Jed

In pre-dynastic times (end of the 5th millennium - c. 3100 BC), the jed was a wooden pole with sheaves of wheat attached to it - a symbol of the harvest. The pillar played a role in rural religious fertility rites - as a sign of power, in which the strength of the grain was to be preserved. Grain ears were tied to such a pillar. In the drawings depicting a jed, one detail is highlighted - a characteristic belt that indicates a sheaf band. Bandaging of sheaves was usually done with colorful ribbons, which gave the sheaf a more festive look. Since, by the time the new crop was harvested, last year's grain stocks were usually running out, the decorated first sheaf symbolized the beginning of a new life. In the Ancient Kingdom (c. 2707 - 2150 BC) in the city of Memphis there was a special priest of “a djed worthy of respect”, even the metropolitan God-creator of Memphis Pta was called a “jed worthy of respect” or the Great Jed.

With the beginning of the New Kingdom (c. 1550 - 1069 BC), through the identification of the deity Pta with the god Socaris - the god of fertility and the patron saint of the dead, and Socaris with Osiris - the god of rebirth and the king of the underworld, the Jed becomes the symbol of Osiris. As the cult of Osiris began to prevail, this symbol began to personify the spine of Osiris. According to the myth of Osiris and Isis, the spine of Osiris after its dismemberment was vertically installed. A combination of Jed and Ankh is also known. Thus, the symbol of resurrection is connected with the symbol of eternal life - ankh.

The "Establishment of the Jed Column" was the culmination of the rituals associated with the accession to the throne of the new monarch , replacing the dead. In the Ancient Kingdom in the city of Memphis, the ritual of the "installation of the Jed", which the king himself performed with the help of the priests, arose. Symbolic action indicated the expected duration of the reign, the procedure could mean the restoration of stability of government and order. In late winter - early spring, a ceremony was held in Egypt during which episodes of myths about Osiris were recreated. The hoisting of the pillar of the "Jed" dedicated to Osiris symbolized the resurrection of Osiris, as a sign of victory over Seth , who "laid the pillar on its side." The meaning of this mythology is associated with the constellation Orion (identified with Osiris), which the Egyptians called Sach (Sach), and which was considered the "king of the stars." When the constellation Orion “collapses on its side” and disappears beyond the western horizon, in the east at this hour the constellation Scorpio, personifying Seth, the killer of Osiris, rises. Those. Osiris’s death, symbolically occurs every twelve hours, until Osiris-Orion ascends to Ahet , the eastern part of heaven, and stands upright.

Due to the inclusion of the pillar of the Jed in the symbolism of the other world, it becomes an ornament to the dead. On the bottoms of coffins from the New Kingdom at the place where the spine of the deceased is located, a Jed was often depicted as a symbol of the identification of the dead with Osiris. Also, this symbol played the role of a talisman in a person’s journey through the afterlife. Plastic images of the pillar of the Jed were used as talismans and stacked with the deceased to protect them from otherworldly dangers.

Hieroglyph Jed is a pillar and is the personification of stability and sustainability. Often the jed meant the god Osiris himself, sometimes between the bars the eyes were depicted or the jed was depicted with attributes of power. Hieroglyph Jed was also associated with hieroglyphs wass ( power ) and ankh (life).

There is an opinion that from the hieroglyph denoting the Jed, the Phoenician letter “ Samech ” was formed - a prototype of the Greek “ Xi ”.

• Manfred Lurker - EGYPTIAN SYMBOLISM. Jed. Available: [1]
• Mathieu M.E. Ancient Egyptian myths, M.-L., 1956
• Publishing site. Article: The symbolic meaning of the “Egyptian cross”. Available: [2]
• Encyclopedia of Symbols and Heraldry. Jed. Available: [3]
• Travelers' club. Article: Mysterious Symbols of Ancient Egypt (Was, Jed, Ankh - Ankh). Available: [4]

• Korostovtsev M. - Religion of Ancient Egypt. Abydos, Osiris and Isis. Available: http://www.gumer.info/bogoslov_Buks/Relig/korost/12.php
• Site of Cultural Studies. A cycle of ancient Egyptian myths about Osiris and Isis. Available: http://kulturoznanie.ru/?work=myth_osiris_isida

• Wadget
• Ankh