One of the most enigmatic symbols of Ancient Egypt is the Tet, or Djed. Although it was
widely used as a religious icon throughout much of the history and geography of
Ancient Egypt, it is still not clearly understood what the Djed was originally conceived to
represent.
Determining its meaning from its appearance alone is not an easy task so we shall take some of
the suggested definitions and analyse each individually. But first of all lets look at the key elements that make
up the symbol.
Typical Distinctive Features:
- Four horizontal bars surmounting a vertical shaft
- Vertical striations between each bar
- These striations are shown in profile on the sides of the Djed creating a curved appearance
- Four bands around neck of the shaft
- Sometimes a small capital can be seen surmounting the Djed
- The Djed often stands on a rectangular base
Raymond Faulkner sees the Djed as 'a cult object resembling a tree trunk
with lopped-off horizontal branches, sacred to Osiris, Ptah and Sokar'1
He interprets the meaning of its use hieroglyphically as 'stable', 'enduring'.
Alan Gardiner suggests that it represents 'a column imitating a bundle of stalks tied together'
2
Yet he describes this hieroglyph: 
, the top section of the Djed,
3
as 'vertebrae conventionally depicted'.
4
It is used in the word pesed, meaning 'back', as in 'spine'.
5
, the top section of the Djed,
3
as 'vertebrae conventionally depicted'.
4
It is used in the word pesed, meaning 'back', as in 'spine'.
5According to Wallis Budge, the Djed is the oldest symbol of Osiris, and
symbolizes his backbone and his body in general. He states that
originally Osiris was probably represented by the Djed alone, and that
he had no other form. He regards the Djed hieroglyph as a conventional
representation of a part of his spinal column and gives its meaning as
"to be stable, to be permanent, abiding, established firmly, enduring.6
Scenes depicting the 'Raising of the Djed' ceremony
The reconstruction of the body of Osiris occurred at a place called Djedu,in
the Delta region of Lower Egypt and it was here that the yearly
ceremony of 'Raising the Djed Pillar' took place on the last day of the
month of Khoiak, the eve of the agricultural New Year. The next day marked the beginning of the four month long season of Pert, or 'Going Forth' during which the lands rose out of the flood waters allowing the fields to be sown.Djedu was also referred to as Per-Asar-Neb-Djedu, meaning "The House of Osiris - the Lord of Djedu". The Greeks called it Busiris, after the shortened title Per-Asar - "The House of Osiris"
Mythologically, the 'Raising of the Djed' symbolised the resurrection of
Osiris, and with its annual re-enactment represented the death and
renewal of the yearly cycle. Osiris is referred to as "Lord of the
Year" in the Pyramid Texts
7
and that he was also the god of agriculture meant that his annual resurrection ensured the stability of the abundance of the
next season's crops.
8
A Tree:
From the descriptions above it can be understood that the general
concept of the Djed symbol appears to be a combination of the backbone
of Osiris, a column or pillar, and the trunk of a tree. The Legend of Osiris
as told by Plutarch reinforces this interpretation. The story involves
the murder of Osiris in which his body is trapped inside a chest and
becomes enclosed in a huge tree at Byblos. The trunk of this tree
containing the body of Osiris is then cut down and turned into a pillar
for the house of the
King. This pillar is referred to by the Djed hieroglyph and the branches
of this magnificent tree were said to have been turned to the four
cardinal points.
9
Osiris-Seker entombed inside the trunk of a tree
The rituals and spells described in the archaic Pyramid Texts are most
likely the source of this later legend related by Plutarch. Without
including the occasions when expressed as a title prefixed to the King's
cartouche, the god Osiris is mentioned in over 170 different utterances
or spells in the Pyramid Texts. Utterances such as 478, 482, 532, and
535, for example tell of Isis searching for the body of Osiris, while
utterance 364 describes the gathering together of the body parts by
Nephthys leading to his resurrection. In utterance 532 Osiris is struck
down by Seth. The body of Osiris becomes enclosed in the trunk of a
tree and is associated with the Djed pillar
in utterance 574.
Much later, the detail was added that the tree enclosing of the body of
Osiris was located at Byblos. This probably refers to the tradition
related in the Hymn to Osiris, dating from the Middle Kingdom, of
sending sailing expeditions to Byblos to obtain trees from which to make
coffins.10
The Backbone of Osiris:
Chapter 155 of the Book of the Dead associates the Djed with the
backbone and vertebrae of Osiris. Budge states that the oldest form of
his spinal column was probably represented by part of the back bone with
portions of the ribs attached to it. He suggests that as time went on
it was drawn on a stand with a broadened base to form what we see as the
Djed.
11
Even when pictured without the ribs attached, four vertebrae supported by a stand take on the appearance of the Djed:
Hieroglyph of the spine placed
on a stand to form the Djed symbol
Four vertebrae pictured
surmounting a stand
Looking at images of the backbone, a likeness to the Djed symbol can be observed:
In the two examples above, the upper four vertebrae have been left as
is, while the lower four vertebrae forming the stand have had their
transverse processes 'trimmed' to form a straight shaft. The spine on
the right, with its central vertical ridge looks very much like the Djed
depicted below:
In utterance 321 of the Pyramid Texts the King ascends to the sky with Re on the
backbone of Osiris. An Old Kingdom variant of the determinative hieroglyph
in this word 'backbone' is F41, which is the top part of the Djed Pillar:
A Pillar:
Most of the Djeds found in later tombs have been flat objects, usually
no thicker than a quarter of its width, these flat representations of
the Djed probably being derived from the hieroglyphic renditions. But
in these two ivory Djeds from the First Dynasty pictured below, we see
that the Djed was originally more of a round pillar than a flat object.
Being such old pieces, they give us valuable insight into the original
design and therefore the original function of the Djed before it became a
flat icon.
Two ivory Djed pillars found in a
First Dynasty tomb at Helwan.
(photograph taken by J.D.Degreef)
The ancient Egyptians divided the sky into two parts in very early
times, with the Eastern end resting on the 'Mountain of Sunrise' and the
Western end on the 'Mountain of Sunset'. Later a division into four
parts was made and the four corners of heaven were protected by four
gods.12
Heaven is described in the Pyramid Texts as resting on the staffs of these four gods
13
indicating that the quartering of heaven occurred at a very early time, before the Pyramid Texts were written.
"O you four gods who stand at the supports of the sky,
my father Osiris the King has not died in death,
for my father Osiris the King possesses a spirit in the Horizon"
- PT 556.
The Four Pillars of Heaven were personified as these four gods known
also the Four Sons of Horus, who support the four corners of the sky
with their sceptres. Here we have another instance in which the pillar
is combined with the human form.
In Wallis Budge's Egyptian Hieroglyphic Dictionary is the
word spelled with a single papyrus stem, which has the meaning not only
of "youthful" and a type of "sceptre", but also "... pillar, support,
column".
14
The same word, wadj (w3d) composed of the single
hieroglyph only with the addition of a base is interpreted by Raymond
Faulkner as meaning "papyriform column".14bIn utterance 217 of the Pyramid Texts this hieroglyph is used to denote four pillars by following it with the number four:
"O Re-Atum, this King comes to you,
an Imperishable Spirit, Lord of the affairs of the place of the Four Pillars"
"Four Pillars"
Another way of writing the word 'Four Pillars' is by placing the four pillar hieroglyphs in a row:
The mention of the place of the 'Four Pillars' is a reference to Heaven,
which the Ancient Egyptians believed to rest on these four
pillars. The columns supporting the roofs of temples were often shaped
like papyrus stems, hence the hieroglyphic writing of the word "pillar".
Papyriform pillar
Four Pillars
Another way of depicting 'Four Pillars' would be to put one behind the
other with each sticking up a bit above the one in front so that it can
be seen:
Four pillars combined
and topped with capitol
A Typical Djed
This method of describing 'Four Pillars', one behind the other in
typical ancient Egyptian artistic style, creates an image that looks
remarkably like the Djed symbol. In the following two scenes from the
Temple of Hathor at Denderah, the four papyrifrom pillars on
either side of the funeral bier in the first picture are exchanged with
Djed pillars in the next:
Horus presenting Osiris with a flower. Under the bier are the four crowns of Osiris.
Note also the four hawks perched on top of the lotus's.
Mariette, Denderah, IV, 65.
A similar scene only with Isis at the head instead of Horus. Osiris-Djed in Djedu stands to the right.
Note that the four papyrus stems on either side of the bier in the previous picture
have been exchanged with Djed pillars in this picture.
Mariette, Denderah, IV, 71.
At the coronation of the new Horus-King, four birds each bearing the
name and head of the one of the Four Sons of Horus were released towards
the four directions marked by the four pillars of Heaven.
15
When the four pillars are combined they form the Djed pillar, a symbol
synonymous with the body of Osiris. Another way in which these gods
were related to the body of Osiris is through their association with his
four bodily organs. These were removed from the body during
mummification, individually embalmed and placed inside jars, then
reunited inside a funerary box and entombed with the body.
16
Inside the tomb of Horemheb in the Valley of the Kings, his canopic
chest containing the four organs was placed in a small room, featuring a
life sized image of the Djed pictured together with Osiris. The Four
Sons of Horus are again related to his body by them featuring on the
four sides of his sarcophagus together with their protective goddesses,
Isis, Nephthys, Serqet, and Neit much like the canopic chest of
Tutankhamun pictured below.
The Four alabaster canopic jars of Tutankhamun
(photograph courtesy of Jon Bodsworth of Gizaview)
Although they are usually described as standing at the four corners of
Heaven, in a number of instances the gods of the four supports
of the sky are combined and positioned at the eastern horizon to take
part in the resurrection of the dead king
17 with the rebirth of the new sun.
..."he (Re) commends to me these four children who sit on the east side of the sky"
- PT 507.
The word for pillar, wadj, also means "raw", "make flourish",
18
and "to be young and new", "youthful"
19
and therefore fits in a general sense with the Four Sons as they are
the young children of Horus who aid in the rejuvenation of the King.
They are sometimes represented as sprouting from the top of a lotus,
which, like the papyrus, symbolized new life as in the vignette from
chapter 125 of the Book of the Dead:
The 'Four Sons' personified and combined
atop an open lotus in front of Osiris
After having passed through the night sky in utterance 334 of the
Pyramid Texts, the King grasps the tail of the sun-god
Re and after claiming to be the son of a god, declares that he is a
flower rising from the waters of the Nile. In utterance 512 the King is
given Four jars full of provisions and is purified on top of the lotus
flower describing a scene not unlike the one depicted in the vignette
above:
"Raise yourself, my father, receive these your Four pleasant provisions-jars20
bathe in the Jackal Lake,
be cleansed in the Lake of the Netherworld,
be purified on top of your lotus-flower in the Field of Rushes...
Raise yourself, go in your spirit-state."
-PT 512.
The Four Sons of Horus also provide the deceased with food and drink
that will sustain him in the afterlife as evidenced in utterance 338 of
the Pyramid Texts:
Hapy, Duamutef, Kebhsenuf, and Imsety will expel this hunger
which is in my belly and this thirst which is on my lips.
- PT 338
Perhaps the four canopic jars in which the bodily organs were placed
were originally intended to represent these four jars of provisions that
are mentioned in the texts. In life, these four organs process the
air, food and drink and convert it into the energy that can be
assimilated by the body, the generators of 'Life-Force' as it were.
It may be interesting to note a similar belief amongst the Taoists of
ancient China where four containers are mentally constructed around the
navel, into which the energies generated by the organs are collected.
The contents of these four containers are combined to form a ball of
energy that is then circulated through the body in what is referred to
as the "Microcosmic Orbit".
21
In death, however, the Ancient Egyptians put these organs inside jars,
perhaps to simulate the absorption of the provisions by the
organs thereby providing sustenance for the King in the afterlife. Like
the ancient Chinese, the Egyptians associated the characteristics of
each of the organs both with young children and with different animals.
These four 'sons' of Horus may be viewed in this regard as being the
four elements that together form the soul, the hawk being the symbol of
both the god Horus and at one time the soul, or ba.
22
In utterances 544, 545, 670 and 688 of the Pyramid Texts, the Four Sons
of Horus lift the king into the sky to be reborn. The same four youths
are also responsible for binding together the reed boats on which the
Sun god Re goes to the horizon in utterance 519, and in 522 they bring
the boat built by the Ram-god Khnum.
The backbone of Osiris was found at a place called Djedet, the Greek Mendes,
23
a well-established site of importance in the Delta during the Early Dynastic period.
24
The god of the city was the sacred ram called Ba-Neb-Djed, meaning
'Ram, Lord of the Djed', though sometimes he was called 'Ram with four
heads upon on neck' relating to a legend in which he unites within
himself the souls of Re, Osiris, Shu, and Kheper.
25
The god was worshipped as a form of Khnum and was also identified with Osiris.
26
A local form of Osiris was made by merging with the Ram as 'Osiris the Ram, Lord of Djedu'.
27
Osiris the Ram, Lord of Djedu
The Soul of Osiris incarnate as a Ram
The Djed is occasionally depicted surmounted by Ram horns, thereby
associating it with the Ram of Mendes in the form of Ba-Neb-Djedu.28
The Rams horns are a common feature on the crown of Osiris and at times
he is described as being two horned, tall of crown and of
having great presence in Djedu.29
Osiris-Djed crowned with the two horns of the Ram
The Djed has been said to represent the support of the sky, the pillar
of cosmic stability. Khnum is often pictured holding up the arms of Shu
helping him to support the body of the sky goddess, Nut. Sometimes he
even replaces Shu, in his role of the
supporter of Heaven and at times he was referred to as the "raiser up of
heaven upon its four pillars and supporter of the same in the
firmament".30
In this capacity he is depicted as the Djed with arms upheld supporting the sky as pictured on the right.
31
In a hymn inscribed on the walls of the temple of Esna, Khnum is called
"The prop of heaven who hath spread out the same with his hands"
32 and in the Pyramid Texts, Khnum is referred to as a "Pillar of the Great Mansion."33
In utterance 586 of the Pyramid Texts Khnum makes a ladder for the king
to use to ascend to the sky. The word for 'ladder' in this case,
however, is spelled with the symbol for 'ribs'34.
This
would seem to be alluding once again to the backbone of Osiris, upon
which, the King ascends to the sky with the sun god Re in utterance 321
of the same texts. The Old Kingdom variant of the determinative
hieroglyph in this word 'backbone' is F41, the top part of the Djed
Pillar:
The Djed is frequently used to symbolize the Sun in its rising, and like
the Djed, is a commonly used metaphor for the rebirth of
the King's soul. In chapter 17 of the Book of the Dead, the soul of
Osiris finds the soul of Re in Djedu:
his notion of the King finding the soul of Re in Djedu was developed at
a much earlier time and it is described in the Pyramid Texts where it
is written:
"O you of Djedu, O Djed pillar which is in the 'Place Where his Soul is Found',35
...the King finds you seated on the 'Tower of the Mummified Body'36on which the gods sit;
the owners of doubles are bound for him..."
- PT 410
"...he commends me to these four children who sit on the east side of the sky,
these four black haired children who sit in the shade of
the 'Tower of the Mummified body'."
- PT 507
"I have gone up by means of the staff which is in the 'Place Where his Soul is Found'
I have gone up upon the ladder with my foot on Orion and my arm uplifted..."
- PT 625
The first quote above is from utterance 410 of the Pyramid Texts and shows that 'you of Djedu', a title of Osiris,
37
and the Djed pillar itself are situated in a mythological place called the 'place where his soul is found'.
38
Then in utterance 625 the Djed pillar in the 'place where his soul is
found' is referred to as a "staff" by means of which the deceased "goes
up", presumably referring to the staffs of the Four Sons of Horus
combined in the east which help lift the King into heaven.
Returning to utterance 410, the King finds Osiris seated "...on the 'Tower of the Mummified body', which is associated with the Four Sons of Horus on the east side of the sky in utterance 507.
The object of mummification was not so much the preservation of the body
as it had been during life, but the transfiguration of the corpse into a
new body 'filled with magic', a simulacrum or statue in wrappings and
resin.
39
The King's ba could not be released from his body unless the corpse was made 'firm', 'established', 'stable', 'enduring', 'whole', 'sound',40
in other words, made Djed-like. The 'Tower of the Mummified body' is
therefore an accurate description of the function and meaning of the
Djed pillar and is reminiscent of the imagery evoked by the Legend of
Osiris, in particular, the body of the dead Osiris-King becoming
enclosed inside a huge pillar.
This connection of the 'Tower of the Mummified body', with the Djed
Pillar, Osiris, his soul, and the Four Sons of Horus in the east with
their staff(s), reinforces a number of the interpretations of the Djed
symbol that have been suggested in this article.
Furthermore, it brings us to the fascinating subject of iconic symbolism in religious and funerary architecture.
Pyramid of Man
The pyramid belonging to a king named Khnum-Khufu has a chamber system
resembling the image of a mummified body crowned with the top part of
the Djed pillar, much like the figures of Osiris-Djed pictured above.
The name Khnum-Khufu, meaning 'Khnum protects me', is reflected in the
design of his pyramid, which may be likened to the image of Khnum as the
Djed with his arms upraised, one to the north, the other to the south.
In the texts relating to the deification of the members, the deceased's hands are said to be those of the Ram god Ba-Neb-Djed, and his fingers associated with the constellation of Orion in the southern sky.
41
"The Netherworld has grasped your hand at the place where Orion is,
the Bull of the Sky has given you his hand....."
- PT 437
"May a stairway to the Netherworld be set up for you to the place where Orion is,
may the Bull of the Sky take your hand..."
PT - 610
"May Orion give me his hand..."
PT - 582
The presence of the unique 'air-shafts'
in the Khufu's pyramid has been and
still is a topic of much discussion. A number of Egyptologists have in
the past expressed the possibility that these inaptly named 'air-shafts'
were actually intended as release passages for the soul of the King
entombed within the chamber that they emanate from. In 1964
Egyptologist Dr Alexander Badawy, with the help of Virginia Trimble,
realised that Orion was most likely the target of the burial chamber's
southern shaft during the time of Khufu, which he deduced was designed
to help the soul of the dead King rise up to his dwelling place in Orion
as mentioned in the Pyramid Texts.
42
Flinders Petrie had previously observed the southern shaft's alignment
with the Midday Sun on the 2nd of November, a date that may even
correlate with the Raising of the Djed ceremonies on the last day of
Khoiak during the reign of Khufu, about four and a half thousand years
ago.43
Such an alignment would have allowed the soul of Re to enter the
Djed-shaped tomb, thereby fulfilling the textual declaration of the soul
of Osiris and the soul of Re meeting in Djedu.44
The notion of the Djed inside the pyramid of Khnum-Khufu can be explored
further at my website by clicking on the banner below.
The site looks at the architectural metaphors formed by the innovative
arrangement of the chambers inside the Great Pyramid following the
theory proposed by James Allen and supported by other Egyptologists such
as Jean Leclant and Mark Lehner, that the substructure of the Old
Kingdom pyramids were designed to correspond to the geography of the
Duat.
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