THE PYRAMIDS of the COLD • Chapter 42 How the lubrication of the Egyptian pulley with water has been glorified into the Shu and Tefnut twins and the water cycle itself

In the center of the image is god of dry air Shu 'separating' Geb lying on the ground, from goddess of the stars Nut, in her characteristic arched position. “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

THE PYRAMIDS of the COLD • Study written by Bruno COURSOL (January 2021 to September 2025)

Section G • The hauling process in the Grand Gallery of the Great Pyramid of Khufu

For the impactor to be brought back up to the top of the Gallery, a hauling team of six crewmembers was in operation inside the hauling Beetle and the ropes were operated through a windlass and four redirecting Egyptian pulleys

Chapter 42 • The lubrication of the Egyptian pulley with water glorified into Shu, Tefnut and the water cycle itself

In summary: in this chapter, we’ll talk about the lubrication of the Egyptian pulleys that were set on the top platform of the Grand Gallery in the Great Pyramid. We’ve just seen that the inactive part of the Egyptian pulley has been glorified into Geb, the so-called god of the ‘earth’, when the active part of the pulley has been glorified into Nut, the so-called goddess of the sky and that the reason why Nut was also the goddess of the stars, is because the pulley’s cradle and wheel were made of granite: when the wheel (Nut) was in rotation inside its cradle, she would have looked like the night sky and its stars, spinning.

Now, we’re gonna talk about what was right below Nut: Tefnut; and the similarity of the name of the two goddesses isn’t accidental. If goddess of moisture Tefnut was associated with the saliva, the vagina or the eye, it only is because of one thing: Tefnut is about water used for lubrication, whether it is about the lubrication of the mouth, the lubrication of the vagina, the lubrication of the eye, or the lubrication of the Egyptian pulley.

We’ll see that if ‘goddess of moisture’ Tefnut is only about lubrication with water, her twin brother Shu ‘god of dry air’ is all about the result of the lubrication: somehow and metaphorically, ancient Egyptians have invented the very concept of levitation; the levitation of the pulley wheel of an Egyptian pulley lubricated with water. Levitation is key, and it explains why the twin brothers Shu and Tefnut are often depicted on artifacts with the representation of a counterweight: Shu and Tefnut were indeed fighting the weight of the massive pulley wheel, until that weight somehow disappeared; in other words, they were both like counterweights themselves.

In short, when Geb is the glorification of the cradle of the Egyptian pulley and Nut the glorification of its wheel, Tefnut is the glorification of the water used as lubricant and Shu is the happy beneficiary of the whole process: he is the one who is the glorification of the fact that the wheel was like levitating in the air.

[illustration] Twin brothers Shu and Tefnut on a Menat necklace with counterweight. Shu is on the right with four feathers, and Tefnut is on the left. Walters Art Museum, Baltimore: https://art.thewalters.org/object/54.1515/

In 2013, a group of mechanical engineering students at the University of Illinois, sponsored by independent researcher Stephen Blakely, did the original test of the pulley theory which had been developed to explain how ancient Egyptians could have built the great pyramids. On September 5, 2020, Blakely demonstrated the theory in person with some family and friend help. Stephen Blakely called his reinvented pulley the Egyptian pulley. Photograph by Jared Treece: https://dailyegyptian.com/102401/news/southern-illinois-man-tests-pyramid-creation-theory/#

42.01  Nut and the five extra days in a year: 360 is about degrees not days

Now that we know that Nut was nothing but the simple rotating cylinder of an Egyptian pulley (with a central groove), and that a cylinder is a solid formed by rotating a rectangle 360 degrees around its axis, we can understand that part of the myth about Nut that explains how the year was first 360 days long before it became 365 days. Here, science is not enough actually: you also need to understand how facetious and creative ancient Egyptians were. Egyptians were the great masters of metaphors, puzzles and play on words; and here they simply played with the idea that the numbers 360 and 365 are so close. This cute little story is nothing but a play on words, there never was a 360 days year: the 360 number is only about the 360 degrees of a circle.

“This is a story the ancient Egyptians used to explain their 365-day calendar. Nut loved Geb and Thoth, but she was married to Ra. When Ra found out about her secret loves, he was furious. He told Nut that she could not have any children on any of the 360 days of the year. This saddened her, so she went to Thoth for help. She gambled with Khonsu (the moon god) to create 5 more days, so she and Geb could have five children.” https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nut_(goddess)

“A cylinder is a solid formed by rotating a rectangle completely around a line (called the "axis") that passes through one of its sides. Therefore, a cylinder is a type of solid of rotation.”: https://www.andreaminini.net/math/cylinder

Papyrus EA10018,1 "Book of the Dead of Henuttawy"; frame 1; full colour vignette. The Trustees of the British Museum: https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/Y_EA10018-1?selectedImageId=359892001

42.02  The water used as lubricant for the Egyptian pulley is right there: the baboon is the one bringing the water

We've already seen in the previous chapter that the above scene from the papyrus "Book of the Dead of Henuttawy" is the ancient Egyptian way of representing the operation of an Egyptian pulley. The pulley itself is pretty clear to see, there isn't much of a metaphor here: the cradle and the pulley wheel are perfectly represented. The metaphors come with the Eye of Horus and the baboon: we've seen that the Eye of Horus has been used to suggest the rotation of the pulley wheel through the idea of a spinning or twisting eye. Finally, we've seen that the baboon was here to represent water, as many water clocks from ancient Egypt are 'decorated' with a baboon. This chapter is all about that water, the water that has been used to lubricate the Egyptian pulley.

See the Annex section for one possible explanation of why is the baboon supposed to bring water.

[left] "Water Clock Decorated with a Baboon. This piece is considered to be a model of a water clock. Water within could drain from a hole between the baboons legs over a measured time. This object was likely a temple offering to the god Thoth in his role as overseer of knowledge and measurement.” From the Metropolitan Museum of Art: https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/572126

[right] “Clepsydra or water clock with squatting baboon.” 4th century B.C.E. Metropolitan Museum of Art: https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/549190

Representation of Geb and Nut, with Shu. 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

42.03  No wonder Shu looks like a weightlifter: "He who Rises Up"

This certainly is one of the most known scene from the ancient Egyptian religion: you have Geb lying on the ground, Nut in her characteristic arched posture, and Shu right in between them. Scholars explain that Shu is trying to separate Nut from Geb, and prevent them from having intercourse. Of course, if it was the true meaning of the scene, nobody on earth would represent it this way today; indeed Shu looks more like a weightlifter than anything else. But knowing that this scene is actually all about the operation of an Egyptian pulley, it does make perfect sense that Shu is looking like a weightlifter, and that it is Nut that is lifted in the air. And indeed, god of the air Shu was known as "He who Rises Up".

But why is this Shu, god of the air, lifting the pulley wheel up? And where is the lubrication with water in there?

“His name 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/

42.04  Actually, on the above scene, water is literally everywhere!

You just have to look at the two boats, the fisherman and the fishing net to realize that the key element of the scene isn't really air, but water. Water is everywhere, because it is the water that is allowing the whole scene to work. Take the water out, and everything collapses. So, again: why is it Shu, god of the air that is at the center of the scene? The answer is actually part in Shu himself; because Shu has a twin sister: Tefnut, the Egyptian goddess of moisture.

Egyptians used metaphors like no other civilization did before us, and since; when it is said that Shu and Tefnut were twin brothers, what you need to understand is that there never was one, without the other one. And Tefnut is all about lubrication.

42.05  Tefnut and the lubrication of the mouth: the saliva

“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]. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tefnut

[Twin brothers Shu and Tefnut on the stele Ousirour] The Louvre: https://collections.louvre.fr/ark:/53355/cl010014444

42.06  Tefnut and the lubrication of the eye: the tears

“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

“After spending quite a long time in the waters of Nun (chaotic abyss), Shu and Tefnut returned to their father Ra. Upon seeing his children, Ra is believed to have wept. From those tears of Ra emerged the first humans.” https://worldhistoryedu.com/tefnut-birth-meaning-symbol-powers/

42.07  Tefnut and the lubrication of the vagina: the 'pure waters'

“In the earlier Pyramid Texts she is said to produce pure waters from her vagina.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tefnut

Twin brothers Shu and Tefnut in their lion form, represented lifting the Egyptian pulley up. "Book of the Dead of Ani; frame 7. British Museum papyrus EA10470,7": britishmuseum.org/collection/image/684782001

42.08  Shu and Tefnut: the "twin lion gods ensuring the rising of the sun"

On the above papyrus, we have Shu and Tefnut represented as lions, as they were both known as the "two lion gods", and what is very neat is that they are both represented, what scholars are describing as "ensuring the rising of the sun god on the horizon". Of course, the idea itself that the disc is the sun and that there is some kind of mountains around the sun, is particularly funny. The idea that one can see a horizon in there is even more funny.

So of course, there isn't any sun, mountain or horizon in there, but the Egyptian pulley all alone. Egyptians were extremely facetious and they loved rebus puzzles and play on words; here instead of representing only the wheel of the pulley being lifted up by Shu and Tefnut (by air and water), they represented the whole Egyptian pulley being lifted up.

“His skin was often painted black, possibly to represent his connection with Nubia or to emphasise his role in the rebirth of the sun god. He is commonly shown standing on the body of Geb with his arms raised to support Nut. When he [Shu] is linked with his wife Tefnut, he often appears as a lion and the two were known as the “twin lion gods”. Less frequently he is given the hind parts of a lion and the body and head of a man.” https://ancientegyptonline.co.uk/shu/

“A local creation myth stated that they first took form as a pair of lion cubs and grew into the two lions that guarded the eastern and western borders (linking Shu and Tefnut with Aker). In this form Shu and Tefnut often appeared on headrests to protect the owner as they slept (such as the ivory example from the tomb of Tutankhamun).” https://ancientegyptonline.co.uk/shu/

[illustration] “Representation of the gods Shu and Tefnut ensuring the rising of the sun god on the horizon”. Draw by Jeff Dahl: https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tefnout#/media/Fichier:Aker.svg

What causes aquaplaning? By Preston Tyres: https://www.prestoneuk.com/blog/what-is-aquaplaning/

42.09  Tefnut and the lubrication of the Egyptian pulley with water: the levitation and aquaplaning models

So, of course I'm not saying that the wheel of the Egyptian pulley used by ancient Egyptians was spinning so fast that aquaplaning was possible when the impactor was painstakingly lifted up to the top of the Grand Gallery, but who knows if there wasn't aquaplaning of the wheel when the two central hauling ropes were released into the slope, dragged by the weight of the Hathor hauling plug. But anyway, real aquaplaning or not, the wheel of the pulley would have looked like it was in aquaplaning anyway: the wheel would have looked like in levitation in the air, but because of the water used as lubricant. This is why Shu and Tefnut are twins: the levitation in the air thing (about Shu lifting Nut in the air), simply cannot happened if there isn't Tefnut (lubrication by water) in the first place. If you want to lift anything, whether it is the wheel of an Egyptian pulley, or the head of someone going to bed for a headrest, you have to have both Shu and Tefnut on your side.

42.10  Nut and the swallowing metaphor is about the throat of the goddess: the groove of the wheel

“Two different Egyptian myths place Nut as having vital powers in the sequence of day and night. In reference to Nut as a lover, Egyptians believed that Nut and Geb separated during the day. In the evening, Nut would come down to Earth to meet with Geb. Her absence from the sky resulted in darkness. The other myth refers to Nut as the mother of Ra. Ra uses her body as a pathway for the sun in the sky. Every night, Nut swallows Ra. She gives birth to Ra every morning to start the day anew. The Pyramid Texts of the pharaoh Pepi tell this story and reveals Nut as the “Great Goddess of the Sky”. In this form, she is the mother of all life and the one who receives all spirits.” https://www.ancient-egypt-online.com/nut.html

When Geb is the glorification of the cradle of the Egyptian pulley and Nut the glorification of its wheel, Tefnut is the glorification of the water used as lubricant and Shu is the happy beneficiary of the whole process: he is the one who is the glorification of the fact that the wheel was like levitating in the air. [Tutankhamun Headrest] “Several headrests were found among the treasures in Tutankhamun’s tomb. This carefully carved ivory one depicts the god Shu holding up the celestial vault": https://egypt-museum.com/tutankhamun-headrest/

42.11  Shu (the wheel in the air) only comes after Tefnut (the water lubricant), just like tomorrow only comes after yesterday

I'm not going to argue about the fact that one can really use a headrest like it is claimed by scholars, one can do many things in different circumstances, and it will not say that the ancient Egyptians really used such headrests, even if I strongly doubt it was and that they've never been used at all. Because when you know that Shu and Tefnut are nothing but the glorification of the magical event of 'levitation' of the pulley wheel in its cradle, then you understand the strange shape of the headrest: that is only the shape of the cradle, and the shape of the wheel.

The two lions are very interesting because they can be seen as either Shu and Tefnut or the personification of yesterday and tomorrow.

“Several headrests were found among the treasures in Tutankhamun’s tomb. This carefully carved ivory one depicts the god Shu holding up the celestial vault. The most beautiful example is a headrest belonging to Tutankhamun, whose column has been replaced by a depiction of the god Shu, lifting up the head, identified with the sun. On either side of him are two lions, which have been identified as Aker or the lion pair Ruty, the personification of yesterday and tomorrow, or Shu and Tefnut.” https://egypt-museum.com/tutankhamun-headrest/

[illustration] Twin brothers Shu and Tefnut on a Menat necklace with counterweight. Shu is on the right with four feathers, and Tefnut is on the left. Walters Art Museum, Baltimore: https://art.thewalters.org/object/54.1515/

Operating diagram of the Grand Gallery, showing the interaction between the Egyptian pulleys (the cradle 'thrones' + their wheel 'spinning eggs'), the central wooden Djed caisson 'Sycamore Tree' with air and water inside, and the impactor (with the Osiris weight inside).

42.12  The sycamore Tree of Goddess Nut where is water and air

“She [Nut] was often painted on the inside lid of the sarcophagus, protecting the deceased. The vaults of tombs were often painted dark blue with many stars as a representation of Nut. The Book of the Dead says, "Hail, thou Sycamore Tree of the Goddess Nut! Give me of the water and of the air which is in thee. I embrace that throne which is in Unu, and I keep guard over the Egg of Nekek-ur. It flourisheth, and I flourish; it liveth, and I live; it snuffeth the air, and I snuff the air, I the Osiris Ani, whose word is truth, in peace.”” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nut_(goddess)

Scene showing Geb (back swimming into liquid water), Nut (diving into the water), and Shu 'holding' Nut in the air: https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fichier:Geb_and_Nut03.png

Diving drawing: https://www.mobilesport.ch/plongeon/plongeon-basics-chute/

Backstroke technique: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Backstroke_(PSF).png

42.13 The true original meaning of these Geb and Nut scenes is about the wheel of the Egyptian pulley in rotation inside its cradle, and then it may have been reused to glorify the water cycle by incorporating god off dry air Shu

Now, there is something particularly interesting about the following excerpt, indicating that Nut changed her meaning over time: she was first linked to the nighttime sky only, before being simply known as the sky goddess; and that is most probably because Egyptians would have used the endless rotating operation of the Egyptian pulley to glorify the endless water cycle of evaporation and condensation, that is the transformation of water between liquid and vapor.

“She was originally the goddess of the nighttime sky, but eventually became referred to as simply the sky goddess.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nut_(goddess)

So this is what may have happened:

• Nut was primarily the glorification of the spinning wheel of the Egyptian pulley, and because the rotating cylinder was made of black granite with many white and golden inclusions ( ‘Black Galaxy granite’ imported from India or similar stone from Egypt or neighbor countries), when the wheel turned, it would have looked like the night sky in rotation (see previous chapter)

• Overtime, or simultaneously, the endless rotating movement of the wheel allowed the Egyptians to use Geb and Nut in the representation of the water cycle: not only Geb could be seen as much as back swimming or as the cradle of the Egyptian pulley, and Nut could be seen as much as the arched cylinder wheel of the pulley or as in a characteristic diving position, but both together they also could be represented like they were involved into some kind of perpetual movement where Shu could have get the central role, the god of the air, the one who could support both Nut (as the water in the air) and Nut (as the rotating wheel of the pulley)

Operating diagram of the Great Pyramid of Khufu for flash-evaporative cold production.

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