Djed Symbolism

Osiris as Djed

Osiris

Osiris, husband of Isis and father of Horus the child, is part of the earliest mythology of Ancient Egypt. Some of the oldest rituals and temples are dedicated to this god. The djed pillar is associated with being the 'backbone of Osiris', and Osiris himself is often shown as a djed pillar.

In this wall painting, from Chamber M of the Tomb of Nefertari (consort of Rameses II) in the Valley of the Queens, Osiris is depicted as a djed pillar with two human arms. Around each wrist he has an ankh sign, and each hand he is carrying a w3s sceptre.

Magicians

Is there a possible link between the djedankhra device and the staffs of power associated with magicians and wizards, including Merlin?

The tradition of striking the ground with the staff, whether in modern-day art or back to Moses, Aaron and the Pharaoh of the Exodus, to release a power is longstanding, and chimes with the implied threat depicted in the Taharqa scene where the staff is held just above the ground.

Djedi

In the Westcar papyrus, King Khufu is being told stories of the past by his sons. One son, Hr-Djedef, rather than relating a tale of the past, begs leave to introduce a living magician, a man named Djedi.

Djedi is summoned, and proceeds to join the severed head of a goose to its body, and then of an ox to its, restoring them to life by uttering words of magic. He is asked by Khufu if it is true that he knows the number of the secret chambers of the sanctuary of Thoth (where Thoth reputedly hid his books of knowledge), and he replies that he knows the place where it is.

Djed-em-ankh

The magician Djed-em-ankh appears in the Westcar papyrus tales told to Khufu, in a story about Khufu's father, Snefru. In this story, Djed-em-ankh 'said his say of magic' and 'placed one side of the lake's water upon the other' in order to retrieve a pendant that had been lost overboard.

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