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Djed pillar, Late Period (ca. 688–332 B.C.)
Egyptian
Faience
Gift of Lucy W. Drexel, 1889 (89.2.539)

This emblem of Osiris, god of the underworld, was a potent symbol of regeneration and therefore made to accompany the mummy on its journey. What the form represents is unknown: a leafless tree or a pole with notches or attachments. Eventually it came to represent the backbone of Osiris and in the New Kingdom decorated the bases of coffins.

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    Djed pillar, Late Period (ca. 688–332 B.C.)
    Egyptian
    Faience
    Gift of Lucy W. Drexel, 1889 (89.2.539)