The "mysterious paths of the place of Hauling" is referring to the Grand Gallery alone, and is about its function

 

The "sloping tunnel of the underworld" in the ancient Egyptian Amduat Book of the Hidden Chamber, is a metaphorical representation of the inclined well of the Great Pyramid of Giza.

 

11.04  The representation of the inclined well in the Amduat : "the sloping tunnel of the underworld"

The inclined well of the Great Pyramid of Giza was represented in the Amduat "Book of the Hidden Chamber of the Underworld", as the "sloping tunnel of the Underworld" : "during the night the sun journeyed through a tunnel that existed in the earth - its entry into the tunnel caused the night, its emergence again bringing the day once more." http://www.touregypt.net/godsofegypt/aker.htm

 

Detail of the Amduat Papyrus Inscribed for Tiye from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New-York ; Accession Number: 25.3.33 (ca. 975–945 B.C). https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/549650

 

11.05  The Hauling in action and producing the cold

The above scene of the Amduat is another evidence, or clue, that Sokar is the representation of the latch bolts. What we have here is the schematic metaphoric representation of the towing beetle, with the 3 major elements of the operating :

• the snake as a representation of the water that descends the slope both in the central gutter for the impactor to move, but also for the water that were used inside the hollow section rails in which the Hauling Beetle sledges were moving.

We know that the water (the snake) was in motion, because it is walking on a pair of legs.

• the 4 crewmembers that were operating each one of the Beetle units, one on each ramp of the Gallery

• and the 2 wings of Sokar, the latch bolts, the "knives" that were cutting the progression into pieces.

Please note that these 2 wings aren't just wings : some structures are clearly marked, of course I am seeing into them the niches of the eastern and western walls. These niches were the cavities where the latch bolts were retracted in by the Hauling Beetle.

Also we can see that the big snake on legs is prolonging itself into a smaller snake, with no legs, but which is offering the ankh sign instead. In other words, the scene can be translated as follows : the Hauling process is the one producing the evaporative cold (the Ankh sign is the evaporative cold).

.

The zigzag Hauling of the Solar Barque, constantly blocked in its progression is a metaphor of the progression of the towing of the impactor in stages, latch bolt after latch bolt, 25 times per cycle.Ptah-Seker-Osiris figures showing the squatting falcon representation of god Seker (Sokar), put onto the wooden base of the figure. The general shape of that falcon is most probably representing the latch bolts that were inserted inside the niches of the eastern and western walls of the grand gallery of the Great Pyramid of Khufu.

Left : figure of Ptah-Sokar-Osiris 86.1.88a–d, ca. 600–525 B.C. from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New-York (Late Period, Saite) https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/551504. Right : painted wooden figure of Ptah-Sokar-Osiris EA47577 excavated in Asyut, from the British Museum (664BC-305BC), https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/Y_EA47577

 

11.06  The Land of Sokar is referring to the progression in stages of the towing of the impactor

The zigzag Hauling of the Solar Barque in the Land of Sokar, constantly blocked in its progression is a metaphor of the progression of the towing of the impactor in stages, latch bolt after latch bolt, 25 times per cycle.

Still about the Amduat Hour 4 : "The zigzag path, repeatedly closed by doors, gives access to the 'Land of Sokar, who is upon his sand', which Re visits during the fourth and fifth hours."

Once again, ancient Egyptians used the knife as a metaphor : the hauling process of the impactor, enabled or limited by the latch bolts apparatus, was performed in stages, latch bolt after latch bolt.

To reinforce that idea, many representations of Sokar are showing a very distinctive triangular shape, the exact same shape as a regular modern latch bolt.

 

Detail of the Book of the Dead of the Priest of Horus (section 2), Imhotep (Imuthes), ca. 332–200 B.C. from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Accession Number: 35.9.20a–w : https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/551786

 

11.07  The pair of Sokar representations, facing each other to refer to the pair of latch bolts per stage

This part of the Book is particularly interesting because the falcon representation of Sokar is represented 2 times. The first one is on the left, and Sokar appears in a triangular shape exactly like in the Ptah-Sokar-Osiris figures (except the 2 additional spread wings), but the second one is what's really worth looking at : here, Sokar is represented twice and both are facing each over; there is no more wings, but their legs are somehow suggesting that same 45° angle that many squatted falcons of Sokar representations are showing.

That facing representation of that "double Sokar" reinforce one more time the idea that Sokar is a metaphor of the pairs of latch bolts that were facing each other themselves.

 

Tomb KV 9 of Ramesses V-VI, corridor H Amduat Hour 4, photographed by Kairoinfo4U and posted on flickr :  https://www.flickr.com/photos/manna4u/38745537034/in/photostream/

 

11.08  The inverted position of the latch bolts in the hauling beetle scarab of the Amduat

On the reliefs of the Amduat Hour 4 on the above image, both the impactor and the beetle hauling scarab are represented. We've already seen in the post on Apep that the solar barque was a metaphor of the impactor, and here also appears the metaphoric representation of the hauling scarab, and that is the rectangular structures going down the slope.

If we look at the enlarged image of the structure, it is like hanging in mid air by some kind of magic trick. But actually the trick is also depicted : that is the triangular black shape that is holding the entire structure.

The triangular black shape is the latch bolt.

 

So why did they represented the latch bolts on the bottom side of the scarab structure, while I'm positioning them on the upper side? Well, they are 2 possibilities :

1 • I am wrong about the way that the towing scarab was operating the axle beam, and it is a very legitimate possibility as I am everything but an engineer myself…

2 • I am right about this part, and the explanation could be as follows : on these reliefs, the ropes and the axle beam aren't depicted, there are just the structures on "the slopping paths of the towing region", and that makes another story where nobody would have ever understand that some "triangular stopping elements" would have been put on the upper part of the structure.

I've only put the latch bolts on the upper side of the structure because the axle beam would have redirected the towing forces 180°. The axle beam is inverting the towing forces. So on the reliefs, if the story is "some structure was going down the slope, one step at a time in a constant cutting progression by some kind of "knives" in a "zigzag" movement, well what do you do about the latch bolts : you put them on the lower side of the towing structure, so that the progression still appears logical and secure.

 

11.09  Is the Fire-Water the pressurized water or the cold itself ?

"This Lake of Fire is a place of fiery punishment for the damned, but the blessed dead drink cool water from it. This "fire-water" is a powerful alchemical symbol, related to Philosophical Mercury (Aqua Mercurii). Dependent on one's attitude and condition, this water changes function. Constructive (blue) to some, it is destructive (red) to others."

As of today, I'm not sure of the true meaning of the fire-water. No doubt it is another metaphor, but is it about the pressurized water or about the cold water itself?

 

11.10  Is the "who is upon his sand" reference another metaphor of the stop-and-go progression ?

It is still unclear to me what is the meaning of this "sand" reference. The only sand I could think of in this part of the Great Pyramid is the sand filter that was set in what is used today as an electrical room, located between the top platform and the antechamber, on the western side.

In my opinion, this sand filter was most probably a bio-sand filter, able to produce large amount of drinkable water from the dirty water tank that was the King chamber. But I don't see why Aker (the two axle beam holders set in the eastern and western holes), would have been described as "who is upon his sand".

But most probably, this sand reference could be another metaphor of the zigzag progression : when you are walking on sand, the progression is difficult and slow and most of the time it is impossible to walk straight. So that sand could be just another metaphor here, the same way the gates, or the doors are : the operating of the Hauling Beetle was hard, slow and in an endless stop and go progression.

 

11.11  The start of the cold production

In the Amduat, the "Book of the Hidden Chamber", it is said that the process of regeneration, meaning the cold production, starts at the end of the fourth hour, and that corresponds with the deepest and darkest point of RA's voyage.

That deepest and darkest point is about the grand gallery ; as soon as the impactor enters the inclined well, its water is pressurized and the cold can be made : "Arriving at the deepest, darkest point (the end of the 4th Hour), attention is brought on the process of regeneration itself (the 5th & 6th Hour)."

 

God Aker (Akeru, plural). Drawing by Jeff Dahl : "Aker, an ancient Egyptian personification of the horizon. Two lions symbolize 'yesterday' and 'tomorrow' with the sun-disk rising between the symbolic horizon between them. The hieroglyph for 'sky' spans across the top. Based on New Kingdom tomb paintings and the book of the dead." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aker_(deity)#/media/File:Aker.svg

 

11.12  God of the "Horizon" Aker : the academic point of view

The Amduat Hour 5 introduces Aker, the "god of the Horizon". Represented most of the time as a pair of lions, Aker is actually referring to the axle beam and its two eastern and western holders.

"In Egyptian mythology, Aker (also spelt Akar) was one of the earliest gods worshipped, and was the deification of the horizon. There are strong indications that Aker was worshipped before other known Egyptian gods of the earth, such as Geb. In particular, the Pyramid texts make a sinister statement that the Akeru (plural of "Aker") will not seize the pharaoh, as if this were something that might have happened, and was something of which to be afraid. "Aker" itself translates as "(one who) bends", and thus "Akeru" translates as "benders", though in what sense this is meant, is not fully understood. […] these heads were usually those of lions. Over time, the heads became full figures of lions (still facing away from each other), one representing the concept of "yesterday" ("Sef" in Egyptian), and the other the concept of "tomorrow" ("Duau" in Egyptian)."

"As the horizon, Aker was also seen as symbolic of the borders between each day, and so was originally depicted as a narrow strip of land (i.e. a horizon), with heads on either side, facing away from one another, a symbol of borders."

Source : https://en-academic.com/dic.nsf/enwiki/59798

 

Above the lions, are supposed to be the horizon (white), ended by mountains (colored pikes), the red sun and the blue sky (blue straight).

 

Menat necklace from Malqata at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New-York (left and center) 1390–1353 B.C. New Kingdom, Dynasty 18. Reign of Amenhotep III, https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/544509. Right : the same necklace, photographed by Eric (Wsrmatre Stpnre) and posted on Flickr, https://www.flickr.com/photos/wsrmatre/40919418864

 

11.13  God of the "Horizon" Aker is referring to the axle beam and its pair of holders

Aker is often depicted as a pair of lions, looking east and west and clearly holding something on their backs. To understand the real meaning of this, we need to look at the Menat Necklace from Malqata at the Metropolitan Museum of Art : what is important in the pair of lion (or cat) representations isn't their backs, but the hole between their paws and their bellies. The Menat necklace clearly indicates that a "beam" was supposed to be inserted through the cat bellies.

If we look closely the above center photograph, two thin parallel straight lines are even materializing the exact position where the axle beam was intended to be.

These same cats are also looking east and west and their general shape seems to have been designed to perfectly fit in the eastern and western holes of the top platform of the Grand Gallery.

To understand the link between the pair of opposite cats (or lions), we need to look at some figures of the Four Sons of Horus.

 

Image on the left and center : Funerary Figure of Duamutef. 400–30 B.C. Late Period–Ptolemaic Period. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New-York. On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 133. https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/551149

 

11.14  The Grand Gallery layout replica on the Four Sons of Horus figures at the MET

The first photograph is one of the Four Sons of Horus figures, visible at the Metropolitan Museum of Art at New-York, and is showing a jackal-headed figure representing Duamutef, the god who protected the stomach of the mummies.

The half lower part of this image had been magnified and partially enlightened on the second picture of the figurine so that we can see clearly the different structures depicted.

My assumption is that what we have here is a complete representation of the grand gallery layout of the Great Pyramid of Khufu :

1/ The eastern and western ramps (painted white), with 2 hollow section rails by ramp

2/ The central gutter (yellow painted)

3/ The top platform (yellow painted), with the axle beam for operating the 3 ropes

4/ The south wall of the grand gallery (with the openings)

5/ The opening of the antechamber (black line)

6/ The opening of the passage to the King's chamber (black square)

In my opinion, the crucial element here is the one that is represented in a greenish color and that seems to be put onto the top platform. That element is the axle beam.

 

Funerary Figures of the Four Sons of Horus, with Imsety (human head) second from the left. 400–30 B.C. Late Period–Ptolemaic Period. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New-York. Imsety is the only one with a human head, the three other Sons of Horus figures have heads representing a jackal (god Duamutef), a baboon (god Hapy) and a falcon (god Qebehsenuef). https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/564551

 

11.15  The axle beam for operating the 3 ropes of the gallery was inserted into the 2 holes of the platform

The second magnified image is from the figurine of Imsety, the god that protected the liver, and who was one of the Four Sons of Horus. This image clearly shows the eastern and western holes of the platform and it also depicts that the greenish element was "inserted" inside these holes.

This Imsety figurine is telling us that the main axle beam on which the 3 ropes of the grand gallery were attached to, was anchored into the platform. Also, it is crucial to really keep in mind that this platform is way bigger that what we can see in the first place : it is one of the biggest stone of the entire structure of the pyramid.

 

The southern part of the single block that formed the top platform of the grand gallery, was under tremendous charge by the structure weight, that perfectly anchored the block. It was necessary to resist to the huge structural stress induced by the endless operating of both the beetle wooden scarab, and the moving caisson. God Aker (Akeru, plural), drawing by Jeff Dahl : https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aker#/media/Fichier:Aker.svg

 

11.16  The single block platform of the grand gallery

The top platform of the Grand Gallery has a very specific design, because it is actually made of one single giant block, that goes way after the south wall of the gallery towards the antechamber : the block is way bigger than what we can see of it, exactly like it is for the girdle stones of the inclined well.

Charles Rigano mentioned : "The single block forming the Step does not stop at the Gallery wall but extends an additional 66 inches* into the Ante Chamber".

* For Petrie, it was 64.90 inches. Source : The pyramids and temples of Gizeh. Antechamber and passages, section 47 (page 75). Petrie, W. M. Flinders (William Matthew Flinders), Sir, 1853-1942. https://archive.org/details/cu31924012038927/page/n113/mode/2up

 

Funerary Figure of Imsety, one of the Four Sons of Horus (with human head) from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New-York, 400–30 B.C. Late Period–Ptolemaic Period (Accession Number: 12.182.37b). Granite fragment with Khufu's Horus name Medjedu on it from the British Museum, photographed by CaptMondo and posted on Wikipedia (en).

https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/564551

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a7/GraniteSlabWithNameOfKhufu-BritishMuseum-August19-08.jpg

 

11.17  The axle beam of the Great Pyramid of Giza (with its pair of holders), on a granite fragment with Horus' name of Khufu on it

A better representation than the one found on the Imsety figure, can be found on the granite fragment with Khufu's Horus name at the British Museum : the axle beam and its holders are perfectly drawn on what looks like the exact same top platform of the Grand Gallery.

 

The entire Lower Pyramid cooling process started in the grand gallery of the Great Pyramid with the operating of the axle beam and the 3 ropes that were attached to the wooden beetle scarabs (one on each ramp), and the impactor (in the central gutter).

The maneuvering of the axle beam allowed the impactor to get inside the inclined well (the underworld). 

From Academic.com : "Aker was said to guard the entrance and exit to the underworld, opening them for the sun to pass through during the night. As the guard, it was said that the dead had to request Aker to open the underworld's gates, so that they might enter." Source : https://en-academic.com/dic.nsf/enwiki/59798

Here again, everything is nothing else than metaphors : there is no door to open to get to the Duat-Underworld, but you had to operate the ropes and the axle beam has to be in action, rotating in both ways.

 

11.18  "Yesterday/Tomorrow" : the forwards and backwards references to the axle beam direction of rotation

"From Middle Kingdom onwards Aker appears as a pair of twin lions, one named Duaj (meaning "yesterday") and the other Sefer (meaning "tomorrow"). Aker was thus often titled "He who's looking forward and behind". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aker_(deity)

"In the later period of Egyptian theology the two lions making up the Akeru were named Sef and Tuau - 'yesterday' and 'today' respectively." http://www.touregypt.net/godsofegypt/aker.htm

That reference to yesterday and tomorrow (or today) is in y opinion echoing the fact that the axle beam was operated in both directions of rotation : both the towing scarab and the impactor were moving forwards and backwards, again and again, day after day.

My interpretation of the operating of the 3 ropes as represented on the above drawing, isn't probably the only solution to get the job done, but it is simple and could be sufficiently efficient to be correct. It doesn't require any pulley, and according to scholars, ancient Egyptians didn't use this kind of equipment at the time of the construction of the pyramids.

The forwards and backwards reference is about the perpetual direction of rotation changes of the axle beam.

 

11.19  The axle beam that bends and imprisons the coils of the snake

It is known that the name Aker means "(one) who bends", and it is conceivable to imagine that the axle beam would indeed bend a lot. Maybe one day we'll even find out in what wood that beam was made of, like we know that the impactor was made out of Sycamore tree wood.

 

That reference to the bending of Aker is easy to apprehend, and maybe the reference to the coils of the snake imprisoning is that easy : it could simply refer to the winding of the ropes on the axle beam.

"More importantly, he imprisons the coils of the snake, Apophis (Apep), after it is hacked to pieces by Isis, and Aker could, along his back, provide a secure passage for the sun-god's boat as it traveled from west to east during the hours of the night." http://www.touregypt.net/godsofegypt/aker.htm

"The name Aker means '(one) who bends'". https://ancientegyptonline.co.uk/aker/

 

The Amduat Book of the Hidden Chamber, Hour 5. Burial chamber of the tomb of Pharaoh Tuthmosis III - ca. 1426 BCE. Drawing by A.G. Shedid (digitally enhanced) - Hornung (1999).

 

11.20  The "grasp of the Akeru" and the hazardous work reference about the winding of the ropes

Until now, we haven't discussed at all about the danger that were facing the crewmembers of the wooden beetle scarab. When they were inside the gantry, they most probably didn't risk anything : their work would have been excruciating but not that dangerous.

I suggested the idea that when the impactor was at the top of the gallery, ready to be released in the slope, the crewmembers first had to get the wooden gantry lifted back up as well, so that the entire crew would most probably be on the top platform just before releasing the impactor.

I also suggested that one crewmember on each ramp was on the top platform, hauling the ropes of the gantry while the 4 other crewmen, on each ramp, were pushing the beetle back up.

During these two phases of operating, crewmen would have been close to the axle beam while the ropes would have been winded on, and they would certainly have fear the danger of their hands being grasped by the ropes winding on the axle :

"Later the Egyptian priests created magical spells to protect ordinary mortals from the grasp of the Akeru, the primeval, lion earth gods." https://www.landofpyramids.org/aker.htm

"There was also a more threatening side to Aker that can be seen when he is pluralized as Akeru in the form of multiple earth gods. In passages from the Pyramid Texts, the Akeru are said not to seize the monarch, but later there is a general hope for everyone to escape the grasp of the earth gods." http://www.touregypt.net/godsofegypt/aker.htm

 

Apep (also Apophis) was the ancient Egyptian Great Serpent god of Chaos ("isfet") that reigned over the Underworld and fought sun and creator god Ra in his solar barque, in endless fights, night after night. Image from Soutekh67 and posted on Wikimedia Commons : https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Barque_solaire_contre_Apopi.jpg

 

11.21  The protection from the Great Serpent Apep and the snake bite immunity

"He guarded the eastern and western borders of the netherworld and protected the sun god Ra when he first entered the netherworld at sunset and again when he returned to the world of the living at sunrise and bore the sun on his back through the underworld. He also welcomed the dead Pharaoh into the underworld."

"He defended the sun god from the serpent Apep (Apophis) and was considered to be able to neutralize a snake bite. In his role as a protective deity, twin lion statues representing Aker were placed at the doors of palaces and tombs to protect against evil spirits, a practice adopted by both the Greeks and Romans."

This part is absolutely essential because it links the Akeru (the axle beam and its holders) to the inclined well (pressurized) waters (the Great Serpent Apep).

Aker was the metaphor of the equipment that used the energy of the working crew of the beetle scarab to lift, again and again the impactor on top of the gallery, before its release in the slope.

When the impactor hits the waters of the well, it could be described as an attack on that waters, an attack on Apep.

Also, when the impactor is recovered from the well for another cycle to begin again and again, it could be depicted as some kind of immunity from Apep ; hence the reference to the snake bite : "He defended the sun god from the serpent Apep (Apophis) and was considered to be able to neutralize a snake bite."

No matter how many times Aker attacked Apep, he would always be able to safely escape from Apep's grip, unharmed.

 

Detail of The Amduat Book of the Hidden Chamber, Hour 5. Drawing by A.G. Shedid (digitally enhanced) - Hornung (1999). Burial chamber of the tomb of Pharaoh Tuthmosis III - ca. 1426 BCE.

 

Detail of the Amduat "Book of the Hidden Chamber" Hour 5, showing the oval cavern of the Land of Sokar (the Grand Gallery), with god Sokar spreading or opening wings from the ground, inside the cavern, that is "closed" by two lions, facing east and west. These two lions represent the god Aker (Akeru in its plural form).

This scene is a metaphorical representation of the grand gallery of the Great Pyramid of Khufu. The two doors (the lions), that were "closing" the Land of Sokar, were a metaphor of the representation of the axle beam and its two eastern and western holders that were set onto the Grand Gallery's top platform : what was allowing the solar barque to get in the tunnel of the Underworld, were precisely what represent god Aker : the axle beam and its two eastern and western holders.

The two lions were controlling the impactor progression to the top of the gallery before being released, hence metaphorically, these two lions were seen as the gates of the Underworld tunnel.

 

Book of the Hidden Chamber, Amduat Hour 6. Burial chamber of the tomb of Pharaoh Tuthmosis III - ca. 1426 BCE. Drawing by A.G. Shedid (digitally enhanced) - Hornung (1999).

 

11.22  The Hidden Chamber of the Amduat is the Queen's chamber

The Amduat Hour 6 introduces the idea that the regenerative powers originate from both the primordial waters of Nun and the Mehen serpent.

This 6th hour is very important, because it also perfectly separates the Grand Gallery representation (the Land of Sokar) from the inclined well (the "Water hole filled with Nun", the primordial ocean).

It is also clearly saying that Nun (the water of the well) is at the origin of the magical "regenerative" powers (the creation of the cold) :

"In the 6th Hour, the Land of Sokar is left and the water hole filled with Nun is reached."

"Nun, the primordial ocean, is the guardian of this hour."

"The 6th Hour is the "waterhole" of those in the Duat, filled with Nun, the primordial ocean and its regenerative powers, i.e. the presence of a creative potential (or Ba) within this darkness, namely : Atum."

In the previous excerpt the regenerative powers are linked to the primordial waters of Nun, and in the following excerpt, that same regenerative powers are this time linked to the Mehen serpent : "In the sixth hour the most significant event in the underworld occurs. The ba (or soul) of Ra unites with his own body within the circle formed by the Mehen serpent. This event is the point at which the sun begins its regeneration".

But the previous excerpts are also linking the regenerative powers (the cold) to Atum, and we've already seen that Atum was the representation of the small amount of pressurized water ejected from the inclined well towards the fog nozzle. Atum created the fog of microdroplets (represented by Tefnut, the god of humidity and moisture), and was simultaneously accompanied with fresh dry and warm air (represented by Shu, the god of dry and warm air and fog).

 

Diagram of the Great Pyramid of Giza in operation, before the shutdown procedure and the draining of the inclined well.

 

11.23  Summary of the study : hidden behind the academic vision of the ancient Egyptian religion, a vast number of metaphors are describing some of the most advanced science and technological knowledge of that time : ancient Egyptian gods were nothing else than pharaohs' metaphoric self-glorifications of their theoretical and experimental scientific accomplishments in physics and chemistry.

Pharaohs used the power of Science to legitimate themselves as kings of Egypt : they forged an entire religion, based on science to rule their kingdom, and they presented that science as Magic.

The end game of this technological program that probably started on the very first Dynasty, was the Great Pyramid of Giza where evaporative cooling was engineered in the known part of the pyramid from the pressurized water produced in the inclined well, known today as the ascending passage.

The evaporative cold simply took advantage of the power of water, and was most probably necessary to cool down chemical manufacturing of sodium carbonate and sodium bicarbonate produced by an ammonia-soda Solvay process, as suggested by the very strong ammonia smell and the limestone kiln in the so-called burial chamber of the Red Pyramid. At that time, sodium carbonate was called natron, and it was the salt used for the mummification of the pharaohs (Sections 14, 15 and 16).

The cooling seems to have represented the most difficult part of the process, as suggested by the Step Pyramid's official name : according to scholars, the very first pyramid complex, the Step Pyramid of Djoser, was called "the refreshment of the Gods". No doubt that a more accurate translation would certainly be "the cooling of the Gods".

It means that ancient Egyptians were the first civilization to master a Solvay-like process for sodium carbonate manufacturing, long before it got reinvented in the 1800's in Europe. The key elements of that process is the temperature control of the chemical reactions (the cooling), and the dome shaped plate necessary for the counterflow chemical reactions to occur in an efficient way. That counterflow reaction plate is what really is the disc of Sabu.

As shown with Akhenaten and Nefertiti, the creation of the evaporative cold was the most sacred accomplishment of all (Section 17), and this is exactly what the Dendera Light is all about : the Dendera Light is the fog of microdroplets of liquid water that evaporates and creates the cold. Talking about the snake inside the Dendera Light Bulb : "The field surrounding Ra’s snake form is referred to in ancient Egyptian literature as protective magical energy in liquid form that all gods and pharaohs possess" (Faulkner, Section 2).

Everything that had been done in the Great Pyramid of Giza inspired most of the ancient Egyptian religion, and it had been glorified into what we know today as the Underworld.

The Underworld is referring to the chambers and passages of the Great Pyramid of Khufu, and in particular to the Grand Gallery where a hauling gantry beetle operated a wooden coffin shaped impactor that had a small nested granite block inside it. The impactor generated endlessly, over and over, maybe every 15 minutes the pressurized water that was then transformed into a fog of microdroplets inside the horizontal cooling passage.

The Grand Gallery of the Great Pyramid where the act of hauling was done, is the "Secret Hauling Cavern of the Underworld" described in the Amduat "Book of the Hidden Chamber".

The most important chamber of the Great Pyramid wasn't the King's chamber that only was the main water tank of the pyramid, but the Queen's chamber, the only one on the central axis of the pyramid. Because the Queen's chamber was inaccessible from the rest of the pyramid, it was glorified into the "Hidden Chamber of the Underworld" (Section 11), and because the Queen's chamber was the coolest place in the pyramid (about 5°C / 41°F), and with a constant 100% Humidity rate, this chamber was the one where the biggest amount of very hard salt encrustation had been documented by the first explorers of the pyramid in the 1800's and before it had been removed in 1998 by Zahi Hawass (Section 1). Very hard salt encrustation is the signature of the evaporative cooling process, even nowadays.

The most incredible thing is that pretty much everything I've just said, actually appears in one single myth, but it doesn't originate from ancient Egypt : it is the "Churning of the Ocean" Hindu myth that produces the immortal nectar Amrita. The fact is that the endless churning of water that ends up with the production of an elixir that gives eternal life, is exactly what were doing ancient Egyptians in the inclined well : natron was the salt used for the mummification of pharaohs.

Natron gave eternal life to pharaohs, just like the Amrita (Section 19).

 

© 2022 Copyright milleetunetasses.com. All rights reserved.

https://archive.org/details/GreatPyramidPassagesVol11910Edition/page/n301/mode/2up

 

Wall relief detail of the Theban Tomb TT60, located in Sheikh Abd el-Qurna, part of the Theban Necropolis, on the west bank of the Nile, opposite to Luxor. TT60 is the burial place of a woman called Senet. She was related to the ancient Egyptian Vizier Intefiqer (mother or wife). It is one of the earliest burials in the area. Intefiqer was Governor of the city (i.e. Thebes) and Vizier of Senusret I in the 12th Dynasty. Source : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TT60

Image source : osiris.net, chapter 3 "Osirian terrestrial rites" (zone 19). https://www.osirisnet.net/tombes/nobles/antefoqer/e_antefoqer_03.htm

 

Theban hypogeum tomb of Senet and Antefoker TT60. Image dgd_XIX posted on osiris.net : https://www.osirisnet.net/popupImage.php?img=/tombes/nobles/antefoqer/photo/antefoqer_ndgd_XIX.gif&lang=en&sw=2560&sh=1440

 

12.01  The 8+2 crewmembers of the hauling beetle

I've been puzzled for some time about these black wooden sarcophagus of Yuya and Tjuyu (Tuya), because some of them were showing 4 characters on each side, while other ones were showing 5 characters. Also the sarcophagus of Yuya doesn't even have a bottom floor : the inner coffins are put directly onto the floor. How strange is that!

I was puzzled because I was only thinking about only one structure : the hauling beetle, and I didn't understand all these differences in their design.

And then I understood (or I think I did!),  these 2 sarcophagus weren't representations of one structure only : one was a representation of the hauling beetle, but the other one represented the impactor.

The hauling beetle, if I'm correct, was operated by 10 people (5 on each ramp), but the impactor was only moved by 8 of them (4 on each ramp). The 2 extra crewmembers weren't inside the beetle because they had to operate the latch bolts and the ropes when the beetle was coming back up.

 

 

12.02  The golden cylinders between the sledge runners and the paws of the Senet game table's sledge

The presence of the golden cylinders on the Senet game table discovered in the tomb of Tutankhamun, looks weird, and it looks like they don't have any purpose that comes to mind, but if it is a faithful copy of the original beetle of the Great Pyramid, it makes perfectly sense.

In my theory, each time the beetle reaches another of the 25 steps of progression towards the bottom of the grand gallery, it pushes a pair of latch-bolts into its walls that automatically pop back up to secure each step.

The golden cylinder parts at the bottom of the animal paws of the game table, could have been the parts that were in contact with the latch-bolts.

The fact that these cylinders were golden painted could totally be a simple reference to their importance on the original beetle, but it could also point out that these parts were in metal, or metal covered, so that their action on the latch bolts would have been in the most efficient way possible.

 

12.03  The speed of the impactor

Also, we need to talk about the "spoiler like" design of the top part of the sarcophagus of Tjuyu. Until now, I didn't try to evaluate the maximum speed gained by the impactor in its descent towards the inclined well, but maybe we should, because maybe this "spoiler like" part is really a spoiler.

With absolutely no evidence at all, let's say with pure instinct, I'd say that the maximum speed of the impactor would have been maybe close to 60 or 65 km/h, but again, this is only guesswork (that would be around 40 miles per hour).

 

Hathor as a cow from the tomb of Irynefer TT 290 at Deir el-Medina, thanks to Kairoinfo4U  : https://www.flickr.com/photos/manna4u/11433106165

Ptah-Sokar-Osiris figure from the Louvre in Paris (top right image), Numéro principal : N3512 :  https://collections.louvre.fr/en/ark:/53355/cl010018325

 

12.04  The latch bolt representations in Sokar and his triangular shape

In the relief from the tomb of Irynefer TT 290 at Deir el-Medina, we can see that the squatting falcon god Sokar is a metaphoric representation of the latch bolts of the Grand Gallery : Hathor as a cow, looks like she is gonna run over the falcon, exactly like the towing beetle would do on the latch bolts.

You can see in this representation of Sokar as a falcon, that only his head is important : the falcon's head is immobilizing the cow.

But on the Sokar representations on the right, and in many other ones, you see that what is really important is the triangular shape of the falcon.

That triangular shape is directly referring to the latch bolts' own shape.

 

12.05  Hathor as a cow is a metaphoric representation of the hauling beetle

As a matter of fact, if the falcon Sokar represents the latch bolts on the above relief of Hathor as a cow, it means that Hathor, and most probably cows in general, are the metaphoric glorifying representations of the hauling beetle.

 

Left image of Mehet-Weret in its funerary appearance, Khonsu sarcophagus TT1, Cairo Museum. Original image from UCL University College London : https://www.ucl.ac.uk/archaeology/events/2021/nov/rethinking-visual-aesthetics-ancient-egyptian-writing

Original rope of the Solar Barque of the Great Pyramid of Giza : https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corde_(outil)#/media/Fichier:Cordes-originales-barque-kh%C3%A9ops.jpg

Menat necklace from Malqata at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New-York (left and center) 1390–1353 B.C. New Kingdom, Dynasty 18. Reign of Amenhotep III, https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/544509

 

12.06  The representation of the original towing ropes

On the above images of cow deities, we can also decipher some other attributes that were associated to cows, and in particular, the towing ropes : the small beads of the Menat necklace are (most probably) a direct reference to the original natural ropes that connected the impactor to the hauling beetle.

 

 

12.07  The Antechamber drying room for the 3 ropes of the Hauling Beetle

The problem with the 3 ropes of the Grand Gallery, is that they were made of natural fibers, most probably papyrus, and that they were used in permanent humid conditions : the gallery was completely surrounded by water sources (the King's chamber, the inclined well, the horizontal cooling passage and water was also running inside the central gutter itself).

Because a natural fiber rope will rot if stored in humid conditions, a special chamber had to be prepared for this role, and equipped with a very effective ventilation system to assure a perfectly efficient dry storage.

That special chamber was the antechamber.

If no portcullis have ever been found in this antechamber or anywhere else in the pyramid, it is because there never was any portcullis in the first place.

The antechamber never had any portcullis, it was the 3 ropes storage chamber, with 3 independent compartments. The ventilation of this chamber came from a little opening that was located on the top part of the south granite wall and that appears today filled with a limestone cement of very low quality.

 

Wadi Hammamat: Dynasty 11, Nebhepetre Mentuhotep II. Photographed by Kairoinfo4U and posted on flickr : https://www.flickr.com/photos/manna4u/25932728632/in/photostream/

 

12.08  The flail is referring to water...

On the Wadi Hammamat's reliefs, we can clearly distinguish liquid getting out of some kind of pipe, but from that it is still very hard to imagine the exact meaning of what we call today a flail.

Fortunately, the following images of the Api Bull can make us understand its precise meaning.

 

12.09  Because the flail is referring to the impactor splashing water everywhere like cars do

This element will most probably cast some serious doubts among readers, because the flail was also about water.

In the drawing made by Champollion of the Apis bull below, it is really not difficult to imagine that water is passing through both the snake and the flail. Many people will (one day) agree on that.

 

There is no problem to understand that the snake is a representation of the pressurized water that was created in front of the impactor and resulting in its collision with the waters of the well (the primordial waters, Nun). The impact creates chaos and eject some water, under pressure (Atum) to the fog nozzle.

The flail is the one which is gonna cause disbelief, because I think that it is representing the water splashes that followed the impactor descent. The impactor sledge runners would have had to be constantly maintained wet, and if its speed was about between 60 and 65 km per hour (about) 40 miles per hour, water splashes would have been inevitable.

 

I'm conscious though, that this kind of affirmation about the water splashes will make a lot of people to laugh ; but I can't blame them, they've been fed for so long with so many cute stories, talking about good and evil, about family relationships between gods, about how important it was for ancient Egyptians to live in perfect balance in life, etc.

Ancient Egyptians were so much than that, and first of all, they were very facetious.

 

Api or Hapi (Apis, Taureau Consacré a la Lune)", 1823-25. Printed material. Brooklyn Museum : https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/opencollection/archives/image/55326

Wadi Hammamat stone reliefs representing the ancient Egyptian god Min and revealing the real nature of the flail (nekhakha), Dynasty 17. Photographed by Kairoinfo4U and posted on flickr : https://www.flickr.com/photos/manna4u/25999304796/in/photostream/

 

12.10  The Apis Bull is a representation of the impactor

The Apis Bull drawing made by J.F. Champollion is a gold mine, because from this drawing we can conclude that the Bull is a representation of the impactor.

Not only the splashing water cannot be atributed to anything else than the impactor running down the Grand Gallery at full speed (around 60 or 65 km/h, or 40 miles per hour, maybe), but the front part of the drawing is also exceptionnal, because it is showing the pressurization of the water by the impactor.

 

12.11  The Apis bull walking onto the snake... and the water passing through that snake

On the Apis Bull drawing made by J.F. Champollion, it looks like the feet of the Bull are put just next to the snake, but the real meaning is that they are put onto the snake.

It is here the same metaphor ancient Egyptians used about putting weight upon the Great Serpent Apep (whether it is the weight of a sycamore tree, of entire human bodies or just legs).

The Apis Bull is putting its weight upon the snake.

And as a result, water is passing through the snake : the blue dots onto the flail and onto the snake are a representation of the water passing through them.

 

Top : Api or Hapi (Apis, Taureau Consacré a la Lune)", by J.F. Champollion 1823-25. Printed material. Brooklyn Museum : https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/opencollection/archives/image/55326

Bottom : KV 11: Ramesses III, side chamber, Image # 21077. Image from ARCE, American Research Center in Egypt in partnership with the American University in Cairo Egyptology Department : https://thebanmappingproject.com/index.php/images/21077jpg

 

12.12  The  representation of the inclined well in Rameses III KV11

The above relief in the tomb of Ramesses III KV11, not only is depicting the equipment of the Grand Gallery, but it is also representing the inclined well itself.

On the right image, we've seen that it is water that is passing through the flail : they have represented this water flow with what could be interpreted as (huge) liquid droplets. And these exact same water droplets are also represented on the weird central drawing, showing an inclined element from which a snake is getting out.

Thanks to Champollion's drawing, we also know that these same exact water droplets were also passing through the snake. We already knew that snakes were water metaphors, but here we also know that the water was in movement.

In other words, on this relief of KV11, we have the entire operating system that was creating the pressurized water :

• the impactor : the Apis bull

• The hauling beetle progression powered by the latch bolts (plus the impactor water splashes) : the cow

• The inclined well and its small amount of ejected pressurized water : the snake.

And we also know, that this particular snake is Atum (details in previous post).

 

12.13  The 3 components needed to obtain pressurized water : the impactor / the inclined well / the hauling beetle

We've seen that Hathor as a cow is a representation of the hauling beetle, running over the latch bolts.

We've also seen that the Cow was a representation of the hauling beetle, and that the Bull was a representation of the impactor. So, it is pretty easy to understand the above set of images from Ramesses III KV 11 : they are showing the 3 elements that combined together were producing the pressurized water.

These elements are not set in a modern logical sequence, like we'd do today, and probably there is here another meaning in itself.

Or maybe, it is purely esthetic to put the representation of the inclined well in the middle…

About this particular central representation of the inclined well, you'll have notice that water (remember snake = water) is getting out of it : that is the small amount of pressurized water redirected towards the evaporative cooling passage.

 

 

12.14  The 2 Hauling Beetle units of 4 crewmembers were Hathor and Iusaaset

"In ancient Egyptian religion, Apis or Hapis, alternatively spelled Hapi-ankh, was a sacred bull worshiped in the Memphis region." Source

"As reported by Plutarch, the Mnevis bull was second only to the Memphite Apis bull in importance. Similarly to the Apis bull, the Mnevis bull's movements were thought to be driven by divine will, and used as an oracle. The priesthood of Mnevis also went as far as to claim that Mnevis was none other than the father of the more famous Apis."

"The Mnevis bull was entitled to two concubines, more precisely two cows representing Hathor and Iusaaset…"  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mnevis

 

These excerpts could validate the previous assumptions :

• For example it is said that "Similarly to the Apis bull, the Mnevis bull's movements were thought to be driven by divine will."

 "Divine will" could mean "by itself" or more literally "by the force of god(s)", and that is precisely what would have look like the impactor which was descending the slope of the Grand Gallery by itself, and getting back up to the top of the Gallery by the force of the 8 hauling beetle crewmembers : 2 times the Four Sons of Horus gods.

 

• Also, like I've suggested in the above top-view drawing of the Grand Gallery, the impactor was powered by a hauling beetle that was actually made of two connected gantries, one on the East ramp and the other one on the West ramp. And that is precisely what is describing the following excerpt : "The Mnevis bull was entitled to two concubines, more precisely two cows representing Hathor and Iusaaset…".

It would mean that the cow Hathor was one of these gantries, and Iusaaset the other one.

On the above drawing, I've set Hathor on the West ramp and Iusaaset on the East ramp, but this is purely arbitrarily.

 

Horsepower draw : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horsepower#/media/File:Imperial_Horsepower.svg

 

12.15  The horsepower metaphor versus the bullpower metaphor

It is funny to draw a parallel between modern engines and the hauling beetle of ancient Egyptians : while we are today measuring the power of our motors in horsepower, because we chose to use the horse draft metaphor, they used the bull metaphor to represent the strength and the power of the impactor.

Of course, for ancient Egyptians, it just didn't make any sense to make a difference between the hauling beetle and the impactor, in term of power. It was the same thing. The beetle just transmitted its power to the impactor, hence the metaphoric representation of the impactor into a bull.

 

Image on the left and center : Funerary Figure of Duamutef. 400–30 B.C. Late Period–Ptolemaic Period. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New-York. On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 133.

 

12.16  The Grand Gallery layout replica into the Four Sons of Horus figures from the MET

The fact that the Hauling Beetle units were operated by 4 crewmembers, is also reinforced by the importance that took the Four Sons of Horus representations in ancient Egypt, and the fact that one particular set of these Four Sons of Horus figures, now in the Metropolitan Museum in New-York, is very clearly reproducing the exact layout of the Grand Gallery of the Great Pyramid of Giza.

The first above photograph of the Four Sons of Horus figures, visible at the Metropolitan Museum of Art is showing a jackal-headed figure representing Duamutef, the god who protected the stomach of the mummies.

The half lower part of this image has been magnified and partially enlightened on the second picture of the figurine so that we can see clearly the different structures depicted.

 

And my assumption is that what we have here is a complete representation of the grand gallery layout of the Great Pyramid of Khufu :

1/ The eastern and western ramps, with 2 hollow section rails by ramp

2/ The central gutter (painted here in yellow, but in blue in the Catawiki figure, above)

3/ The top platform, with what could be the axle beam for operating the 3 ropes

4/ The south wall of the grand gallery

5/ The opening of the antechamber (red line)

6/ The opening of the passage to the King's chamber (red square)

 

Funerary Figures of the Four Sons of Horus, with Imsety (human head) second from the left. 400–30 B.C. Late Period–Ptolemaic Period. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New-York. Imsety is the only one with a human head, the three other Sons of Horus figures have heads representing a jackal (god Duamutef), a baboon (god Hapy) and a falcon (god Qebehsenuef).

 

12.17  The axle beam for operating the 3 ropes of the gallery, was inserted into the 2 holes of the platform 

The second magnified image is from the figurine of Imsety, the god that protected the liver, and who was one of the Four Sons of Horus. This image shows the eastern and western holes of the platform and it also depicts that the axle beam ends were having tenons that would fit inside these holes.

If this draw of the platform is to be taken literally, that means that the main axle beam was placed onto that platform.

 

12.18  The Four Sons of Horus real meaning : the scarab team

Inside the grand gallery of the Great Pyramid, it was not 1, but 2 beetle scarabs that were operated. The question of knowing if they would be physically connected or not, is not so easy to answer, but I think they were.

Anyway, many or most of representations of scarab amulets, are showing 4 or 8 elements, and I think that the Four Sons of Horus are representing the team of the scarab beetle unit. That is the reason why the complete layout of the grand gallery is depicted on these Four Sons of Horus figures visible at the Metropolitan Museum.

 

The Four Sons of Horus at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New-York : https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/564551

A depiction of the Ogdoad from a Roman era relief at the Hathor temple in Dendera in which some have frog heads and others have serpent heads : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ogdoad_(Egyptian)#/media/File:L'Ogdoade_d'Hermopolis.jpg

 

12.19  The glorifying representation of the 8 crewmembers of the hauling beetle : the Ogdoad

"The Ogdoad in Egyptian mythology, (Ancient Greek: ὀγδοάς "the Eightfold"; Ancient Egyptian: ḫmnyw, a plural nisba of ḫmnw "eight") were eight primordial deities worshiped in Hermopolis." 

Also : "References to the Ogdoad date to the Old Kingdom of Egypt, and even at the time of composition of the Pyramid Texts toward the end of the Old Kingdom, they appear to have been antiquated and mostly forgotten by everyone except their theologians." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ogdoad_(Egyptian)

 

Of course, the fact that the Ogdoad seem to have been "antiquated" and "mostly forgotten", while the Four Sons of Horus representations were so highly worshiped, could indicate that the Hauling Beetle units seem to have been way more important than the combination of the 2 units, and its 8 crewmembers.

Could it means that the units were not connected after all ?

 

 

12.20  The wooden hollow-section rails of the grand gallery

When we look at the numbers indicating the position of the holes on the ramps of the Grand Gallery, there is one that comes many times, and that is 2.198 cubits.

I tried to come up with an interpretation of this very particular number, repeating itself over and over again, and I had the idea of using pieces of wood that would all have the exact same dimensions. It may be a good idea or not, but I like this idea : it is easy to make and you don't have to bother where to put each element, they are all the same.

The funny thing is that to obtain this 2.198 cubits over and over, with the other numbers changing, you end up with elements of 3.198 cubits.

These rails were all the same, with a 3.198 cubits length. Because the ramps would have been covered with wood, like they are (or were) equipped for the tourists to walk on, and because there had to be hollow section rails for the Hauling Beetle to move without friction, I called these standards elements "rails" but they were most probably wood planks with hollow section rails built in..

The hollow-section rails had certainly received an additional treatment to reduce even more the friction. What really makes wood extremely slippery outdoors, isn't just the fact that the wood is wet, but the presence of a bio-film at its surface. This bio-film is made of cyanobacteria colonies living on its surface and I have no doubt that this kind of bio-film was mandatory for the rails.

 

 

12.21  The beetle operating procedure in the grand gallery

1 • The beetle is on top of the grand gallery. The 2 ropes it is attached to are 100% rolled up around the winding beam and the impactor is simply floating inside the well, its rope 100% unrolled and resting on the wooden floor of the platform at the top of the gallery.

2 • We need to get the impactor back, so the first thing to do, is to drop its unrolled rope, inside the fixed casing. Now, we can reattach the end of the rope to the impactor.

3 • The 10 crewmembers can then start to move the beetle down the gallery. The descent of the beetle allowed to raise the impactor up to the top of the grand gallery, in 25 very demanding steps.

They were going backwards, because this is in that position that you can deliver maximum pulling force, using your legs and your back. Every step was secured by 2 latch bolts, one on each ramp, that were inserted inside the wall niches (2 x 25 niches, 50 niches total).

The latch bolt is what you have on every single door you have at home. With this latch bolt, you can slam the door closed just by pushing it, and it won't move again, unless you move the handle down. The 2 crewmembers at the top of the beetle were certainly the most experienced and were working with their eyes permanently turned to the latches, checking that it would correctly pop-up again once it had been pushed inside the wall by the passage of the beetle's slider.

The role of the 2 crewmembers who were not inside the Hauling Beetle units was mainly to operate the latch bolts : they were our modern handles and they forced the latch bolts into their niches so that the Beetle could get back to the top of the gallery and then they released them after its passage for its next descent.

 

 

4 • As the Hauling Beetle is moving down the gallery, its 2 ropes unwind from the beam and the impactor's rope winds up at the same time.

5 • The Beetle is now secured at the bottom of the gallery by the last latch-bolt. Its ropes 100% unrolled on the ramp. The impactor is secured at the top of the gallery, its rope is 100% rolled up on the beam.

6 • At the bottom of the gallery, a blocking slab shim is inserted between the beetle and the wall and it can now be released from the last latch bolt.

7 • Before the release of the impactor, the Beetle first needs to be pushed up back at the top of the gallery by 4 men, using the transversal beams of the beetle (2 on each side). 2 other men stay behind the beetle and secure the climbing with the safety pins they insert inside de safety mortises. 2 other men pull the ropes of the ramps from the top platform (1 on each side) and these 2 ropes then wind up automatically when the last 2 men of the crew unroll the impactor rope on the wooden floor of the platform. The climbing of the Beetle though, wasn't very challenging (there was nothing else to lift than the gantry itself), so the safety precautions were limited to one out of two steps. And this is why we have the long mortises : every two steps, a safety pin of 6.8 centimeters had to be inserted in it.

8 • Both the Hauling Beetle and the impactor are now secured on top of the grand gallery. The Beetle ropes are rolled around the axle beam. The impactor rope is neatly resting on the wooden floor.

9 • Everything is ready for the next cycle, the impactor can now be unhooked from its rope and ready to be released.

 

Diagram of the Great Pyramid of Giza in operation, before the shutdown procedure and the draining of the inclined well.

 

12.22  Summary of the study : hidden behind the academic vision of the ancient Egyptian religion, a vast number of metaphors are describing some of the most advanced science and technological knowledge of that time : ancient Egyptian gods were nothing else than pharaohs' metaphoric self-glorifications of their theoretical and experimental scientific accomplishments in physics and chemistry.

Pharaohs used the power of Science to legitimate themselves as kings of Egypt : they forged an entire religion, based on science to rule their kingdom, and they presented that science as Magic.

The end game of this technological program that probably started on the very first Dynasty, was the Great Pyramid of Giza where evaporative cooling was engineered in the known part of the pyramid from the pressurized water produced in the inclined well, known today as the ascending passage.

The evaporative cold simply took advantage of the power of water, and was most probably necessary to cool down chemical manufacturing of sodium carbonate and sodium bicarbonate produced by an ammonia-soda Solvay process, as suggested by the very strong ammonia smell and the limestone kiln in the so-called burial chamber of the Red Pyramid. At that time, sodium carbonate was called natron, and it was the salt used for the mummification of the pharaohs (Sections 14, 15 and 16).

The cooling seems to have represented the most difficult part of the process, as suggested by the Step Pyramid's official name : according to scholars, the very first pyramid complex, the Step Pyramid of Djoser, was called "the refreshment of the Gods". No doubt that a more accurate translation would certainly be "the cooling of the Gods".

It means that ancient Egyptians were the first civilization to master a Solvay-like process for sodium carbonate manufacturing, long before it got reinvented in the 1800's in Europe. The key elements of that process is the temperature control of the chemical reactions (the cooling), and the dome shaped plate necessary for the counterflow chemical reactions to occur in an efficient way. That counterflow reaction plate is what really is the disc of Sabu.

As shown with Akhenaten and Nefertiti, the creation of the evaporative cold was the most sacred accomplishment of all (Section 17), and this is exactly what the Dendera Light is all about : the Dendera Light is the fog of microdroplets of liquid water that evaporates and creates the cold. Talking about the snake inside the Dendera Light Bulb : "The field surrounding Ra’s snake form is referred to in ancient Egyptian literature as protective magical energy in liquid form that all gods and pharaohs possess" (Faulkner, Section 2).

Everything that had been done in the Great Pyramid of Giza inspired most of the ancient Egyptian religion, and it had been glorified into what we know today as the Underworld.

The Underworld is referring to the chambers and passages of the Great Pyramid of Khufu, and in particular to the Grand Gallery where a hauling gantry beetle operated a wooden coffin shaped impactor that had a small nested granite block inside it. The impactor generated endlessly, over and over, maybe every 15 minutes the pressurized water that was then transformed into a fog of microdroplets inside the horizontal cooling passage.

The Grand Gallery of the Great Pyramid where the act of hauling was done, is the "Secret Hauling Cavern of the Underworld" described in the Amduat "Book of the Hidden Chamber".

The most important chamber of the Great Pyramid wasn't the King's chamber that only was the main water tank of the pyramid, but the Queen's chamber, the only one on the central axis of the pyramid. Because the Queen's chamber was inaccessible from the rest of the pyramid, it was glorified into the "Hidden Chamber of the Underworld" (Section 11), and because the Queen's chamber was the coolest place in the pyramid (about 5°C / 41°F), and with a constant 100% Humidity rate, this chamber was the one where the biggest amount of very hard salt encrustation had been documented by the first explorers of the pyramid in the 1800's and before it had been removed in 1998 by Zahi Hawass (Section 1). Very hard salt encrustation is the signature of the evaporative cooling process, even nowadays.

The most incredible thing is that pretty much everything I've just said, actually appears in one single myth, but it doesn't originate from ancient Egypt : it is the "Churning of the Ocean" Hindu myth that produces the immortal nectar Amrita. The fact is that the endless churning of water that ends up with the production of an elixir that gives eternal life, is exactly what were doing ancient Egyptians in the inclined well : natron was the salt used for the mummification of pharaohs.

Natron gave eternal life to pharaohs, just like the Amrita (Section 19).

 

© 2022 Copyright milleetunetasses.com. All rights reserved.

 

13.01  The similarities between the Hauling Beetle and the beetle scarab

At the beginning of my study on the Great Pyramid of Giza, I imagined a wooden gantry that was operated inside the Grand Gallery : the beetle. That beetle was in charge of constantly lifting an impactor, in order to create cold inside the horizontal passage and store it inside the Queen's chamber, most probably to be used through its shafts for cooling down chemical reactions for the manufacturing of sodium carbonate, the pure mineral form of natron, the salt used for the mummification of pharaohs.

I called that wooden gantry "the beetle", because I thought it would have look exactly like a real beetle scarab : the gantry had to be operated backwards, like a scarab rolling his ball of dung.

But it was nothing serious at the time, it was just based on look-alike elements and I didn't think at all about the scarab amulets.

Since I started to work on the ancient Egyptian scarab amulets though, I had to change my mind on the subject, because it really turns out that the scarab amulets are referring to the wooden beetle of the Great Pyramid of Giza.

 

Ancient Egyptian scarab amulets showing on their lower part the 3 ropes that were operated by the Hauling Beetle, the wooden gantry that the amulets are referring to.

 

13.02  The first key element about the scarab animal is backwards : it is moving the dung ball backwards

The Great Pyramid of Giza was a master piece of engineering and it would have make a lot of noise and would have appear like a living animal. And what gave life to it, was the working crew inside the Grand Gallery, operating the Hauling Beetle.

To pull the impactor upwards, the Hauling Beetle crewmembers had to move backwards, because it is the position where you can give the maximum power, like you do when you are playing with a tug of war rope.

Because the Beetle gave life to the pyramid, and because the crewmembers were moving backwards, the whole thing would have look like a giant scarab moving his dung ball, backwards, the crew members looking like the scarab legs.

The important thing here, with the scarab, is not the dung ball he is rolling, but the fact that he is rolling it backwards. To my knowledge, the scarab is the only living animal moving backwards.

If you want to compare the operating of the wooden gantry to an animal, then you have no other choice than use the scarab.

 

13.03  The second key element about the amulet are the 3 little parallel brown segments

If you look attentively to some of the scarab amulets, the complete ones, we can see 3 short and parallel brown lines on the lower part of the amulets. They are representing the 3 ropes that were attached to the wooden gantry Hauling Beetle. What is very interesting to point out is the color used for the 3 short segments, because in pretty much every scarab amulet, the colors are golden or vivid yellows, blues, greens and reds, but these segments are in a dull brownish color. That doesn't fit at all with the prettiness of the entire amulet.

But of course, if these 3 lines are representations of 3 natural fiber ropes, then it works. The brown color of the 3 short segments is exactly the color of a natural fiber rope.

 

13.04  The real meaning of the scarab amulet wings

We can try to give an explanation to these deployed wings, but maybe there is more than just one right.

If we look at the hauling process from the impactor point of view, nobody was touching it and it would have looked like it was flying. Thus, it would explain why some scarab amulets are represented with fully deployed wings.

Of course it could also be a reference to the Sokar falcon representations : then the wings would be referring to the latch bolts.

 

Group of Egyptian scarab amulet carvings. Thanks to AuctionZip.com

 

13.05  Why so many scarab amulets have a complete longitudinal drilled hole

Most ancient Egyptian scarabs were suspended from string, and wires or mounted in swivel rings ; so they were drilled along their longitudinal axis.

This feature is probably unique among traditional Egyptian amulets : the hole, most of the time half drilled from the top and half drilled from the bottom, crosses the entire length of the amulet and replicate the original scarab operation of the Great Pyramid that was passing over the central gutter of the grand gallery.

 

13.06  The academic explanation of the dung ball representing the Sun God Khepri

It will always baffle me that any people would accept the idea that a god, Sun god Ra Khepri, would be please to know that he is compared to a dung ball, like many people claim the meaning of the scarab is. I wouldn't like to be compared to a dung ball and you certainly wouldn't like it as well. Chances are Ra wouldn't have liked it very much.

 

13.07  The symbolism of the scarab amulets : giving life back

The scarab amulets are referring to the operating of the Grand Gallery of the Great Pyramid of Khufu, the same way that the Dendera Light bulbs are referring to the horizontal cooling passage of that same pyramid.

The wooden gantry Hauling Beetle of the Grand Gallery looked like and behaved like a scarab because it was moving backwards. It made the Great Pyramid alive, and so the scarab amulets, that refer to that Hauling Beetle, would give life back to the deceased persons.

The Hauling Beetle was the heart of the Great Pyramid, and the scarab amulets had to be placed where the heart would be for the afterlife to be possible in order to make the mummification process successful.

 

Ancient Egyptian scarab amulets from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New-York : 1, 2, 3, 4

 

13.08  Are the scarab amulets circle and scroll decorations referring to the Hauling Beetle crewmembers ?

One of the many interesting things about the scarab amulets, is that they have all kinds of markings underneath them. Sometimes there are some hieroglyphs and sometimes there is nothing else than geometrical markings, like circles, buckles or scrolls.

If I'm right about the real meaning of scarab amulets, then probably these decorations are referring to the crewmen of the Hauling Beetle.

In a previous section of the study, we've seen that the Hauling Beetle of the Grand Gallery was operated by 8 crewmen : 4 crewmembers in the Western Hauling Beetle unit and 4 in the Eastern unit. 2 other men, one on each ramp were also operating the latch bolts and the ropes when they were disconnected to the impactor.

 

That makes 10 crewmen for the entire towing structure. But it would be difficult to imagine that a team leader wasn't there. That makes 11 team members involved in the operating of the Hauling Beetle, even if they don't have the same role or the same importance : maybe it would be more appropriate to talk about a team of 8 + 2 + 1.

Interestingly, many of the scarab amulets with these geometrical kind of decorations are showing 9 dots, 9 circles, 9 scrolls or 9 buckles, and they are arranged in 2 columns of 4, plus a central one, whether it is clearly marked by a dot and circle like on the 2 scarabs above on the left; or it is simply suggested by interlacing buckles or curls, like the 2 scarabs on the right (blue arrows).

Having that in mind, I think it is very possible that these particular 9 decorative elements are representations of 9 of the crewmen of the Hauling Beetle. The last amulet does even display 3 lines, exactly like the 3 ropes of the grand gallery.

If this hypothesis is correct, it would probably mean that the 9 crewmen would have been the 8 crewmembers who were inside the gantry, plus the team leader.

The 2 crewmembers out of the gantry would have been forgotten. Is it possible? These 2 crewmen did have a different role and a different importance in the team, but would it be enough not to show them in many scarabs?

Another thing is that some other scarab amulets don't seem to be "based" on the number 9 : scarab amulets based on the number 4, 8, 10, 11 or more also exist.

Of course for all these numbers, it is pretty easy to find an explanation based on the Hauling Beetle team, but some other scarabs have more than 11 decorative elements or only 2.

So does that mean that the hypothesis is incorrect ?

 

Photographs thanks to the Walters Art Museum, Baltimore USA : 1, 2, 3 4

 

13.09  The large variety of Hauling Beetles in ancient Egypt

It is clear that there is a large variety of scarab amulet decorations, based on all kinds of numbers, but does that mean that these numbers are actually not referring to the Hauling Beetle team?

I wouldn't be so sure. Because if there is a very large variety of scarab amulet decorations, maybe it also means that there was a large variety of Hauling Beetles.

I personally think that a vast amount of wooden beetles, with different designs, were used for the construction of the pyramids, and that the Hauling Beetle of the Grand Gallery is very unlikely to have been the only hauling gantry used during the operation of the Great Pyramid.

Some of them would be operated inside the pyramids, some of them outside ; and with a varying number of crewmembers.

If the beetle of the Grand Gallery was really designed in 2 parts, 2 narrow independent beetles of 4 crewmen and connected together, then probably this kind of unit could have been used in the descending passage of the Great Pyramid and in many other locations.

Probably single, double or even triple units of this kind could have been used outside the pyramids in particular for the Great Pyramid in order to operate the natron production unit, starting with the limestone supply of the kiln.

Maybe the 3 x 3 design of the 9 prisoners scarab amulet depict precisely this particular approach.

 

The 9 prisoners scarab amulet, thanks to the Walters Art Museum, 1330-1213 BCE (New Kingdom, Dynasty 18). Wonderful site, where you can zoom as much as you want on any photograph.

 

13.10  Were the crewmembers of the Hauling Beetle captive prisoners?

The conventional interpretation of these 9 characters, is that they are prisoners, with their hands tied up behind their backs. But then there is a problem, because if these 9 characters are referring to the Hauling Beetle of the Grand Gallery, then it would mean that the crewmembers of the Beetle were prisoners.

The question is, would ancient Egyptians have carved prisoner representations onto such important amulets that they would have honor and worship ?

Honestly it is hard to believe. But on the other hand, the work conditions would have been excruciating, because if the goal was to cool the temperature of the Queen's chamber, down to 5°C or 10°C (41°F or 50°F) and maintain this low temperature over time, it means that the Grand Gallery and the Hauling Beetle would have to be in operation for days, weeks or even months, without ever stopping.

The use of captive prisoners in these conditions could have been simply unavoidable.

 

 

13.11  The backrest / handrails of the wooden Hauling Beetle

This amulet does show 9 characters, but I disagree with the drawing interpretation that has been made regarding the 9 elements appearing in front of the character's shoulders : none of them is connected to the character's bodies.

You can verify that by yourself, using the zoom application directly at the Walters Art Museum site, here : https://art.thewalters.org/detail/3485/

In fact, we surely can assume that these 9 elements had been originally drawn with a perfectly neat sharp-edged shape, like the one shown on the second photograph above, with the red pointing arrow, next to the third character.

In my opinion, and if my interpretation of the scarab amulets is correct, what these 9 characters have in front of their shoulders, perfectly detached from their bodies and with a perfectly geometrical sharp-edged shape, are the backrest / handrails of the Hauling Beetle they got right in front of them, just a few centimeters from their heads.

 

Special gratitude to Kameron, from downunderpharaoh.com for the use of his photographs of the squared scarab amulet. In the center, the "plan of passage mouth", from the "trial passages" tunnels of the Great Pyramid of Khufu at Giza.

 

13.12  The The scarab amulet in a squared shape set replica of the grand gallery

That particular squared shape make this scarab amulet very special, because it probably puts the scarab within the exact layout of the grand gallery of the Great Pyramid of Khufu.

The 2 lateral ramps of the grand gallery are 1 cubit width and the central gutter is 2 cubits width ; and these proportions are exactly the same as the ones we find on this squared amulet.

The scarab is most probably represented at the bottom of the grand gallery. There are of course 2 exceptions to the realistic design of this amulet : the wooden scarab wasn't inside the gutter but on both sides of it, moving onto the 2 lateral ramps ; and there was no block in the middle of the gutter either.

Probably, that the transversal block with the hieroglyphs in front of the scarab beetle, stands for the north wall of the gallery, where the wooden beetle would have to rest after its descent in order to get ready to climb up again the slope.

Another thing is that this amulet could confirm the idea I got from the Tutankhamun Senet game table, that the wooden scarab of the gallery wasn't just a unique structure with 2 sledge runners, one against each wall, but 2 narrow structures like the Senet game table. These 2 beetles wouldn't even have to be linked together, they would have been completely independent.

Is this configuration realistic in regards to the necessary team coordination between the 2 beetles? Would it be the main reason for a team leader that would have stayed permanently on the top platform of the grand gallery ?

Nethertheless, on that squared scarab, we can notice that the 2 lateral parts are marked with 2 vertical and parallel straight lines, framing the hieroglyphs and that the hieroglyphs of the top horizontal part have no line at all to frame them.

These 4 vertical lines could be a reference to the 4 hollow-section rails of the grand gallery.

 

Diagram of the Great Pyramid of Giza in operation, before the shutdown procedure and the draining of the inclined well.

 

13.13  Summary of the study : hidden behind the academic vision of the ancient Egyptian religion, a vast number of metaphors are describing some of the most advanced science and technological knowledge of that time : ancient Egyptian gods were nothing else than pharaohs' metaphoric self-glorifications of their theoretical and experimental scientific accomplishments in physics and chemistry.

Pharaohs used the power of Science to legitimate themselves as kings of Egypt : they forged an entire religion, based on science to rule their kingdom, and they presented that science as Magic.

The end game of this technological program that probably started on the very first Dynasty, was the Great Pyramid of Giza where evaporative cooling was engineered in the known part of the pyramid from the pressurized water produced in the inclined well, known today as the ascending passage.

The evaporative cold simply took advantage of the power of water, and was most probably necessary to cool down chemical manufacturing of sodium carbonate and sodium bicarbonate produced by an ammonia-soda Solvay process, as suggested by the very strong ammonia smell and the limestone kiln in the so-called burial chamber of the Red Pyramid. At that time, sodium carbonate was called natron, and it was the salt used for the mummification of the pharaohs (Sections 14, 15 and 16).

The cooling seems to have represented the most difficult part of the process, as suggested by the Step Pyramid's official name : according to scholars, the very first pyramid complex, the Step Pyramid of Djoser, was called "the refreshment of the Gods". No doubt that a more accurate translation would certainly be "the cooling of the Gods".

It means that ancient Egyptians were the first civilization to master a Solvay-like process for sodium carbonate manufacturing, long before it got reinvented in the 1800's in Europe. The key elements of that process is the temperature control of the chemical reactions (the cooling), and the dome shaped plate necessary for the counterflow chemical reactions to occur in an efficient way. That counterflow reaction plate is what really is the disc of Sabu.

As shown with Akhenaten and Nefertiti, the creation of the evaporative cold was the most sacred accomplishment of all (Section 17), and this is exactly what the Dendera Light is all about : the Dendera Light is the fog of microdroplets of liquid water that evaporates and creates the cold. Talking about the snake inside the Dendera Light Bulb : "The field surrounding Ra’s snake form is referred to in ancient Egyptian literature as protective magical energy in liquid form that all gods and pharaohs possess" (Faulkner, Section 2).

Everything that had been done in the Great Pyramid of Giza inspired most of the ancient Egyptian religion, and it had been glorified into what we know today as the Underworld.

The Underworld is referring to the chambers and passages of the Great Pyramid of Khufu, and in particular to the Grand Gallery where a hauling gantry beetle operated a wooden coffin shaped impactor that had a small nested granite block inside it. The impactor generated endlessly, over and over, maybe every 15 minutes the pressurized water that was then transformed into a fog of microdroplets inside the horizontal cooling passage.

The Grand Gallery of the Great Pyramid where the act of hauling was done, is the "Secret Hauling Cavern of the Underworld" described in the Amduat "Book of the Hidden Chamber".

The most important chamber of the Great Pyramid wasn't the King's chamber that only was the main water tank of the pyramid, but the Queen's chamber, the only one on the central axis of the pyramid. Because the Queen's chamber was inaccessible from the rest of the pyramid, it was glorified into the "Hidden Chamber of the Underworld" (Section 11), and because the Queen's chamber was the coolest place in the pyramid (about 5°C / 41°F), and with a constant 100% Humidity rate, this chamber was the one where the biggest amount of very hard salt encrustation had been documented by the first explorers of the pyramid in the 1800's and before it had been removed in 1998 by Zahi Hawass (Section 1). Very hard salt encrustation is the signature of the evaporative cooling process, even nowadays.

The most incredible thing is that pretty much everything I've just said, actually appears in one single myth, but it doesn't originate from ancient Egypt : it is the "Churning of the Ocean" Hindu myth that produces the immortal nectar Amrita. The fact is that the endless churning of water that ends up with the production of an elixir that gives eternal life, is exactly what were doing ancient Egyptians in the inclined well : natron was the salt used for the mummification of pharaohs.

Natron gave eternal life to pharaohs, just like the Amrita (Section 19).

 

© 2022 Copyright milleetunetasses.com. All rights reserved.