LOT 0021

Egyptian Djed Pillar Amulet

7TH-1ST CENTURY B.C.

6 3/4 in. (106 grams, 17 cm high).

A large finely-made wooden amuletic djed pillar; old collector's accession number 'E.436' to underside; mounted on a custom-made display stand.

with ink inscribed 'E.436' to base.
Acquired in 1970.
Ex private European collection.

This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate no.11602-199041.

The djed pillar symbolises stability and is usually understood to be the spine of the god Ptah although its origins are more probably in cult practices involving sheaves of reeds which were revered due to the general absence of trees from the Egyptian landscape. The djed later came to be symbolise Seker, the falcon god of Memphis and Ptah, the Memphite god of craftsmen, who carried a sceptre formed as a combination of the djed and the ankh. The cult of Ptah waned and gave way to that of Osiris so that by the New Kingdom (16th century B.C.), the djed had become associated with Osiris, part of whose cult included a ceremony for raising the djed representing Osiris's triumph over Seth.