Djed-Pillar Amulet
Ptolemaic Period (332–30 BCE)
Medium
Faience
Dimensions
4.7 × 1.9 × 0.7 cm (1 15/16 × 13/16 × 5/16 in.)
Classification
amulet
Department
Arts of Africa
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
141139
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
Amulets could be strung on cords to be worn by the living or the dead. This pillar with cross bars (the djed column) represented the backbone of the god Osiris and conveyed stability.
About the Artist
Ancient Egyptian
Ancient Egyptian artists, a collective of highly skilled artisans spanning over three millennia from the Predynastic period (c. 6000–3150 BC) to the Roman era (30 BC–4th century AD), produced some of humanity's most enduring masterpieces. These anonymous craftsmen, often organized in state-sponsored workshops, lived in dedicated communities like Deir el-Medina near Luxor during the New Kingdom (c....