The 'Light Bulbs' of Dendera
Carvings in an Egyptian temple show what some say are giant electric light bulbs, held up by priests.
What was reported
In crypts beneath the Temple of Hathor at Dendera, built in Ptolemaic and Roman times about 2,000 years ago, are reliefs showing a long, bulb-like shape with a wavy snake inside, rising from a lotus flower and supported by a pillar.
From the 1980s, some writers claimed they showed electric lamps, with the snake as a filament, and that the Egyptians had electricity, perhaps learned from visitors from elsewhere.
Explanations offered
Egyptologists can read the hieroglyphic texts beside the reliefs, which describe a religious scene: a snake rising from a lotus flower, a symbol of creation and the birth of the sun god. No wires, glass bulbs or other electrical equipment have been found in Egypt.
- When
- Carved about 2,000 years ago
- Where
- Temple of Hathor, Dendera, Egypt
- Witnesses
- Visitors and Egyptologists
- Status
- Explained
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.