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5: A Fine Egyptian Djed Pillar Amulet

Currency:USD Category:Antiquities Start Price:800.00 USD Estimated At:1,000.00 - 1,500.00 USD
5: A Fine Egyptian Djed Pillar Amulet
Egypt, New Kingdom, ca. 1550 - 1069 BC. Blue glazed faience, slender tapering form, a tall broad shaft with ribbed capital surmounted by four short horizontal bars, hole for attachment at top.cf: D Auria, Lacovara and Roehrig, 'Mummies and Magic,' p.181 for a discussion of djed-pillars. The author writes that this form of amulet 'has been variously explained as a column of papyrus stems, a tree-trunk with looped branches and a sheaf of bound cornstalks... Though not originally associated with Osiris, by the New Kingdom the djed-pillar had come to be closely linked with the god, and its shape was reinterpreted as a representation of his backbone. The image also has connotations of stability and endurance and it was primarily to confer these qualities on the deceased that [they were] placed within the mummy wrappings.'
Dimensions: height, 1-1/2" (3.8 centimeters)

Provenance: Private FL collection, acquired in Chicago in the 1960's and previously in the Robert L. McLaughlin Collection.