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{{Short description|Ancient Egyptian symbol of stability}}
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[[File:Djed.svg|thumb|right|100px|The ''djed'', an ancient Egyptian symbol meaning 'stability', is the symbolic [[vertebral column|backbone]] of the god [[Osiris]].]]
The '''''djed''''', also '''''djt''''' ({{langx|egy|[[wikt:ḏd#Noun 2|ḏd]]}} '''𓊽''', [[Coptic language|Coptic]] {{Coptic|ϫⲱⲧ}} ''jōt'' "pillar", anglicized /dʒɛd/)<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://corpling.uis.georgetown.edu/coptic-dictionary/entry.cgi?entry=7407&super=3073|title=Coptic Dictionary Online|website=corpling.uis.georgetown.edu|language=en|access-date=2017-03-16}}</ref> is one of the more ancient and commonly found symbols in [[ancient Egyptian religion]]. It is a [[pillar]]-like symbol in [[Egyptian hieroglyphs]] representing stability. It is associated with the [[creator god]] [[Ptah]] and [[Osiris]], the Egyptian god of the afterlife, the underworld, and the dead. It is commonly understood to represent his [[vertebral column|spine]].
{{Ancient Egyptian religion}}
==Myth==
In the [[Osiris myth]], Osiris was killed by [[Set (deity)|Set]] by being tricked into a coffin made to fit Osiris exactly. Set then had the coffin with the now deceased Osiris flung into the [[Nile]]. The coffin was carried by the Nile to the ocean and on to the city of [[Byblos]] in [[Lebanon]]. It ran aground and a sacred tree took root and rapidly grew around the coffin, enclosing the coffin within its trunk. The king of the land, intrigued by the tree's quick growth, ordered the tree cut down and installed as a pillar in his palace, unaware that the tree contained Osiris's body.

Meanwhile, [[Isis]] searched for Osiris aided by [[Anubis]], and discovered Osiris's location in Byblos. Isis maneuvered herself into the favor of the king and queen and was granted a boon. She asked for the pillar in the palace hall, and upon being granted it, extracted the coffin from the pillar. She then consecrated the pillar, anointing it with [[myrrh]] and wrapping it in [[linen]]. This pillar came to be known as the pillar of ''djed''.<ref>{{cite book |last=Mackenzie |first=Donald Alexander |title=Egyptian Myth and Legend: With Historical Narrative, Notes on Race Problems, Comparative Beliefs, etc. |year=2007 |publisher=Forgotten Books |isbn=978-1-60506-002-6 |page=43 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7RB23VraDIoC&pg=PA46 |access-date=2012-07-17}}</ref>

==Origin and development==
[[Image:Seal ring Ptah the one with durable favours N2080 mp3h8731.jpg|thumb|200px|Seal ring featuring the inscription ''ptḥ ḏd ḥzwt'' "Ptah, the one with durable favors"
Hieroglyphs (read from right, top): [the creator god] Ptah (''ptḥ'') [gives] enduring (''djed'') favors (i.e. libation offerings, expressed with the biliteral ''ḥz'' depicted triply for plural).
]]
The ''djed'' may originally have been a fertility cult-related pillar made from reeds or sheaves<ref name="clio">{{cite book |last=Pinch |first=Geraldine |title=Handbook of Egyptian mythology. |year=2002 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |location=Santa Barbara, Calif. |isbn=978-1-57607-242-4 |page=127 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=N-mTqRTrimgC&pg=PA128 |access-date=2012-07-17}}</ref> or a [[totem]] from which sheaves of grain were suspended<ref name="myth">{{cite book |last=Remler |first=Pat |title=Egyptian mythology, A to Z |year=2010 |publisher=Chelsea House |location=New York |isbn=978-1-60413-926-6 |pages=51–52 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wLUjtPDyu-IC&pg=PT67 |access-date=2012-07-17 |edition=3rd}}</ref> or grain was piled around.<ref name="talis">{{cite book |last=Nelson |first=Felicitas H. |title=Talismans & amulets |year=2008 |publisher=Sterling |location=New York |isbn=978-1-4027-4625-3 |page=25 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=So7ph2SS8aYC&pg=PA25 |access-date=2012-07-17}}</ref> [[Erich Neumann (psychologist)|Erich Neumann]] remarks that the ''djed'' pillar is a tree [[Fetishism|fetish]], which is significant considering that Egypt was primarily treeless. He indicates that the myth may represent the importance of the importation of trees by Egypt from Syria.<ref>{{cite book |last=Neumann |first=Erich |title=The origins and history of consciousness |year=1999 |publisher=Routledge |location=London |isbn=978-0-415-20944-1 |page=70}}</ref> The ''djed'' came to be associated with [[Sokar|Seker]], the falcon god of the [[Memphite Necropolis]], then with Ptah, the [[Memphis, Egypt|Memphite]] patron god of craftsmen.<ref name="naj">{{cite book |last=Najovits |first=Simson |title=Egypt, trunk of the tree : a modern survey of an ancient land |year=2004 |publisher=Algora Pub. |location=New York |isbn=978-0-87586-256-9 |page=[https://archive.org/details/egypttrunkoftree0001najo/page/18 18] |url=https://archive.org/details/egypttrunkoftree0001najo/page/18 }}</ref> Ptah was often referred to as "the noble ''djed''", and carried a scepter that was a combination of the ''djed'' symbol and the [[ankh]], the symbol of life.<ref name="clio" /> Ptah gradually came to be assimilated into Osiris. By the time of the [[New Kingdom of Egypt|New Kingdom]], the ''djed'' was firmly associated with Osiris.<ref name="clio" />

In their 2004 book ''The Quick and the Dead: Biomedical Theory in Ancient Egypt'',<ref>{{cite book|last1=Gordon|first1=Andrew Hunt|last2=Schwabe|first2=Calvin W|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1LbGCVlFtA4C|title=The Quick and the Dead: Biomedical Theory in Ancient Egypt First Edition|publisher=Brill/Styx|date=2004|isbn=90-04-12391-1}}</ref> Andrew Hunt Gordon and Calvin W. Schwabe speculated that the ankh, djed, and [[Was (sceptre)|was]] symbols have a biological basis derived from ancient cattle culture (linked to the Egyptian belief that [[semen]] was created in the spine), thus:
* the ''[[ankh]]'', symbol of life, [[thorax|thoracic]] [[vertebra]] of a bull (seen in [[cross section (geometry)|cross section]])
* the ''djed'', symbol of stability, based on [[sacrum]] of a bull's spine
* the [[Was-sceptre|''was''-sceptre]], symbol of power and dominion, a staff featuring the head and tail of the god Set, "great of strength"

==Hieroglyphic usage==
{{Hiero|1=ḏd |2=<hiero>R11</hiero>|align=left|era=egypt|gardiner=R11}}
The ''djed'' hieroglyph was a pillar-like symbol that represented stability. It was also sometimes used to represent Osiris himself, often combined "with a pair of eyes between the crossbars and holding the crook and flail."<ref>{{cite book |first1=Edna R. |last1=Russmann |first2=Thomas Garnet Henry |last2=James |last3=Davies |first3=W.V. |title=Eternal Egypt : masterworks of ancient art from the British Museum |year=2001 |publisher=Univ. of California Press |location=Berkeley |isbn=978-0-520-23086-6 |page=126 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xNmoKfdeJ1sC&pg=PA126 |access-date=2012-07-17}}</ref> The ''djed'' hieroglyph is often found together with the [[tyet]] (also known as Isis knot) hieroglyph, which is translated as life or welfare. The ''djed'' and the tyet used together may depict the duality of life. The tyet hieroglyph may have become associated with Isis because of its frequent pairing with the ''djed''.<ref>{{cite web |title=Ancient Egypt&nbsp;– The Mythology |url=http://www.egyptianmyths.net/isisknot.htm |access-date=19 December 2011}}</ref>

==Ceremonial usage==
[[Image:Abydos seti 16.jpg|thumb|right|200px|A scene on the west wall of the [[Osiris]] Hall at [[Abydos, Egypt|Abydos]] shows the raising of the ''Djed'' pillar.]]
[[File:Limestone pyramidion. Curved sides, no hieroglyphic inscriptions. Relief showing arms of djed holding sun disc. 2 adoring baboons. From Gurob, Fayum, Egypt. 19th Dynasty. The Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology, London.jpg|thumb|Limestone [[pyramidion]]. Curved sides, no hieroglyphic inscriptions. Relief showing arms of ''djed'' holding sun disc. Two adoring baboons. From Gurob, [[Faiyum]]. [[Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt|Dynasty XIX]]. [[Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology]], London]]
The ''djed'' was an important part of the ceremony called "raising the ''djed''", which was a part of the celebrations of the [[Sed festival]], the Egyptian [[jubilee]] celebration. The act of raising the ''djed'' has been explained as representing Osiris's triumph over Seth.<ref name="sig">{{cite book |last=Hodel-Hoenes |first=Sigrid |others=Trans. Warburton, David |title=Life and death in ancient Egypt : scenes from private tombs in new kingdom Thebes |year=2000 |publisher=Cornell University Press |location=Ithaca, N.Y. |isbn=978-0-8014-3506-5 |page=222 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eptd8D2ljS8C&pg=PA222 |access-date=2012-07-17}}</ref> Ceremonies in Memphis are described where the pharaoh, with the help of the priests, raised a wooden ''djed'' column using ropes. The ceremony took place during the period when fields were sown and the year's agricultural season would begin, corresponding to the month of [[Koiak]], the fourth month of the [[Season of the Inundation]]. This ceremony was a part of one of the more popular holidays and celebrations of the time, a larger festival dedicated to Osiris conducted from the 13th to 30th day of the Koiak. Celebrated as it was at that time of the year when the soil and climate were most suitable for agriculture, the festival and its ceremonies can be seen as an appeal to Osiris, who was the God of vegetation, to favor the growth of the seeds sown, paralleling his own resurrection and renewal after his murder by Seth.<ref name="naj" />

Further celebrations surrounding the raising of the ''djed'' are described in a relief in [[Amenhotep III]]'s [[Luxor Temple]]. In the tomb in the temple, the scene shows the raising of the ''djed'' pillar taking place in the morning of Amenhotep III's third Sed festival, which took place in his thirty-seventh regnal year. The scene is described by Sigrid Hodel-Hoenes: {{quote|text=The anthropomorphized pillar stands at the middle left, in a shrine. It has taken the shape of a human body with the djed-pillar as its head; the eyes are udjat-eyes. The hands hold the crook and flail, the usual insignia of Osiris, the god of the dead. On its head is the tall feather crown with the solar disk. The pillar is on a high base reminiscent of the platforms visible today in many temples, on which the cult barks once stood. In front of and behind it are lotus and papyrus blossoms. Beneath the large slab of the base are two tall offering stands&nbsp;– one bears a libation vessel, while flowers have been laid on the other. To the right is the king himself, presenting a generously laid table. Fowl, cucumbers, blossoms, breads, and heads and ribs of beef are all lying on the upper mat, while a cow and an antelope can be seen on the lower one. Beneath these mats are four tall vessels containing unguents and oil, with bundles of lettuce sticking out among them. The vulture goddess, Wadjyt, the Mistress of the Per-nu shrine, has spread her protective wings above the sovereign, with the blue crown on his head.<ref name=sig />|sign=Sigrid Hodel-Hoenes|source=''Life and death in ancient Egypt : scenes from private tombs in new kingdom Thebes'', p. 222}}

[[Image:Egyptian - Djed Pillar - Walters 61214 - Right.jpg|left|50px|thumb|Djed constructed of gilded inlay on wood with red, blue, and green glass.<ref>{{cite web |publisher=Walters Art Museum|url= http://art.thewalters.org/detail/3243|title= Djed Pillar}}</ref> [[Walters Art Museum]].]]
There is also a scene depicted in the tomb to the right of the above scene which has not been well preserved. Hodel-Hoenes explains that it once showed the pharaoh, accompanied by his queen, using a rope to raise the ''djed'' pillar. Three men, probably priests of the temple of Memphis, help him in the process. A fourth priest was seen supporting the pillar. Various offerings were presented before the pillar below the ropes. The pharaoh and his queen are each accompanied by four pairs of young women resembling those of the sed-festival. Each of these women is rattling a [[Hathor]] [[sistrum]], a musical instrument for percussion with a U-shaped handle and frame seen as resembling the face and horns of the cow goddess Hathor, while holding a [[menat]], a protective amulet associated with Hathor, in the other hand. A line of hieroglyphs running just above the girls' heads in each row of women says, "Children of the king praising (or charming) the noble ''djed'' pillar." Hodel-Hoenes interprets this as identifying the girls as the daughters of Amenhotep III.<ref name="sig" />

There are three additional reliefs below these two reliefs. They depict further ceremonies that accompany the erection of the ''djed'' pillar, especially games and dances. In one, food-bearers carrying edibles weave between men dancing with heavy steps. A line of singers on the far left seems to sing a short hymn to Ptah, the text of which is written alongside the line. Singing and dancing girls can be seen in the next relief, though Hodel-Hoenes comments on their seeming lack of grace, saying, "only the raised hands and the foot swinging in the air hint at the movements of a dance." The relief also depicts men involved in a [[boxing]] match and a [[tahtib|stick dance]], sports and dances which can still be seen in Egypt today.<ref name="sig" />

The festival of the raising of the ''djed'' also involved reenactments conducted at [[Denderah]], [[Edfu]], [[Busiris (Middle Egypt)|Busiris]], Memphis, and [[Philae]]. But the most elaborate and grand celebration occurred at Abydos, the cult center of Osiris. From around the end of the third millennium BC during the beginning of the [[Twelfth Dynasty of Egypt|Dynasty XII]] and perhaps as early as the [[Sixth Dynasty of Egypt|Dynasty VI]] three hundred years earlier, reenactments of the Osiris myth&nbsp;– the deception and murder of Osiris by Seth, the search for Osiris by Isis and Osiris' mummification, funeral and his resurrection were performed. From the late fourth century BC, a recitation of the ''Lamentations of Isis and [[Nephthys]]'', a poem describing Isis and Nephthys' search for Osiris, was added to the ceremony on the 25th day of Koiak. At the Osiris Temple in Abydos, these re-enactments are described as involving hundreds of priests and priestesses in the roles of the gods and goddesses, with 34 [[reed boat]]s carrying the gods, a sculpture of Osiris inside an elaborate chest, 365 ornamental lamps, incense, and dozens of ''djed'' amulets.<ref name="naj" />

==Usage as amulets==
[[Image:Louvre 122007 29.jpg|thumb|right|150px|A ''djed'' amulet with the name of [[Ramesses IX]] of the [[Twentieth Dynasty of Egypt|Twentieth Dynasty]] inscribed upon it.]]
The ''djed'' was often used as [[amulet]]s for the living and the dead. It was placed as an amulet near the spines of mummified bodies, which was supposed to ensure the resurrection of the dead, allowing the deceased to live eternally.<ref name="talis" /> The ''[[Book of the Dead]]'' lists a spell which, when spoken over a gold amulet hung around the mummy's neck, ensures that the mummy would regain use of its spine and be able to sit up. It was also painted onto coffins.<ref name="clio" />

<gallery>
File:Amuleto raffigurante il pilastro djed 1 DSC5220.tif|Amulet depicting the djed pillar, [[Egyptian faience]], between 722 and 332 BC. [[Late Period of ancient Egypt|Late Period]]. [[Museo Egizio]], Turin.
File:Pillar amulet of Tutankhamun 2019.jpg|A Djed Pillar shaped amulet jewellery from [[Tutankhamun]]'s tomb
</gallery>

==Parallels in other cultures==
Parallels have also been drawn between the ''djed'' pillar and various items in other cultures. Sidney Smith in 1922, first suggested a parallel with the Assyrian "sacred tree" when he drew attention to the presence of the upper four bands of the djed pillar and the bands that are present in the center of the vertical portion of the tree. He also proposed a common origin between Osiris and the Assyrian god [[Ashur (god)|Assur]] with whom he said, the sacred tree might be associated. Cohen and Kangas suggest that the tree is probably associated with the Sumerian god of male fertility, [[Enki]] and that for both Osiris and Enki, an erect pole or polelike symbol stands beneath a celestial symbol. They also point out that the Assyrian king is depicted in proximity to the sacred tree, which is similar to the depiction of the pharaoh in the raising of the ''djed'' ceremony. Additionally, the sacred tree and the Assyrian winged disk, which are generally depicted separately, are combined in certain designs, similar to the ''djed'' pillar which is sometimes surmounted with a solar disk.<ref>{{cite book |last=Kangas |first=Ada |editor-first=Steven E. |editor-last=Cohen |title=Assyrian reliefs from the palace of Ashurnasirpal II : a cultural biography |year=2010 |publisher=Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College |location=Hanover, N.H. |isbn=978-1-58465-817-7 |page=169 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uRKU0YXBWtgC&pg=PA169 |access-date=2012-07-17}}</ref> Katherine Harper and Robert Brown also discuss a possible strong link between the ''djed'' column and the concept of [[Kundalini energy|kundalini]] in [[yoga]].<ref name="HarperBrown2002">{{cite book |first1=Katherine Anne |last1=Harper |first2=Robert L. |last2=Brown |title=The Roots of Tantra |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=M7Fbj5hrmQoC&pg=PA97 |access-date=2 July 2012 |year=2002 |publisher=SUNY Press |isbn=978-0-7914-5305-6 |page=97}}</ref>

==Photo galleries==
{{Gallery
 |align=center
 |Nuovo_regno_(o_pi%C3%B9_tardi),_amuleto_del_pilastro_djed.JPG|Djed-shaped amulet
 |Egyptian - Pectoral with Scarab - Walters 4291 - Reverse (2).jpg|Anthropomorphic example
 |Egyptian - Scarab Ring - Walters 542463 - Bottom.jpg|Scarab Ring featuring the Djed symbol in the seal
 |Tomb KV19 (Kairoinfo4u).jpg|Example in staff & hieroglyphs
 |Thutmose III sphinx-E 10897-IMG 0041-gradient.jpg|The [[Bronze Sphinx of Thutmose III]] reclining over the [[Nine Bows]]; the Djed pillars of Dominion are featured on the side of the socle
 |Bir el-Shaghala Tomb 1 djed-pillar scene.jpg|Bir el-Shaghala Tomb 1, djed-pillar topped by a human head, for the veneration of [[Osiris]]
 |Winged djed pillar behind Osiris (Temple of Ramses II at Abydos).jpg|Winged djed pillar behind Osiris (Temple of Ramses II at Abydos)
 |Djed amulet, Gebel Barkal, 25th Dynasty. Ânkh-Djed-Ouas (British Museum, EA 54412).jpg|Djed amulet, [[Gebel Barkal]], [[25th Dynasty]]. Ânkh-Djed-Ouas (British Museum, EA 54412)
 |Djed god.svg|modern drawing of a Anthropomorphic Djed
 |HieroglyphicInscriptionDeirElBahariWesternThebesEgypt1981.jpg|Inscription at [[Deir el-Bahari]] featuring ''djed''
}}

== See also ==
{{Commons category|Djed}}
* [[Dendera light]], an inscription including a djed pillar, sometimes claimed to show electric lighting

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20110713222723/http://egyptian-gods.org/egyptian-symbols-djed/ Egyptian Gods and Goddesses]}}

{{Ancient Egyptian religion footer}}
[[Category:Ancient Egyptian symbols]]
[[Category:Egyptian hieroglyphs: temple furniture and emblems]]
[[Category:Egyptian amulets]]
[[Category:Osiris]]
[[Category:Columns and entablature]]
[[Category:Ptah]]