The Dendera light is a technology of electrical lighting supposedly in existence in ancient Egypt, proposed by some fringe authors. Proponents argue that the technology is depicted in the Hathor temple at the Dendera Temple complex located in Egypt on three stone reliefs (one single and a double representation), which resemble some modern electrical lighting systems. Egyptologists reject the theory and explain the reliefs as a typical set of symbolic images from Egyptian mythology.
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Mainstream view
The view of Egyptologists is that the relief is a mythological depiction of a djed pillar and a lotus flower, spawning a snake within, representing aspects of Egyptian mythology.[1][2] The Djed pillar is a symbol of stability which is also interpreted as the backbone of the god Osiris. In the carvings the four horizontal lines forming the capital of the djed are supplemented by human arms stretching out, as if the djed were a backbone. The arms hold up the snake within the lotus flower.
Fringe view
In contrast to the mainstream interpretation, there is a fringe hypothesis according to which the reliefs depict Ancient Egyptian electrical technology, based on comparison to similar modern devices (such as Geissler tubes, Crookes tubes, and arc lamps).[3][4] J. N. Lockyer's passing reference to a colleague's suggestion that electric lamps would explain the absence of lampblack deposits in the tombs has sometimes been forwarded as an argument supporting this particular interpretation (another argument being made is the use of a system of reflective mirrors).[5] Proponents of this interpretation have also used a text referring to "high poles covered with copper plates" to argue this[6] but Dr. Bolko Stern has written in detail explaining why the copper covered tops of poles (which were lower than the associated pylons) do not relate to electricity or lightning, pointing out that no evidence of anything used to manipulate electricity had been found in Egypt and that this was not a technical installation.[7]
See also
- Anachronism
- Baghdad Battery
- Egyptian mythology
- pseudoArcheology
- Out-of-place artifact
External links
- The Dendera Reliefs, Catchpenny Mysteries.
- Frank Dörnenburg, Electric lights in Egypt?. 2004. (ed. An analysis of how the Egyptians didn't have electricity).
Categories: science and technology strange artifacts
