The Dendera light is a motif in the Hathor temple at Dendera in Egypt. According to the hieroglyphic text surrounding the pieces, it depicts statues referencing part of the Egyptian creation myth.
The temple, especially its crypts, contain several reliefs depicting statues of Harsomtus, sometimes syncretized with Ra, in the form of an upright snake, emerging from a lotus flower which is usually attached to a barge. The so-called Dendera light is a variation of this motif, showing Harsomtus in an oval container called hn, which might represent the womb of Nut. Sometimes a djed pillar supports the snake or the container, other times a man with raised arms and a sun disk on his head.
The crypt of the temple was considered analogous to the Duat, and reliefs in the crypts depict the cult statues (made of precious materials and thus looted or destroyed in later times) which were housed within, kept underground as the 'bodies' of the gods until they were resurrected through contact with light on the roof of the temple. Specifications of the size and construction of the statues are inscribed alongside captions describing the identity of the statue.
Each of the three objects consists of two reliefs. One half (a) of each pair is in south crypt 1-C (crypte 4), the other half (b) in room G (chambre V) of the temple.
| Object(location) | Text | Relief | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Object 1(a)(Crypt 1-C, south wall) | Words spoken by Harsomtus, the great God, who dwells in Dendera, who is in the arms of the front-ones in the night-barge, noble snake, whose Khenty-statue carries Heh, whose crew carries in holiness his perfection, whose Ba caused Hathor to rise in the sky, whose form is revered by his followers, who comes as the unique one, encircled by his uraeus, countless of names on the top of Khui-en-hesen, the power of Re in the land of Atum (Dendera), the father of the Gods, who created everything.Gold his metal, height: four palms | ||
| Object 2(a)(Crypt 1-C, south wall) | Words spoken by Harsomtus, the great God, who dwells in Dendera, the living Ba in the lotus flower of the day-barge, whose perfection is carried by the two arms of the djed-pillar as his Seshemu-image, while the Kas on their knees bend their arms.Gold and all precious stones, height: three palms. | ||
| Object 3(a)(Crypt 1-C, north wall) | Words spoken by Harsomtus, the great God, who dwells in Dendera, who rises out of the lotus flower as a living Ba, whose perfection is elevated by the Kematiu-images of his Ka, whose Seshemu-image is revered by the crew of the day-barge, whose body is carried by the djed-pillar, underneath his Seshemu-image is the Primeval one and whose majesty is carried by the companions of his Ka.Gold, height: one cubit | ||
| Object 1(b)(Room G, south wall) | Harsomtus in the hn-container of the night-barge, four figures are in it. The figure of heh is in front of him, whereas this flower is behind him, the water beneath him.Gold his metal, height: four palms. | ||
| Object 2(b)(Room G, north wall) | Harsomtus who is in his barge.Gold and all precious stones, height: three palms | ||
| Object 3(b)(Room G, north wall) | Harsomtus of Upper- and Lower Egypt, the Sa-ta-snake, who is emerging from the flower, which contains the hn-container, who is flanked by four figures with human faces, under his head the figure of Heh on the Serekh at the prow of his barge. The Iuf-monkey with the face of a toad, knives in his hands, is before him, as are the two figures that carry the front part of this flower. |
In contrast to the mainstream interpretation, a fringe theory proposes that the reliefs depict Ancient Egyptian technology, based on comparison to similar modern devices (such as a Cathode-ray tube, Geissler tubes, Crookes tubes, and arc lamps). Norman Lockyer's passing reference to a colleague's humorous suggestion that electric lamps would explain the absence of lampblack deposits in the tombs has sometimes been forwarded as an argument supporting this interpretation (another explanation is the use of a system of mirrors).
Proponents of this interpretation have also used a text stating that "high poles covered with copper plates were erected to break the storms coming from on high" to argue this, but 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 a magical and not a technical installation.
Archaeologist and debunker Kenneth Feder argued that if ancient Egyptians really had such advanced technology, some light bulb remains (glass shards, metal sockets, filaments...) should have been discovered during archaeological excavations. By applying Occam's razor, he instead highlighted the feasibility of the aforementioned mirrors system, and that the ancient Egyptians knew that adding salt to torches minimized lampblack.