Biogas got me thinking... All been done before?

[Buzi-Blu]

A small team and I are working on a project to build a small-scale biogas digester with the intention of use in rural Africa and this got me thinking on AAT themes.

A digester is quite a simple machine; basically a large tank with some inlet and outlet tubes, with a gas pipe on top. Additional tanks can be included for gas storage or secondary digestion, but the essential design is of one main tank and no moving parts. Animal, food or human waste gets put in with water, and methane gas comes out along with slurry that can be used as fertilizer. The methane can be used for lighting or household cooking.

Now, imagine it is set up for nomadic pastoralists who have herds of cattle. A small team will need to be trained in its use and maintenance, and of how to transport it. Although its design will use the latest technological knowledge, materials and use of the machine will only require basic understanding and should pose few problems.

Can you see where this is going? You might have guessed by now.

One key instruction would be to work to a set routine. For a digester a 40 day cycle would be appropriate, for removal of slurry and cleaning/maintenance. It may be more efficient to empty it when deemed appropriate but this requires judgment, therefore a schedule would be more reliable and simpler to stick to.

So, what would they call it in their language? They cannot call it a biogas digester because those words will not exist. Maybe they will simply call it “transportable tank” or some other direct meaning name. “Transportable tanks” (with an S) in Hebrew through a process of evolving language can translate to “ancient of days”.

Maybe to poor guys carrying or pulling this thing will call it something else. Maybe they’ll call it bloody heavy. In Hebrew “heaviness” oddly translates to “glory” – the glory of the LORD. The team in charge would be a privileged group, and in this case responsible for fertilizer and methane gas. The Hebrew priesthood wanted gold, whereas this team require cow dung – so some difference there.

There are many similarities between a biogas digester and a manna machine, but some key differences too. But the idea that a machine – designed elsewhere – involving pipes, tanks and liquid being used by non-technological people is a plausible scenario.

Technology already exists for additional features like a solar powered dew-still to extract the water from the air (See Element Four's website). All of this is still in the early stages, but algae, chlorella and many other ways could be developed for gas, fertilizer or even food production in the future that use natural processes for intensive reactions.

Could such a machine (or machines) have been created long ago? And one such machine ended up in the possession of the Hebrews? The evidence certainly points this way but much more needs to be done.

I do find it rather funny that I could sensibly ask “Could the God of the Old Testament be a biogas digester?”. What a strange world.

[polaris]

that's pretty cool Buzi-Blu. Good luck and I hope it works out.
There was an AAT show about how the Israelites trekked from Egypt to the promised land of cows/goats and bees.
The years they spent in the Sinai wondering around and waiting... they had to eat and drink...

Their 'manna' machine provided the food...

After 40 years of waiting and wandering, no wonder they started getting a little antsy.

[Buzi-Blu]

Thanks Polaris. Since you have resurrected this thread I might as well use the opportunity to provide a link to my website I have only just got up and running.

http://mannamachine.weebly.com

It purposely does not force the manna-machine theory on to the reader but does try to show that there really was a large and dangerous device within the Holy of Holies. The intention was give a summary of the evidence in a simple way to show that, even though it seems unbelievable, the accounts cannot easily be explained away. But too much incorrect information on the manna-machine is being put out, so it is no wonder people reject it.

To ever understand what really took place in the Wilderness I believe we must learn in what way Akhenaten and the 18th Dynasty was connected to Moses and Aaron. Two days ago, for example, I had the idea that could Akhenaten's city (in the middle of nowhere) actually be that Wilderness? And could his elder brother Tutmoses, who vanished early in his life, be relevant in these events?

Comments and criticism on the website would be welcome so that it can be improved.