The Pyramids of the Cold Section 2 • The Dendera Light
Publié par Bruno Coursol dans The Pyramids of the Cold le

The Dendera Light is a stone relief in the Hathor temple at Denderah in Egypt, that depict Harsomtus, in the form of a snake, emerging from a lotus flower. "In six reliefs he is shown within an oval container called hn, which might represent the womb of Nut. These superficially resemble a lamp or light." Photograph thanks to Kairoinfo4U and posted on flickr : https://www.flickr.com/photos/manna4u/14525094039/in/photostream/
The Pyramids of the Cold - Section 2 • The Evaporative Cooling : the Dendera Light
In summary : the Dendera Light is the representation of a fog made of sprayed and pressurized liquid water in the form of microdroplets, that was produced inside the horizontal passage of the Great Pyramid of Giza in order to achieve evaporative cooling. The Dendera Light Bulb was most probably created to cool down chemical reactions for the manufacturing of sodium carbonate Na2CO3, the purest mineral form of natron, the salt used for the mummification of the pharaohs.
2.01 Dendera Light : the academic point of view
The scholar explanation of the famous stone reliefs in the Hathor temple at Dendera in Egypt, depict the Dendera Light "as God Harsomtus, in the form of a snake, emerging from a lotus flower in an oval container called hn, which might represent the womb of Nut. Sometimes a djed pillar supports the snake or the container." Source : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dendera_light and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dendera_Temple_complex

The evaporative cooling passage of the Great Pyramid of Giza
2.02 The ancient Egyptian Dendera Light "protective magical energy in liquid form" is the evaporative cooling fog
The fact that the Dendera Light is made of liquid water that transforms itself in a magical way, is exactly what are describing ancient Egyptians themselves :
[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 1970*)." https://ahotcupofjoe.net/2016/11/dendera-light-bulb-and-bagdad-battery-nonsense/
*I'm not sure, but the excerpt might be from "The ancient Egyptian book of the dead / translated by Raymond O. Faulkner ; edited by Carol Andrews, 1972."

The double outline of the characters holding the Dendera Light because they are cold and they are having goose bumps.
2.03 The double outline of the characters holding the Dendera Light bulb and having goose bumps
This "double outline" isn't discussed at all by anybody, though it is the most important element of the Dendera reliefs. The fog is made of microdroplets of liquid water and it would evaporate itself, taking the necessary energy from the air. The result is the cooling down of the air. The character is offering cold, and he is cold himself.
The "double outline" of the offering fog character of the Dendera Light reliefs, shows the goose bumps. He was cold himself.
Actually, everything depends on the capacity of the air to absorb humidity. The example shown on the Carrier Diagram below, tells us that it was probably very easy to cool down the air next to 10°C, if the air started at a 10% humidity rate, and got to 90% at the end of the process.
But, I think they could cool down the air a lot more than that. Because at the entry of the pyramid, was certainly installed a liquid dehumidifier, working with a salt brine solution. The air at the beginning of the cooling process was probably close to 5% humidity or lower ; and the air inside the horizontal passage probably closer to 100%.
In my opinion, in regards to the extensive efforts to minimize the thermal stress on the first part of the horizontal passage, and the first part only, particularly the sand added behind the blocks and the large expansion joints, I wouldn't be surprised they got close to 5°C in the Queen's chamber (41°F).
2.04 The "Power of Water" and the "Bristling Hair" reference in the Book of the Dead of Ani
That double outline of the Dendera relief character, being a representation of the goose bumps that results of cold temperatures induced by the association of air and water, is actually present in the Egyptian Book of the Dead of Ani.
The following excerpt comes from the papyrus of Ani, Egyptian Book of the Dead (240 BCE), translated by E.A. Wallis Budge (last third of the page) : http://www.ancienttexts.org/library/egyptian/bookodead/book5.htm
"The Chapter Of Breathing The Air And Of Having Power Over Water in Khert-Neter."
"The Osiris Ani saith: Open to me! Who art thou? Whither goest thou? What is thy name? I am one of you. Who are these with you? The two Merti goddesses (Isis and Nephthys). Thou separatest head from head when [he] entereth the divine Mesqen chamber. He causeth me to set out for the temple of the gods Kem-heru. "Assembler of souls" is the name of my ferry-boat. "Those who make the hair to bristle" is the name of the oars. "Sert" ("Goad") is the name of the hold. "Steering straight in the middle" is the name of the rudder; likewise, [the boat] is a type of my being borne onward in the lake. Let there be given unto me vessels of milk, and cakes, and loaves of bread, and cups of drink, and flesh, in the Temple of Anpu."

The Dendera Light is "produced" by the sprayed venom of a spitting snake.
Dendera Light relief drawing on the left : please notice that what seems to be important here isn't the snake, but the spat venom of the snake. Also, you can see that the characters holding the snake are showing a double outline, the same way that the character holding (or offering) the Dendera Light does, on the right part of the drawing. The Dendera Light is produced by the snake, or as explained : by the venom of the snake. This particular relief is describing how was produced the microdroplets fog of sprayed water. Dendera Light drawing from the New York Public Library (Digital Collections). Author : Auguste Mariette, 1821-1881
2.05 The venom spray of a spitting snake : the fog of microdroplets of pressurized liquid water
In my theory, the ascending passage of the Great Pyramid, is flooded and the fall of an impactor (wooden cradle float + granite block), pressurizes the ascending passage (the inclined well) and so generates high-pressurized water that is sprayed inside the horizontal passage into a microdroplets fog, that instantly vaporizes itself and by doing so, cool down the air temperature. This is an adiabatic cooling process, that can cool down the air very effectively, with a 15 to 20°C drop.
That fog of liquid water microdroplets, is the Dendera Light.
That drawing of one of the Dendera Light reliefs, is absolutely outstanding, because it is organized the same way we do today in every single science book : the theoretical part on one side and the practical part on the other side.
On the left side of the drawing, we can see that the key element is the spat venom of the snake and not the snake by itself : that represents the sprayed water ; and on the right side we can see the practical application of the concept inside the horizontal passage of the Great Pyramid : from the inclined well (the ascending passage), is the water pipe going to the fog nozzle and resulting in the microdroplets fog.
Please note that 1/ the angle of the Dendera Light Bulb is very similar to the angle of the typical venom spray of a spitting snake ; and 2/ the shape of the Light Bulb is very similar to the shape of the horizontal passage.

On these Dendera Light Bulbs reliefs, it is worth noting that the entire shape of the micro-droplets cooling fog entirely fits in a space that has the exact height of the passage where the process starts on the drawing it is on. Dendera Light drawing from the New York Public Library (Digital Collections). Author : Auguste Mariette, 1821-1881
2.06 The height of the Dendera Light Bulbs
On the left drawing, 1 and 1' have the same height. On the right drawing, 2 and 2' have the same height as well. And same thing on the drawing above, with the venom coming out of the snake : the height of the starting passage equals the maximum height of the fog.
The fog of microdroplets was limited by the height of the passage.
It is still unclear to me if that means that 1 and 2, strictly represent the horizontal passage of the Great Pyramid, where the cooling fog was created, or if it also includes the inclined well (the ascending passage) from where the pressurized water was coming from.

The evaporative cold is powered on the fact that when liquid water is in presence of warm and dry air, it is transforming itself naturally into evaporated water by taking the energy into the air. The air ends up with less energy : it cools down. The dryer is the air at the beginning of the process, the more water it will be able to accept : the air is progressively charging himself in humidity along the process.
If the air starts at 10% humidity and will not be able to go farther than a 90% humidity rate at the end of the process, then starting at 25°C it will cool down to 11.5°C (diagram below).
But in the pyramid, the temperature is a steady 20°C and in my opinion would have start the process at close to 0% humidity to end up at 100% humidity.
Starting at 20°C it would have end up at 6.5°C if the process was adiabatic (atmospheric pressure), but if the air pushed by the impactor also pressurized the horizontal cooling passage, it would have been more efficient.
I personally think they could have cool down the Queen's chamber around 5°C (41°F).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychrometrics#/media/File:PsychrometricChart.SeaLevel.SI.svg

The Dendera Light Bulbs were producing cold and the adiabatic Carrier diagram can help us to evaluate how effective and efficient the cooling process was.
2.07 The character with the 2 knives
The Carrier diagram above, shows us that they probably didn't have any trouble getting to a 10°C inside the Queen's chamber (50°F) ; but like I said I wouldn't be surprised they could get to 5°C (41°F).
That minimum temperature is actually very important, because it could tell us precisely what process was used to make the sodium carbonate. It could have been the Solvay process, or the Hou process, which is a variant more effective.
For what I know, but I'm not a chemist, the cold could have been used for 2 major reasons : cool down the ammoniated tower where the brine (around 50% salt solution) was saturated with the ammonia NH3 and the carbonation tower where the ammoniated brine got saturated with CO2 coming from the kiln.
The character with 2 knives and a frog face, could maybe point to the good direction, because in the Hou process, a 10°C temperature is enough to cool down the carbonation tower and the ammonium chloride precipitate into the sodium chloride solution (the brine).
The precipitation of the ammonium chloride from the sodium chloride solution, results in a separation of the 2 components. And in my opinion, the separation of these 2 components is exactly what the 2 knives mean.
The knives are not here to protect anybody or anything, they don't even really mean cut.
The knives mean separate. There are 2 knives because 2 components needed to be separated.
2.08 The frog face of the character with the 2 knives
This is maybe a little far-fetched, but this frog face could also perfectly fit in the theory. Because, the precipitation of the ammonium chloride in the brine, is the separation of a solid component from a liquid phase.
And that is precisely what a frog do when passing from a tadpole living in the water, to an adult frog living in the air.
The frog face means separate from a liquid phase.

2.09 The Lotus Flower of Nefertem real meaning : the fog nozzle
Because the Dendera Light bulb is originating from the Lotus Flower, we know that the Lotus flower was another representation of the fog nozzle : most probably the metaphor about this Lotus Flower is about the very particular structure of its seed head that looks like a perfect shower head, and its roots that are showing many tubes, a perfect metaphor of the water supply pipe of the nozzle.
2.10 The shower head like lotus seed head
These images of sacred lotus are probably more than I did before explaining the reason why the lotus, or "sacred lotus" has been chosen by ancient Egyptians as a metaphoric representation of the fog nozzle of the Great Pyramid.
Not only the lotus seed head looks like a perfect shower head, but the inside of the lotus root is also showing many tubes. Most probably this is purely metaphoric, and the real fog nozzle was like I've already suggested before, very close to the design of a modern firefighter fog nozzle, with many "teeth" that would have been represented into the petals of the lotus flower.
Left image : Nelumbo nucifera seed head. https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Nelumbo_nucifera
Right image : lotus root internal structure. https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nelumbo_nucifera#/media/Fichier:Lotus_root.jpg

Ancient Egyptian representation of a basic fundamental principle of physics and its application for the production of evaporative cooling in the Great Pyramid of Giza.
The ancient Egyptian gods (and the Great Serpent of the Underworld Apep) involved in the cold production of the Lower Great Pyramid of Khufu : Atum who created 2 other gods by spitting them out of his mouth : Shu (the god of dry warm air and fog), and Tefnut (the goddess of moisture and humidity) ; and Nefertem that represented the fog nozzle itself, and who "had arisen from the primal waters" and was the "beautiful one who closes" or "one who does not close"; as a perfect "tap" or "valve" analogy.
"In the Book of the Dead, [...], the sun god Atum is said to have ascended from chaos-waters with the appearance of a snake, the animal renewing itself every morning."
More on Nut, please read Section 3.
2.11 Nefertem : the mediator in which Atum is passing through
Excerpt from Michael J. Masley : "Meeks points out that the relationship between the sun and the lotus-Nefertem is well attested in the Pyramid Texts but the birth of the sun-god in the lotus blossom is known only after the Amarna period. Pyramid Texts Spell 249 (Pyr. § 266a): xa (wnjs)| m nfr-tm m zSSn r Srt ra “Unis will appear as Nefertem, as the lotus at the sun-god’s nose” corresponds to the image of the Egyptian deities giving life (anx) to the nose of the king and thus the life-force of the creator god Atum is transmitted to the sun-god Re through Nefertem. As such, Nefertem is a mediator that connects the two great gods."

The ancient Egyptian god Horus, holding the fog nozzle of the evaporative cooling passage of the Great Pyramid of Giza.
Horus images : E3752 from the Louvre Museum and figurine of Horus DUT162 also from the Louvre Museum ; Paris, France, Hauteur : 9 cm ; Largeur : 2,7 cm ; Profondeur : 6 cm. Date de création/fabrication : Basse Epoque (664 - 332 BCE).
Evaporative cooling applications webpage screenshot : AquaFog® from Jaybird Manufacturing Inc (Pennsylvania, USA).
2.12 The surprising efficiency of the evaporative cooling process that created cold in the horizontal passage of the Great Pyramid of Khufu, is still used today in modern evaporative coolers
"Evaporative coolers lower the temperature of air using the principle of evaporative cooling, unlike typical air conditioning systems which use vapor-compression refrigeration or absorption refrigeration. Evaporative cooling is the conversion of liquid water into vapor using the thermal energy in the air, resulting in a lower air temperature". Source : Wikipedia

2.13 The name of the serpent goddess of embalming liquid Kebechet, that refreshes and purifies the pharaoh, means literally "cooling water"
This idea of a serpent representing water and cold, involved in the mummification process (the natron is the salt used for this occasion), and that progressively emerged from my work, is actually a genuine one, and she has a name : goddess Kebechet.
Wikipedia : "In Egyptian mythology, Kebechet (also transliterated as Khebhut, Kebehut, Qébéhout, Kabehchet and Kebehwet) is a goddess, a deification of embalming liquid."
"Her name means cooling water" and "in the Pyramid Texts, Kebechet is referred to as a serpent who "refreshes and purifies" the pharaoh..." . Also : "Kebechet was thought to give water to the spirits of the dead while they waited for the mummification process to be complete."
On this artifact of Kebechet, my interpretation is the following : the snake represents the entire sequence of the pressurized water spat out of the inclined well. The tail of the snake is the section of the well involved in the process, its body is the horizontal passage and its head is the fog nozzle. The structure on which the snake is put, is the horizontal passage itself, and it ends just after the step, before the entry to the Queen's chamber.

Hypothetical influence of Imhotep on pharaohs Djoser (Dynasty 3) and Sneferu (Dynasty 4) that could explain the fact he was represented with the wooden cradle float and/or the granite block weight.
2.14 Imhotep's "Refreshment of the Gods" Pyramid : the solution was here from the very beginning
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).
2.15 Was Imhotep the real mastermind behind Sneferu's and Khufu's pyramids?
From Wikipedia : "Very little is known of Imhotep as an historical figure, but in the 3,000 years following his death, he was gradually glorified and deified. It appears that this libation to Imhotep was done regularly, as they are attested on papyri associated with statues of Imhotep until the Late Period (c. 664–332 BCE). Wildung (1977) explains the origin of this cult as a slow evolution of intellectuals' memory of Imhotep, from his death onward".
When Djoser died, Imhotep is thought to have gone on to serve his successors, Sekhemkhet (c. 2650 BCE), Khaba (c. 2640 BCE), and Huni, possibly Sneferu's father (c. 2630-2613 BCE). Scholars disagree on whether Imhotep served all four kings of the Third Dynasty but evidence suggests he lived a long life and was much sought after for his talents.
Maybe his ideas have been burrowed by his successor during the Fourth Dynasty, but most probably, in my opinion, he might as well also served Sneferu himself.

Ancient Egyptian stone relief showing chemistry equipment (unknown location).
In most of the Dendera Light reliefs, also appear arms and Djed pillars. They are not mythological symbols. On that picture, we can see what is the real secret of the ancient Egyptians : chemistry. We can also see that the Djed pillars and the temples were both part of it. The magical part of the temples came from the chemistry craft.
2.16 The arms represent the Queen's chamber shafts for the cold transfer
Once the cold is produced inside the horizontal passage of the great pyramid, and stored inside the Queen's chamber, the sodium carbonate Solvay towers had to be cooled down. In my theory, the pyramid wasn't finished when operating : it had a flat roof at the Lady Arbuthnot level. The natron production site was situated at that level, and the towers probably cooled down by pumping water or directly a saline solution into the Queen's chamber where the copper serpentine cold exchanger was set.
The arms of the Dendera reliefs are the Queen's chamber shafts, and the Solvay towers are the Djed pillars.

Diagram of the Great Pyramid of Giza in operation.
Very quick abstract of the study
Ancient Egyptian pharaohs used chemistry and physics to legitimate themselves as kings of Egypt, and they forged an entire religion for that matter : gods were self-glorification metaphors of their scientific accomplishments. The end game of this technological program was the Great Pyramid of Giza where evaporative cooling was engineered in the known part of the pyramid, using the power of water, most probably as suggested by the strong ammonia smell in the Red Pyramid, to cool down chemical manufacturing of sodium carbonate and sodium bicarbonate. At that time, sodium carbonate was called natron, and it was the salt used for the mummification of the pharaohs.
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, and that plate is precisely what is the disc of Sabu.
If mastering the Solvay-process was important, it actually looks like the cold was the most magical phenomenon worshiped by ancient Egyptians, as suggested by Akhenaten and Nefertiti who represented themselves as Shu and Tefnut, the deities that combined together were creating the evaporative cold (Shu = dry warm air, and Tefnut = spat water).
Also, the very first pyramid complex, the Step Pyramid of Djoser, was called "the refreshment of the Gods".
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