Where did helicopters come from in Ancient Egypt?
Mysterious bas-reliefs are carved into the ceiling beams of the 3,000-year-old Osiris Temple at Abydos, a few hundred miles south of Cairo and the Giza plateau. The bas-reliefs depict amazing modern mechanical devices. The internet is filled with articles about the sensational discovery of these images. The authors of the articles were divided into two antagonistic groups: some believe that the images reflect the level of technological development of ancient Egypt, others (and these are mainly professional Egyptologists) argue that the images appeared as a result of random overlapping of hieroglyphic texts. What is actually depicted on the walls of the temple?
Cristal panel
In the central part of the panel is depicted the name of the throne of the pharaoh, the first of the two names recorded in the cartouche, and usually accompanied by an icon combining the hieroglyphs "reeds" and "bees", which can mean "King of Upper and Lower Egypt", that is, the valley and delta of the Nile …
To the right of these symbols is a "seditious" panel with bas-reliefs carved into the sandstone ceiling. We will conditionally call it "technopark". In addition to the well-recognized helicopter, there are four more mysterious objects in the composition, which can only be identified presumably.
The topmost of them until 1999 looked like a tank. However, later it turned out that this similarity was due to the remnant of a layer of plaster, which previously covered the entire panel, and then collapsed or was removed by the workers of the temple.
Without a plaster lining, the object resembles a submarine, but it is embarrassing that it has a long, curved "periscope" at the base. Upon closer examination, in the front (right) part of the object, you can see two horizontal rectilinear rows, consisting of small relief points lined up in a straight line (are they not windows?). In one of the rows there are about 20 "windows".
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There are versions that the wall depicts not a submarine, but a cigar-shaped orbiting mother ship, the dimensions of which are incommensurate with the dimensions of the other objects depicted. But the purpose of the "periscope" remains unclear. It has been suggested that it could also be an airship. However, the configuration of the object and the chopped off bow and stern shapes bear little resemblance to an airship.
The next object looks like a "flying saucer" with a tail-stabilizer. Its most amazing feature is that it has two parts. Its lower half, as it were, moved away from the main upper one, but during my computer reconstruction, when I moved the lower part up and a little to the right, it almost closely connected with the upper part. Earlier, D. Nechai drew attention to this.
The lowest object on the panel is interpreted by most researchers as a hovercraft, to which there are already analogies in terrestrial transport technology. Attention is drawn to the cabin in the form of a dome, with the artist's explicit intention to show that someone is inside it.
Finally, another technical detail is located in the lower right corner of the panel. Among the cluster of levers that are incomprehensible for their purpose, there is a hemisphere, which can be mistaken for a radar image. Its location among the technical facilities of the "technopark" seems to be quite appropriate.
Now let's go back to the main object of the panel - the helicopter. The fact that it is a helicopter that is depicted raises no doubts. And yet, let's pay attention to the position of the rotor blades: the calculated axis of their rotation is located exactly where it should be located - close to the center of the cargo compartment.
This accuracy allows us to conclude that the artist either painted the object from life, or, most likely, used an earlier image of it.
Another design feature of the helicopter: its cargo compartment has no bottom or doors. Is this not the imagination of the author of the image? No, not a fantasy: the cargo compartment of a modern helicopter-crane of the Sikorsky system operates exactly according to the same principle. Unlike all other structures, such helicopters load themselves: they sit on the load, secure it and then rise with it. Most likely, the helicopter depicted on the panel worked by the same principle. To this it must be added that the part of the hull, extending towards the tail in the form of a triangle, has a clearly frame structure and is not covered with a skin - probably to lighten the weight of the machine. This design feature is widespread in modern helicopter construction.
D. Nechay expressed another "seditious" thought that came to mind to the author of these lines: "… the stone blocks of the large pyramids are ideal both in shape and weight … for transportation by such a helicopter." I would add that the shape (half-trapezoid) of the cargo compartment corresponds to the facing blocks of the Great Pyramid, which, like the compartment, have one beveled edge.
Give no answer
The well-known "scientific" argument "This can't be!" will be quite understandable when you get to know the "technopark" on the wall in Abydos. And, probably, it is most common among people who are not familiar with the ancient history described in the Sumerian texts and summarized in his books by Zachary Sitchin.
Another most anticipated reaction from a skeptic: it's a clever modern fake! But no, this version does not work, the "technopark" has a wonderful "alibi". The fact is that it was discovered by French archaeologists in … 1848, when there were no such technical objects yet. One can imagine the surprise of researchers when they discovered a whole gallery of "mechanisms" they did not understand.
Konstantin Khazanovich