THE PYRAMIDS of the COLD • Chapter 02 How the Evaporation process and Salt have been glorified by Egyptians with Atum 'who cooled down the air and dried out the land'
Publié par Bruno Coursol dans The Pyramids of the Cold le 21/09/2025 à 06:44
The study "The Pyramids of Cold" reveals how the deities of ancient Egypt were not simply mythological figures, but sophisticated and coded representations of scientific knowledge and technological processes. Atum is defined as the personification and glorification of the natural process of water evaporation, the basis of the flash-evaporative cooling that produced cold temperatures inside the Great Pyramid of Khufu. Nut, meanwhile, is identified as the glorification of evaporated water itself, and more specifically, of the moisture suspended in the air; and that is Shu, the god of dry air. It was perfectly well known to all Egyptians that “Atum separated land from water and basically had to organise everything himself from then on. For a long time, he was the organisation. And he laid good foundations. During his tenure, he cooled down the air and dried out the land, and those who came after can thank him for that.” https://susanllewellyn.wordpress.com/2010/02/05/what-kind-of-god-do-you-think-you-are-atum-1/
[Atum on the Tapéret stele] -730 / -745 (XXIIe dynastie thébaine; XXIIIe dynastie) E 52; N 3663 at the Louvre museum [edited from original photograph]: https://collections.louvre.fr/en/ark:/53355/cl010017961
THE PYRAMIDS of the COLD • Study written by Bruno COURSOL (January 2021 to September 2025)
Section A • The flash-evaporative cooling process and the so-called horizontal passage
In this Section A, we will discover with Atum, who was known for "cooling down the air and drying out the land", that the very first god of the ancient Egyptians was nothing other than the glorification of the process of water evaporation, whether in reference to the production of salt from seawater, or the production of cold through evaporative cold. It seems that the ancient Egyptians strived to copy and improve what nature did, and with the Great Pyramid and the development of flash-evaporative cold, they certainly achieved their goal of producing intense cold, perhaps even reaching the freezing temperature of water, 0°C.
Chapter 02 • How the Evaporation process was glorified with Atum 'who cooled down the air and dried out the land'
In summary: while throughout this study we will see that the vast majority of ancient Egyptian deities refer solely to the functioning of the Great Pyramid of Khufu, Atum, like Thoth (the glorification of the stylus) and Seshat (the glorification of the ink in which the stylus is dipped, chapter 1), are the perfect counterexample and find their origins not in the Fourth Dynasty but in the First, or probably even further back in ancient Egyptian history.
If Atum was said to be the one "who cooled down the air and dried out the land," it is because Atum is nothing other than the glorification that the ancient Egyptians made of the natural process of water evaporation: it is this evaporation that creates cold (we therefore speak of evaporative cold), and it is also this evaporation that allows the land to dry out. We will see one of the most beautiful metaphors that the Egyptians created in their process of glorification, which allowed them to establish their power, legitimacy, and domination over the people; this metaphor is that of the 'primordial mound' of Atum, which is nothing other than salt: the 'mound' that rises from the waters of the primordial ocean can indeed only be salt, resulting from the evaporation of this water.
We will also see that it is the shape taken by the salt crystals resulting from evaporation that gave their characteristic form to the pyramids, and that it was precisely in these gigantic structures that were the great pyramids that another manifestation of the process of water evaporation was implemented by the Egyptians: the creation of evaporative cold. It is the process of evaporation that allows both the production of this precious commodity, salt, as well as evaporative cold; And of course, what these two processes have in common is related to preservation: salt is a natural preservative, and cold also considerably increases shelf life, whether it is food products, or the bodies of pharaohs in search of immortality.
“Atum separated land from water and basically had to organise everything himself from then on. For a long time, he was the organisation. And he laid good foundations. During his tenure, he cooled down the air and dried out the land, and those who came after can thank him for that.” https://susanllewellyn.wordpress.com/2010/02/05/what-kind-of-god-do-you-think-you-are-atum-1/
“SEM view of Pyramidal crystals of NaCl”. Photograph by Dr. Tehseen Ahmed, in “Pilot Plant Study to Utilize Waste Brine Generated by Salt Industries”; by Farhan Ullah Khan, Majid Mumtaz and Dr. Tehseen Ahmed: https://www.researchgate.net/figure/SEM-view-of-Pyramidal-crystals-of-NaCl_fig4_269101438
Le sel pousse-t-il au soleil? By Pierre Laszlo: https://www.quae.com/produit/1140/9782759219469/le-sel-pousse-t-il-au-soleil Sea salt harvesting: https://www.amazon.ca/Napoleons-Celtic-Salt-Resealable-Naturally/dp/B0DPXSVJP7
02.01 The 'primordial mound' of Atum "which rises from the waters of the sea" is simply salt: sea salt
Of all the wonderful metaphors used by the ancient Egyptians to code their scientific and technological knowledge into their religion, here is one that stands out in particular: the metaphor that describes the formation of solid structures made of salt, from the simple evaporation of seawater. This is what the famous 'primordial mound' of Atum really is: salt.
But be careful, this does not mean that Atum is the glorification of salt, because when it was said that Atum 'was cooling down the air and drying out the land', this can only mean one thing: that Atum is about the process of water evaporation itself. It is the evaporation of water that creates cold (the famous evaporative cold that we will discuss in this Section and throughout the rest of the study), and it is also the evaporation of water that dries out the land.
“In the Heliopolitan Cosmogony, Atum was considered to be the first god, having created himself, sitting on a mound (benben) (or identified with the mound itself), and rose from the primordial waters (Nu). Early myths state that Atum created the god Shu and goddess Tefnut by spitting them out of his mouth One text debates that Atum did not create Shu and Tefnut by spitting them out of his mouth by means of saliva and semen, but rather by Atum's lips. Another writing describes Shu and Tefnut being birthed by Atum's hand. That same writing states that Atum's hand is the title of the god's wife based on her Heliopolitan beginning. Other myths state Atum created by masturbation, with the hand he used in this act that may be interpreted as the female principle inherent within him because the word for hand in Egyptian is feminine (ḏr.t) and identified with goddesses such as Hathor or Iusaaset. Yet other interpretations state that he made union with his shadow.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atum
“Atum separated land from water and basically had to organise everything himself from then on. For a long time, he was the organisation. And he laid good foundations. During his tenure, he cooled down the air and dried out the land, and those who came after can thank him for that.” https://susanllewellyn.wordpress.com/2010/02/05/what-kind-of-god-do-you-think-you-are-atum-1/
Sea salt harvesting in Pak Thale, Phetchaburi, Thailand. Photograph by JJ Harrison: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_salt#/media/File:Salt_Farmers_-_Pak_Thale-edit1.jpg
02.02 The so intriguing 'masturbatory hand' of Atum only represents the age-old ancestral gesture of sprinkling salt with the hand
The following metaphor is a perfect example of how the ancient Egyptians used the extraordinary abilities of their gods in their daily lives. Since Atum glorified the process of water evaporation, and since mastering it made it possible to produce the salt essential for good nutrition, Egyptians probably saw Atum as the one who guided their hands when they used this salt. The hand of Atum is nothing other than the hand we use when we salt a dish, or when we add salt to make bread, for example.
“In the Heliopolitan Cosmogony, Atum was considered to be the first god, having created himself, sitting on a mound (benben) (or identified with the mound itself), and rose from the primordial waters (Nu). Early myths state that Atum created the god Shu and goddess Tefnut by spitting them out of his mouth One text debates that Atum did not create Shu and Tefnut by spitting them out of his mouth by means of saliva and semen, but rather by Atum's lips. Another writing describes Shu and Tefnut being birthed by Atum's hand. That same writing states that Atum's hand is the title of the god's wife based on her Heliopolitan beginning. Other myths state Atum created by masturbation, with the hand he used in this act that may be interpreted as the female principle inherent within him because the word for hand in Egyptian is feminine (ḏr.t) and identified with goddesses such as Hathor or Iusaaset. Yet other interpretations state that he made union with his shadow.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atum
How to salt pasta water. By Massimo Capra: https://www.tiktok.com/@massimo_capra/video/7520501883694320901
02.03 The playful pharaohs: Atum and the 'finishing salt'
We will see throughout Pyramids of the Cold many, many examples where the Egyptians were clearly very playful and facetious about their choice of metaphors used to glorify their scientific knowledge and technological demonstrations, and perhaps we have another one here, with Atum being described as ‘the one who terminates' or 'finishes'; because even though the metaphor is probably primarily about the idea of completing a cycle, we surely cannot exclude the possibility that it is also about salting the dish with 'finishing salt'.
“Atum's name is thought to be derived from the verb tm which means 'to complete' or 'to finish'. Thus, he has been interpreted as being the "complete one" and also the finisher of the world, which he returns to watery chaos at the end of the creative cycle.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atum
02.04 The so-called 'benben stone' is truly about salt crystals: salt is after all just another form of stone
Now we're going to look at one of the most important discoveries revealed by The Pyramids of the Cold, and that's the very origin of the shape of the pyramids.
Egyptologists often point out that the ancient Egyptians were keen observers of their environment. Where they're mistaken is that they also seem to view them a bit like children, or as people who were ultimately not very smart or intelligent; this is probably due to old hangovers from the period when Westerners were colonialists and people of color were considered part of an inferior class. This stupid and deadly 19th-century ideology is probably at the root of the total misunderstanding we have today for ancient Egyptian civilization. There is no doubt that the ancient Egyptians were very keen observers of nature, and we will see throughout this study that they had reached a level of knowledge quite comparable, in at least a number of areas, to that of the very first Egyptologists to have set foot on Egyptian soil in the very early 1800s.
We will see, for example, how the ancient Egyptians represented and glorified a magnifying glass, but there is no need for a magnifying glass to see in nature the perfect illustration of the shape of a pyramid; and of course, this perfect pyramidal shape is the one spontaneously taken by salt crystals formed by evaporation. What the following excerpt shows is that the 'primordial mound' created by Atum (i.e., the glorification of water evaporation) from seawater is directly associated with the pyramids: this 'primordial mound', also called 'benben' by the Egyptians, is in fact the shape of the salt crystals themselves, and it is this that is at the origin of the shape of the pyramids.
“In the creation myth of the Heliopolitan form of ancient Egyptian religion, Benben was the mound that arose from the primordial waters Nu upon which the creator deity Atum settled. The Benben stone is associated with the top stone of a pyramid, which is called a pyramid's pyramidion (or benbenet). It is also related to the obelisk.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benben
“The Benben stone, named after the mound, was a sacred stone in the temple of Ra at Heliopolis (Egyptian: Annu or Iunu). It was the location on which the first rays of the sun fell. It is thought to have been the prototype for later obelisks, and the capstones of the great pyramids were based on its design. The capstone (the tip of the pyramid) is also called a pyramidion. In ancient Egypt, these were probably polished or clad so they shone in sunlight.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benben
The pyramidion [benbenet] is directly associated with the benben [the primordial mound of Atum]. Pyramidion of Amenemhat III from the Black Pyramid, Twelfth Dynasty. Egyptian Museum, Cairo. Photographed by Jon Bodsworth: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benben#/media/File:Pyramidion_of_the_Pyramid_of_Amenemhet_III_at_Dahshur.jpg
02.05 The complex and sophisticated story behind the pyramidal shape of the Pyramids
I hope you understand the full significance of this and to what extent it is our entire vision of ancient Egypt that we must completely rewrite: the ancient Egyptians designed the great pyramids, based on the shape taken by salt crystals resulting from the evaporation of water, and as we will see later, they used these pyramids to create what was undoubtedly for them the ultimate illustration of this magical process of water evaporation: the creation of cold, evaporative cold.
The Great Pyramids are therefore a double glorification of the process of evaporation: first by their form, and second by their function. But more importantly, they were mostly entirely focused on the idea of preservation, whether it be preservation by cold or preservation by salt; but of course, this is not all metaphorical: if my interpretation of the Sabu disk is correct, the ancient Egyptians did indeed use the cold produced in the great pyramids to cool the manufacture of 100% pure natron by a process akin to the modern Solvay process, and of course natron was the salt that the Egyptians used for their mummification practices. And there, the whole story would finally be written before us: the Great Pyramids, the ultimate symbols of the process of water evaporation and preservation by cold and salt, would also have been used to ensure the eternal life of the pharaohs.
The Giza pyramid complex seen from the south. From right to left, the three largest are: the Great Pyramid, the Pyramid of Khafre, and the Pyramid of Menkaure with three queen's pyramids. Photograph by Ricardo Liberato - All Gizah Pyramids: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egyptian_pyramids#/media/File:All_Gizah_Pyramids.jpg
Shrine box, lizard. Object Number: 04.2.513 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New-York. “The lizard in later periods of Egyptian history was linked with the creator and solar god Atum, in large part because of their reptilian tendency to warm themselves in the sunshine. Almost all copper alloy representations, like this one, show the lizards prone, with legs slightly splayed, as if basking in the sun’s rays. Most rest on top of boxes that would have held mummified lizards.” https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/560641
02.06 Atum was depicted as a lizard basking in the sun because of his 'magical' scales that shine like crystals
One of the main mistakes Egyptologists have made is not understanding, or not wanting to accept, the idea that all representations of ancient Egyptian deities in the form of animals were simply a very elegant way for the Egyptians to emphasize a very particular aspect of the true meaning of these same deities.
Here, we are dealing with the problem to be resolved concerning Atum and his representations in the form of lizards or snakes, and of course, the reason is not because these animals simply liked to bask in the sun to keep warm, but rather because of the scales of these animals, and the fact that these scales almost magically shone in the sun.
• Seriously, how can anyone really believe that one of the greatest gods of ancient Egypt was represented in the form of a poor little lizard or a snake, for the sole reason that these animals particularly like to bask in the sun to warm themselves? Have we all collectively given up on any spirit of analysis and critical thinking?
"Shining lizard". Photograph by mtux: https://www.flickr.com/photos/mtux/15591884316/in/photostream/
02.07 Atum was also represented as a snake for the same reason of the shining scales, but also because of the loop, the cycle of the evaporation process
The common point used with the lizard and the snake is of course because these animals both shine in the sun, and they shine in the same way that salt crystals do. Of course, they also shine in the same way as the pyramids, since they themselves were representations of these same salt crystals.
But no doubt the Egyptians also wanted to use the serpent to physically represent the notion of a cycle that ends with the loops that a serpent can form with its body; remember that Atum is the glorification, that is to say the incarnation of the evaporation of water, and therefore by extension of the water cycle itself.
“Although he was at his most popular in the Old Kingdom in Lower Egypt, he is often closely associated with the Pharaoh all over Egypt. During the New Kingdom, Atum and the Theban god Montu (Montju) are depicted with the king in the Temple of Amun at Karnak. In the Late Period, amulets of lizards were worn as a token of the god.” https://ancientegyptonline.co.uk/atum/
“The lizard, noted for its love of sunshine, was considered the animal manifestation of the sun god Atum. However, it was also symbolic of regeneration because of its ability to regrow limbs and tail if they were injured or lost. In this context, it was placed on a par with the snake which sloughed its skin to pass into a new life. That is why both creatures are grasped by underworld deities in scenes on coffins and funerary papyri of later New Kingdom date.” https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/Y_EA3081
“Although he was at his most popular in the Old Kingdom in Lower Egypt, he is often closely associated with the Pharaoh all over Egypt. During the New Kingdom, Atum and the Theban god Montu (Montju) are depicted with the king in the Temple of Amun at Karnak. In the Late Period, amulets of lizards were worn as a token of the god.” https://ancientegyptonline.co.uk/atum/
“The lizard, noted for its love of sunshine, was considered the animal manifestation of the sun god Atum. However, it was also symbolic of regeneration because of its ability to regrow limbs and tail if they were injured or lost. In this context, it was placed on a par with the snake which sloughed its skin to pass into a new life. That is why both creatures are grasped by underworld deities in scenes on coffins and funerary papyri of later New Kingdom date.” https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/Y_EA3081
Figurine of Atum as a snake E 27690 at the Louvre museum: https://collections.louvre.fr/ark:/53355/cl010035512
Maybe all these piles of salt, characteristic of the sea salt harvest, are also at the origin of the representation of the body of Apep with all these small loops: each of these loops is destined to evaporate in the evaporation conduct and leave behind, not table salt NaCl, but limescale deposit. [Sea salt harvesting] in Pak Thale, Phetchaburi, Thailand. Photograph by JJ Harrison: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_salt#/media/File:Salt_Farmers_-_Pak_Thale-edit1.jpg
02.08 The endless operating cycle of the Great Pyramid for flash-evaporative cold production: the fight of Atum with the Great serpent Apep
We will see later in the study that the Great Serpent Apep was the (or at least a) representation of the waters of the inclined well, pressurized by the fall of the impactor in the Grand Gallery of the Great Pyramid. The idea for the Egyptians was to illustrate not only the idea of the pressurization of the water by mentioning a 'very large serpent', but also to show the cyclical and sequential aspect of the undertaking. This is why we have Atum here represented with Apep, and why the latter is depicted with his body divided into many small loops. Of course, each of these loops represents the small portion of the waters of the inclined well that were ejected towards the evaporation conduit, during each of the Pyramid's operating cycles. Atum thus finds himself faced with all these little loops, and the subtext of the illustration is that it is through his intervention, through his powers in a certain way, that each of these loops is in fact destined to evaporate and disappear. This is why it is said that Atum 'kills' Apep: he doesn't really kill him, but he makes him disappear little by little.
Atum on right side facing Apep with a spear, tomb of Ramesses I, 19th Dynasty (c. 1292–1290 BC): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atum#/media/File:Apep_1.jpg
[Tapéret stele] that shows the glorification of evaporation of water, that is Atum, while goddess Nut is illustrating and completing the water cycle just above him, because Nut is nothing other than the glorification of evaporated water itself (Nut was known as "the goddess of the sky"). -730 / -745 (XXIIe dynastie thébaine; XXIIIe dynastie) E 52; N 3663 at the Louvre museum [edited from original photograph]: https://collections.louvre.fr/en/ark:/53355/cl010017961
02.09 Atum is one of these rare ancient Egyptian gods who existed before the Great Pyramid was built, because he is the glorification of the water evaporation process, while Nut is the glorification of evaporated water itself
Throughout this study we will see that if the vast majority of the deities of ancient Egypt refer only to the functioning of the Great Pyramid of Khufu, Atum, like Thoth (the glorification of the stylus that we have just seen in the previous chapter) and Seshat (the glorification of the ink in which the stylus is dipped), are the perfect counter-example and find their origins not in the Fourth Dynasty and the Great Pyramid, but in the First Dynasty, or even further back in the history of ancient Egypt.
Just as the god Thoth and the goddess Seshat are the two deities of writing, because they obviously had to be combined together to enable this writing, Atum is also the glorification of an idea or concept much older and more basic than most other Egyptian deities. We will see, for example, that the goddess Isis is nothing more than the glorification of two extremely important ropes in the functioning of the Great Gallery, and that other deities such as Nephthys, Ra, Osiris, Bes, and Taweret are also entirely related to the Great Pyramid and therefore only appear during the 5th Dynasty, while the Great Pyramid was built at the end of the 4th Dynasty.
“Atum, sometimes rendered as Atem, Temu, or Tem, is the primordial God in Egyptian mythology from whom all else arose. He created himself and is the father of Shu and Tefnut, the divine couple, who are the ancestors of the other Egyptian deities. Atum is also closely associated with the evening sun. As a primordial god and as the evening sun, Atum has chthonic and underworld connections. Atum was relevant to the ancient Egyptians throughout most of Egypt's history. He is believed to have been present in ideology as early as predynastic times, becoming even more prevalent during the Old Kingdom and continuing to be worshiped through the Middle and New Kingdom, though he becomes overshadowed by Ra around this time.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atum
02.10 Atum was known as 'the complete One' because he is all about the concept of completing the water cycle
In a way, then, Atum was the one who made the water cycle possible, and for this reason he was also invoked to illustrate the very idea of a cycle and the obsession that the ancient Egyptians had with completing a cycle.
• Completing a cycle 1 - About the water cycle: “Atum's name is thought to be derived from the verb tm which means 'to complete' or 'to finish'. Thus, he has been interpreted as being the "complete one" and also the finisher of the world, which he returns to watery chaos at the end of the creative cycle. As creator, he was seen as the progenitor of the world, the deities and universe having received his vital force or ka.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atum
• Completing a cycle 2 - About the day and night cycle: “Atum (also spelled Atem) was a primordial god to the ancient Egyptians and the ancestor of all other gods. He was often associated with the setting sun. He was also one of the oldest gods, since his origins date back to Pre-Dynastic times. He was eventually overshadowed by the sun god Ra in the New Kingdom period.” https://www.ancient-egypt-online.com/atum.html
• Completing a cycle 3 - About the birth and death cycle: “As early as the Pyramid Texts (composed around 2400 BC), Atum was one of the principle gods, overseeing both the birth and death of the world, as well as the birth and death of the day and those of individual humans. He was mentioned more than any other god in the Texts. In some lower Kingdom depictions from the time of Ramses II, Atum was shown crowning each new pharaoh.” https://www.ancient-egypt-online.com/atum.html
Water cycle Mural Template: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Water-Cycle-Mural-Template-5922387
02.11 Atum and the 'right to rule' passed down to all pharaohs
Atum is therefore quite different and refers to a concept that the ancient Egyptians had been interested in for a very long time, that of the phase transformation of a liquid into a gas. The fact that Atum is presented as the very first of the Egyptian gods very likely underlines the extraordinary importance that this concept of evaporation had acquired in their society, whether for its importance in the manufacture of sea salt or the production of evaporative cooling, whether it was as simple as possible or as complex as the flash-evaporative cold realized in the Great Pyramid.
For many, the main discovery of the Pyramids of the Cold will probably be linked to the reconstruction of the functioning of the Great Pyramid and flash-evaporative cooling, and rightly so, but with Atum, this aspect of the use of the process of water evaporation takes on particular importance since it was precisely in Atum's name that the pharaohs obtained their legitimacy to rule Egypt. Let us not forget that Atum was described as the first of the gods, and the father of all the other gods.
Undoubtedly, the creation of cold through water evaporation was one of the main reasons for associating this god with the notion of legitimizing the pharaohs, even if the idea that with a new pharaoh, that is, a new cycle, Atum was necessarily the ideal god. I'm not saying this to arbitrarily emphasize evaporative cooling, but simply because cooling, i.e., the production of cold, was well-known among the ancient Egyptians, of course in the excerpt we've already seen concerning Atum, but also in many other examples that we'll see later, including:
• the Step Pyramid of Djoser, which was known to the ancient Egyptians as the Pyramid 'of the Refreshment of the Gods' (but wrongly named by egyptologists, who should have translated ‘the Pyramid of the cooling by the gods’)
• the famous Serdab of this same Step Pyramid which means ‘cold water’
• the goddess Kebetchet, whom we could very well call the 'goddess of cold water'
“Atum was not merely the father and mother of the world. He was also its ruler. This "right to rule" was passed down from Atum directly to the pharaohs. Hence, the mythology of Atum as ruler was used to legitimize the rule of the current king. This legitimizing would happen with each successive pharaoh through coronation rituals centered around Atum.” https://www.ancient-egypt-online.com/atum.html
“Atum separated land from water and basically had to organise everything himself from then on. For a long time, he was the organisation. And he laid good foundations. During his tenure, he cooled down the air and dried out the land, and those who came after can thank him for that.” https://susanllewellyn.wordpress.com/2010/02/05/what-kind-of-god-do-you-think-you-are-atum-1/
[Atum (left) in First book of respirations N3284] at the Louvre: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Atum#/media/File:First_book_of_respirations_N3284_mp3h8818.jpg
In the center of the image is god of dry air Shu 'separating' Geb lying on the ground (the glorification of water in its liquid form), from "goddess of the stars" Nut, in her characteristic arched position. But Nut isn't "the goddess of the stars", or "the goddess of the sky", she is "the goddess in the sky", because Nut is the glorification of evaporated water. [illustration] “Egyptian Representation of the Heavens and Earth,” uncredited illustration after ancient Egyptian papyrus of Tanytamon 172, for “How the Earth Was Regarded in Old Times,” by Camille Flammarion, The Popular Science Monthly, vol. 10, Mar. 1877, p. 546. Digitized from the collection of the Marine Biological Laboratory and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution: https://archive.org/details/popularsciencemo10newy/page/546/mode/1up
02.12 Because Atum is all about the glorification of the water evaporation process, Egyptians gave to Atum two children: the god of dry air Shu and the goddess of moisture Tefnut
What's remarkable is that the ancient Egyptians didn't stop at glorifying the natural process of evaporation by creating the god Atum, as they also described the mechanism of evaporation through Atum's two children: Shu and Tefnut.
In short, the process of evaporation consists of tiny amounts of liquid water transforming into water vapor in a cycle that will only stop when the air is completely saturated with water.
In other words, the key to the evaporation process is none other than the air itself. The ancient Egyptians therefore created Shu, the god of dry air, and Tefnut, the goddess of humidity and the female counterpart of Shu. In short, Atum and his two children were all together representing the glorification that an entire civilization has placed on the process of evaporation, which gave them salt and cold.
“Atum was the father of the gods, creating the first divine couple, Shu and Tefnut, from whom all the other gods are descended.” https://ancientegyptonline.co.uk/atum/
1 • About Shu:“His name [Shu] is thought to be derived from the word for dryness “shu”, the root of words such as “dry”, “parched”, “withered”, “sunlight”, and “empty”. However, it is also proposed that his name means “He who Rises Up”. https://ancientegyptonline.co.uk/shu/
2 • About Tefnut: “In some versions of this myth, Atum also spits out his saliva, which forms the act of procreation. This version contains a play on words, the tef sound which forms the first syllable of the name Tefnut also constitutes a word meaning "to spit" or "to expectorate". The Coffin Texts contain references to Shu being sneezed out by Atum from his nose, and Tefnut being spat out like saliva. The Bremner-Rind Papyrus and the Memphite Theology describe Atum as sneezing out saliva to form the twins [Shu and Tefnut]” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tefnut
“Tefnut (Ancient Egyptian: tfn.t) is a deity in Ancient Egyptian religion, the feminine counterpart of the air god Shu. Her mythological function is less clear than that of Shu, but Egyptologists have suggested she is connected with moisture, based on a passage in the Pyramid Texts in which she produces water, and on parallelism with Shu's connection with dry air. She was also one of the goddesses who could function as the fiery Eye of Ra. The name Tefnut has no certain etymology but it may be an onomatopoeia of the sound of spitting, as Atum spits her out in some versions of the creation myth. Additionally, her name was written as a mouth spitting in late texts.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tefnut
[Atum and the Twin brothers Shu and Tefnut] Ousirour stele, Louvre: https://collections.louvre.fr/ark:/53355/cl010014444
02.13 The mention that "Atum created himself" probably is because the evaporation process is all natural
Perhaps the fact that Atum is described as having 'created himself' indicates that the process of evaporation is a natural process and that in a certain way the Egyptians were keen to differentiate this type of process from anything they themselves had accomplished. With Atum, Shu and Tefnut, ancient Egyptians thus show that they perfectly understood and mastered the natural process of water evaporation, but that they were not its creators per se.
“Atum, sometimes rendered as Atem, Temu, or Tem, is the primordial God in Egyptian mythology from whom all else arose. He created himself and is the father of Shu and Tefnut, the divine couple, who are the ancestors of the other Egyptian deities. […] Atum was relevant to the ancient Egyptians throughout most of Egypt's history. He is believed to have been present in ideology as early as predynastic times, becoming even more prevalent during the Old Kingdom and continuing to be worshiped through the Middle and New Kingdom, though he becomes overshadowed by Ra around this time.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atum
Evaporation and condensation in the Water Cycle: https://studylib.net/doc/17914585/the-water-cycle
Representation of Geb and Nut, with Shu at the center and Atum on the right side. Geb is laying on the ground, Nut is arched above him and Shu is in between 'separating' them. Papyrus mythologique de Tanytamon, Egyptien 172. Bibliothèque nationale de France, département des manuscrits (color and luminosity modified on gimp): https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b8304598h
02.14 The central role of god of dry air Shu in the evaporation process: he is the one supporting humidity that is Nut, and this is why Nut has boats all over her body (aren't boats supposed to be on the water?)
If you look closely at the scene depicted above, you'll quickly realize that, although it's not clearly depicted anywhere, the entire scene is actually about water. Water is indeed suggested almost everywhere: by the two boats, of course, but also by the fishing net carried by Atum, which is depicted on the right side of the drawing, but of which only the upper part is visible, suggesting that it is submerged in water.
We will see later in The Pyramids of the Cold that Geb (the glorification of liquid water on the ground) and Nut (the glorification of evaporated water in the air), have been reused to glorify the Egyptian pulley, which is a kind of pulley made entirely of stone and consisting of a simple rotating cylinder inside a hollowed-out base to accommodate this rotating cylinder, because the cycle of the evaporation process is a cycle in perpetual renewal, with of course, Shu, the god of dry air at the center.
Of course, the Egyptologists could do nothing but describe a completely different story, and try to make sense of it all; In particular, they explain that Shu is separating Geb and Nut, but just look for yourself: Shu doesn't separate anyone, but it carries, it supports Nut; because what it carries is precisely the humidity in the air.
Here, the ancient Egyptians used a very sophisticated 'trick' where they kept Atum and Shu as they were, but made the water disappear completely: they made Tefnut disappear from the image. But obviously, if there are both Atum and Shu, the missing part of the 'divine trio' is actually not very far away: the Egyptians actually 'split' Tefnut into its two components, which were then 'disguised' as Geb and Nut. It is obviously no coincidence that the names of Tefnut (missing) and Nut (present in the drawing) are so close; And if Tefnut is indeed about water in spit form, then Nut is simply about water: look at her diving! And also consider how Geb was depicted as if swimming on his back.
To put it simply, this drawing is nothing other than a fantasized and glorified representation of the water cycle, between the liquid water in which Geb and Atum find themselves, and the evaporated water represented by Nut, which is supported by the dry air of Shu.
Dendera light photograph by Kairoinfo4U: https://www.flickr.com/photos/manna4u/14525094039/in/photostream/
02.15 About the Dendera Light and the fact that Dendera was nicknamed "the Land of Atum", the god "Who cooled down the air and dried out the land"
In Chapter 04, we’ll see that because Atum is the personification of the flash-evaporation process itself, he is also the essential key to deciphering the Dendera Light. Indeed, not only Atum is explicitly described in ancient Egyptian texts as the god "who cooled down the air and dried out the land", which is a literal description of the physical effects of water evaporation, but he was also directly linked with the Temple of Dendera, which was known as the "Land of Atum". Most probably the Egyptians were identifying the site as a location where this specific thermodynamic process was mastered and utilized, before the site was reassigned much later, during Ptolemaic times, to the goddess Hathor, as the underground part of the temple, the crypts and foundations, were built during the reign of king Khufu.
Operating diagram of the Great Pyramid of Khufu for flash-evaporative cooling production, hypothetically to control chemical manufacturing of sodium carbonate Natron, through an ammonia process akin to the modern Solvay process. The "Pyramids of the Cold" study posits that the Great Pyramid of Giza functioned as a massive, industrial-scale flash-evaporative cooling system. This system was not a static monument but a dynamic machine designed to lower temperatures to near 0°C or below, facilitating the chemical synthesis of natron via a process analogous to the modern Solvay process. The operational cycle of this system relied on a composite weighted impactor (a piston-like device) that moved within a central wooden Djed caisson located in the Grand Gallery. This impactor was hauled to the top of the Gallery by a crew of six, using a system of four ropes and four Egyptian pulleys entirely made of stone (probably granite). Upon release, the impactor fell, generating the necessary pressure to drive water and air through the system. The "horizontal passage" acted as the cooling conduit, where pressurized water was forced through a fog nozzle (symbolized by the lotus flower in the Dendera reliefs) to create a mist of microdroplets. The rapid phase transition of these droplets into vapor absorbed thermal energy from the surrounding air, resulting in flash-evaporative cooling.
The study "The Pyramids of the Cold" proposes a radical shift in Egyptology, moving away from the traditional funerary interpretation of the Great Pyramid of Giza toward a model of an industrial-scale chemical manufacturing plant. This perspective demonstrates that the ancient Egyptians were a sophisticated, pre-industrial civilization that utilized advanced physics and chemistry, which they subsequently encoded into their religious mythology to maintain a "religious veneer" for the masses while preserving technical knowledge for the elite.
The Flash-Evaporative Cooling Process. The core of this technological system was the production of intense cold through flash-evaporative cooling. This process involves the transformation of a fog of microdroplets of liquid water into vapor, a phase transition that absorbs significant thermal energy from the surrounding air. The Great Pyramid was engineered to facilitate this, with the "horizontal passage" acting as the cooling conduit where pressurized water was forced through a fog nozzle (symbolized in Egyptian iconography by the lotus flower) to create the necessary mist. The efficiency of this cooling is supported by the presence of thick expansion joints and massive salt encrustations found within the passage, which are consistent with low-temperature chemical processing.
The Role of the Composite Impactor. To drive this system, the Egyptians utilized a composite weighted impactor that functioned as a piston within a central wooden Djed caisson located in the Grand Gallery. This device was hauled to the top of the Gallery by a crew of six, using a system of four ropes and stone pulleys. Upon release, the impactor fell, generating the pressure required to drive water and air through the system. The movement of this impactor was glorified in mythology through various deities; for instance, the god Khonsu is interpreted as the deification of the piston-like impactor, while the god Ra represents the wooden vessel of the impactor itself.
Chemical Manufacturing and the Solvay Process. The cold generated by the pyramid was likely used to facilitate the chemical synthesis of natron (sodium carbonate) via a process analogous to the modern Solvay process. Evidence for this includes the Sabu Disk, which is interpreted as a dome-shaped, perforated plate used for counterflow chemical reactions within industrial towers. The extreme fragility of the metasiltstone used for the disk suggests it was protected within a stationary reaction chamber, such as the stone basins found at Abu Gorab, rather than being a mobile tool. Furthermore, the Red Pyramid of Sneferu exhibits evidence of having functioned as a limestone kiln, with residual ammonia smells suggesting an early mastery of these chemical manufacturing techniques.
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