The djed pillar

The djed, or tet, is an icon which dates back before dynastic Egypt. It apparently
had great religious significance throughout ancient Egypt. It has been thought to
represent the backbone of Osiris and I don't believe this is very far off.

The pillar is depicted as a cylindrical shape which flares at the bottom. On early de-
pictions there are cut-outs on this flare so the bottom is not round in cross section.
This cylinder widens slightly toward the top and there are four disc shapes near the
top. Djed means stability or enduring in Ancient Egyptian.

In legend Osiris died twice. Once he was found in a tree after having drowned in
the Nile. It is this part of the legend that gives the clue about what the djed was.

People are often told to "put your back into it" when doing heavy work. Where
Osiris is a cold water geyser he needed the djed to "put His back into it".

This geyser was near the top of the hill so walls were built around it and created The
Lake of the Jackal. But now the mouth (eye) of the geyser was under water and
this water interfered with it. A hollowed tree trunk was inverted over it and was held
in place slight above. When the water blew out it would go up this "djed" and spray
out the top. In order to maintain a constant height a throttle was devised at the top
which was operated by the king, god, or a chosen representative with a tool called
the "was sceptor".

The lakes formed and even the watercourses fed by them would have huge amount
of algae due to the heat and the high CO2 content of the water. There would also be
great need for organic material to fertilize the sandy soil which they were farming.
These problems were overcome by the introduction of fish species which could sur-
vive high CO2 content. These fish would die at the end of the wet season and ferti-
lize the soil and would keep the algae down and the water fresh during the inundation.

The myth says that these species of fish ate Osiris' phallus so they were not considered
food even into much more modern times.