Boing Boing

Boing Boing

The Egyptian temple carving that looks like a giant lightbulb

The hieroglyphs around it describe a gold statue four palms tall, and no dig at Dendera has ever found a glass shard or filament.

Ellsworth Toohey
Aug 01, 2026
∙ Paid
Dendera light — Olaf Tausch / CC BY 3.0 (via Wikipedia)
Dendera light — Olaf Tausch / CC BY 3.0 (via Wikipedia)

Carved into the Hathor temple at Dendera in Egypt is a relief that looks a great deal like a lightbulb: an oval bubble with a snake curling inside it, held up by a pillar. A fringe theory holds that this is evidence of ancient Egyptian electric lighting, based on the resemblance to incandescent bulb…

User's avatar

Continue reading this post for free, courtesy of Boing Boing.

Or purchase a paid subscription.
© 2026 Happy Mutants LLC · Privacy ∙ Terms ∙ Collection notice
Start your SubstackGet the app
Substack is the home for great culture