When Howard Carter's archaeological expedition finally reached Tut's burial chamber, scientists were struck not only by the treasures of the untouched tomb, but also by the beautiful frescoes that adorned it. The complete absence of traces of soot from torches on the bright paintings posed a logical question for researchers: what did the ancient masters, who painted on damp plaster, illuminated their "workplace" with? After all, these drawings are located in the depths of the solid rock monolith of the Valley of the Kings. It is quite obvious that the artists could not work in the dark … And the proven impossibility of illuminating the burial chamber using a system of mirrors, as well as the absence of the slightest traces of soot on the ceiling and walls, gave rise to an almost incredible assumption about lighting Tutankhamun's burial chamber … with electric lamps.
It is curious that Saint Autustin (354-450 AD) in one of his works describes an amazing lamp in the temple of Isis, which “neither wind nor water” could extinguish. Plutarch also writes about a lamp that burned at the entrance to the temple of the god Ammon-Ra. "The priests of the temple claim that it has not been extinguished for … several centuries."
These are all later literary sources. Is there any material evidence (apart from the absence of soot in the tombs) that the ancient inhabitants of "Ta Mary" were familiar with electricity?
Here is what the German electrical engineer R. Hubbek says: “In October 1979, our group of five people explored the temple of the goddess Hathor in Dendera. On the walls of long and narrow (4, 6X1, 12 m) rooms, which were considered cult rooms, we examined several very interesting unusual reliefs. One of them especially interested us. On this wall, figures of people are clearly visible, and next to them are giant bulbs, similar to modern incandescent lamps. Inside the "lamps" are "wavy snakes". Maybe these are symbolic filaments?.. Sharp tails of snakes enter the "lotus flower". You don't even have to have a minimum of imagination to see in the “lotus” that encloses the narrow part of the transparent bulb, an ordinary electric socket or lamp base. The relief also shows a kind of cable connecting this device to the box,similar to our distribution box. Nearby is the figure of a demon holding two knives with the blades upward - a symbol of protection. And since it is known that working with electricity is dangerous, this demon can be a warning (like a modern skull with crossed bones).
These reliefs were first discovered by the French explorer Opost Mariette, who explored them in the late sixties. However, Mariette did not manage to decipher the hieroglyphs carved next to the mysterious images …
One of the outstanding experts in the field of electrical engineering W. Harn expressed the opinion that the so-called “Jed pillars” on which the “transparent bulbs with snakes” rest are very similar to modern high voltage insulators. In this case, the “snakes” should represent a spiral gas-light discharge, breaking off the petals of the “lotus flower” under the action of high voltage. To portray all this correctly, one had to have at least at least basic knowledge of electrical engineering.
Connections similar to electrical cables, clearly visible on the reliefs of the temple of the goddess Hathor, enter some kind of "boxes" like distribution boards or, more likely, generators of electric current.
V. Harn believes that the priests had at their disposal something like Van de Graaff generators, in which electrical discharges come along an insulated tape and accumulate in a sphere that is charged and is constantly under high voltage. With such primitive generators, a voltage of several hundred thousand volts can be easily produced!
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W. Harn succeeded in reconstructing a working model of such a generator, which gives an arc discharge accompanied by an intense glow. Talking about his experiments, he writes: “If air is pumped out of a glass bulb with two metal rods inside, then an electric discharge occurs at a much lower voltage. At a pressure of 40 millimeters of mercury, a thread discharge jumps from one of the rods, accompanied by a glow. If you continue to evacuate air, the discharge becomes wider until it fills all the free space of the flask. All this fully corresponds to the relief in the Hathor temple … “
Valery Kratokhvil, "Interesting Newspaper", №6 (81)