Ancient Egyptian Faience SUPERB and BIG fine quality PILLAR DEJD amulet BLUE FAIENCE. 10,5 cm H. !! - Ex. CHRISTIE'S

BIG fine quality PILLAR DEJD amulet BLUE FAIENCE. 10,5 cm H. ! ! ex. CHRISTIE'S ! ! Ancient Egypt Late Period, circa 664-332 B. C. Dimensions: Height 10. 5 cm, maximum width 3. 5 cm, 1. 4 cm thick. Excluding the base. Provenance: Ex. Alexander Ancient Art Gallery, The Netherlands. Ex. Glenn Howard Antiquities, USA. Ex. Private Dutch collection. Ex. Private French collection I. J. , acquired from Christie's London, April 1998 (sale 7952) . Ex. old english collection 1950 - 1960. Published: Christie's London, 8th April 1998, Lot 294 (sale 7952, without photo, only description) . Condition: Intact with some minor discoloration, as shown; glued to a modern base. Very sharp details. This is an absolutely huge amulet depicting a djed pillar, made of pale blue glazed faience and dating to the Late Period, ca. 664-332 BC. Normally these amulets are small, a couple of centimeters on average. Large ones are very rare, but this one is enormous! See one of the photographs, where we have put an average sized djed pillar (2. 5 cm high) next to the one under discussion (and please note that the smaller one is mounted on a high base, taller than the amulet itself) . The pillar being offered here is more than four times as large! This djed pillar, as usual, consists of a tall shaft which is crossed by four horizontal ribs near the top, with three horizontal lines below, and has a back pillar. The djed first appeared in the Old Kingdom and soon became one of the most important funerary amulets, intended to give stability to the backbone of the mummy. There has been some discussion about what the djed depicts, but nowadays it is more or less generally accepted that it is a stylised trunk of a tree with its branches lopped off, although others maintain that it is a sheaf of grain or a bundle of papyrus stalks. Early it was associated with the gods Sokar and Ptah, but later it was adopted by Osiris, to become a stylised representation of his backbone; some rare examples were even provided with the atef crown. The ancient Egyptian word Dd (djed) indicated endurance, stability, rejuvenation and similar concepts. A text from the Book of the Dead (spell 155) was supposed to be recited over a djed amulet made of gold and placed on the throat of the deceased on the day of the burial; it would make the deceased "a worthy spirit who will be in the realm of the dead on New Year's day like those who are in the suite of Osiris".