Unsolved Mysteries - Strange Artifacts - Raising the Djed... contd

The Djed - Introduction

It is in man’s nature to show off the symbols of his power and the means by which the power is achieved. For example, the symbols of a gun or a hammer and sickle on a flag represent man’s struggle towards progress.

If you were to show an image of a gun to our ancestors, I suspect that he would have no idea what its real function was. Our ancestors could interpret it as some type of cart or chariot. Have the Egyptians left clues in the hieroglyphic symbols that we just cannot see? I carefully observed and researched the pharaoh’s temple and burial chambers. Could the answers lie there?
The photos below show funerary furniture depicting the Djed, ankh, sceptre and Tyet symbols from the tomb of Tutankhamen, now exhibited at the Cairo museum.

At this time, I had no idea what the symbols meant, so I used the Internet to research the specific meaning of each symbol. The ankh “looped cross” is said by scholars to represent the breath of life, but its true meaning remains a mystery to Egyptologists. Some have speculated that it represents a stylized womb. Sir Alan Gardiner (Egyptian Grammar Oxford University Press June 1957) speculated that it represents a sandal strap, with the loop going around the ankle. However, no single hypothesis has yet been widely accepted. The ‘Was’ or sceptre pictured either side of the ankh was carried by deities as a sign of their power. It is also depicted being carried by kings and later by people of lesser stature in mortuary scenes. Notwithstanding this, no real explanation has been given of its original function.

Regarding the tyet or tiet symbol, its exact origin is unknown. In many respects, it resembles an ankh except that its arms curve down. Its meaning is also reminiscent of the ankh; it is often translated to mean welfare or life. As early as the Third Dynasty, the tiet is used as decoration when it appears with the djed column, and later with the ‘was’ scepter. The tiet is associated with Isis and is often called "the knot of Isis" or "the blood of Isis." It seems to be called "the knot of Isis" because it resembles a knot used to secure garments that the gods wore. Thus, once again there are no real answers regarding the original form or function.

Lastly, the question arises concerning the djed symbol right, and pictured left and next to the tyet, ‘What could it possibly represent, and why is it next to the tyet?’ Why do both symbols sit on quarter round shaped bowls? The djed is one of the most recognizable symbols of ancient Egypt. I decided to concentrate my initial analysis there.

 

 

Left: 18th Dynasty ankh from the reign of Amenhotep II made of Wood
Source: http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/ankh.htm 
Right: Ankh with Dejed and Scepter

  
Left: Djed Pillar showing the rings of a papyrus column
Source: http://touregypt.net/featurestories/djedpillar.htm   
Right: A Tyet Knot from the Tomb of Tutankhamun. 
http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/tyet.htm

 

The Djed

The Egyptian pharaohs carried a talisman called a Djed, which represented power and stability. As I mentioned it is the most recognizable symbol of ancient Egypt. 
It is often depicted standing on a square base. Some show the pillar portrayed with human arms holding the ankh and a flail. Some scholars have suggested that the djed represents fertility or the more widely accepted view is that the djed represents strength and stability.

The ceremony of "Raising the Dejed"

The djed was a popular amulet and all of its meanings are represented in (Laurie Schneider Adams, Jacques Szaluta Psychoanalysis and the Humanities Psychology Press UK 1996). The ceremony of ‘Raising the Djed’ (pictured above) was an important Egyptian festival. The Djed was considered necessary to help transform human flesh into the spiritual form assumed by the deceased in eternity. In order to protect and transform the flesh into the spiritual form, a pyramid is needed. 
The question then arises ‘How can the djed protect and transform?’

Djed

I studied the picture of the djed (above) for about three hours. I asked myself ‘Could the crook fit over the small protrusion at the top of the djed?’ This idea led me to imagine the column in three dimensions, like some type of round post.

The four cross bars would now look like spools. Then, so to speak, the penny dropped! I view the Djed as a capstan, a tall capstan with three roped spools, two for power and one for rewinding the ropes. It would be similar to a winch or windlass but would have the ability to act as a primitive slip clutch. To operate a conventional capstan, capstan bars or long poles are inserted in holes over the wasp or waisted drum. Sailors would rotate the mechanism by walking around the capstan pushing on the levers. A rope wrapped tightly around the centre of the capstan would draw the ship to the dockside or pull huge loads onboard. A capstan would provide the necessary sustained torque to haul up the anchor. Thus, the spools replaced the levers. Rotating the capstan or djed is now dependent on the amount of men pulling on the spooled ropes rather than the number of men walking around the mechanism. Cheop’s solar boat was buried next to the great pyramid. It was discovered after the Second World War. Egyptian life revolved around the sea and the Nile River. The use of ropes and rigging would be second nature to the inhabitants. The Djed represents an adaptation of well known and commonly used technology.

I decided to build a model of the Djed. The dimensions and precise shape of the Djed were taken from my imagination. If I was to be taken seriously, the model would have to work. I visited my local wood supplier and purchased a newel post, a length of wood found at the top or bottom of a staircase that held the hand rails in position. The newel post was the size I required for what I envisaged, the construction of a quarter scale model. Three spools were fashioned out of a sheet of MDF fibreboard. I then attached sash ropes to the top and bottom spools and wound them in a clockwise direction, and wound the centre spool rope in an anticlockwise direction.

The flared base of the Djed was constructed from 2 mm plywood and several tins of car body filler. To rotate the mechanism one would need some type of pivot or bearing underneath the flared base. This was made from a mold, I used a cereal bowl and, once again, copious quantities of car body filler. 
The pivot base was made from gypsum plaster. To make this, I fashioned a box roughly 6 inches high and 12 inches square. I then poured in the plaster and set in the wet plaster a reverse mold of the Djed base.

  

The inverted Djed column (pictured left) resembles the stone columns at Karnack Temple. Could the mysterious shaped columns at Karnack represent other parts of the machine? A questionable point but certainly a question worthy of further investigation.
I tested the Djed model which was able to pull 120 pounds up a 10 degree slope. The two pullers required very little effort to raise the bricks. The first photograph shows the Djed balanced by the hand the second person rewinds the mechanism by walking backwards. The third person tightens the tow rope against the
base of the Djed. In the second photograph, the Djed is at the start of its first rotation. As the workers pull the ropes, the sledge laden with bricks ascends.
 

The djed, therefore, represents a simple vertical rotating second class lever, made of wood revolving in a stone pivot, similar to the bow drill but obviously on a much larger scale. The djed probably started life as a very large drill. It was  stated earlier that as the drill increased in size so too did the bow. The circumference of the drill shaft and the length of the bow string limited the number of rotations it could turn. To increase the number of rotations acting on the drill bit, the bow would be removed and separate roped spools added (see diagram below). This act of separating the ropes also protects them from the effects of abrading each other, as noted earlier. The number of rotations is now dependent on the length of the rope wrapped around the drill shaft. Increasing the length of the rope also increases the circumference of the spool when it is fully rewound. In my experiments this had a variable gearing effect with a ratio of approximately 4 to 1; producing torsion and rotation about an axis, or in layman’s terms torque. These ropes will now be referred to as power ropes. It is uncontroversial for us to accept that the Egyptians had the means and the know how to rotate a shaft. Coincidentally, the top view of the djed pictured below is similar to the hieroglyph Ra.

 

The Method

To convert this rotating shaft into a winch would only need a second rope (known as a tow rope) to be wrapped tightly around the base of the revolving shaft. Control of the tow rope would be essential. If the shaft was unaltered, that is if it remained straight in profile, the ability to predict the ropes course up and down the shaft whilst being drawn in on the tow would be unknown. If the tow rope traveled too far up the shaft the weight of the stone acting on the rotating lever would be too great and ultimately it would be pulled from its bearing; if it traveled too far down, it would be entangled against the base pivot stone and the shaft. Again, this would be most undesirable.

Control was regained by adding the flared base. As with a modern winch, this flared base kept the rope at a constant height. With the tow rope at a constant height, the pressure needed to keep the shaft in a vertical position would decrease and be easier to control. In summary, the djed is a vertical static winch that draws a line towards itself. It is said that a picture can speak a thousand words. In the above illustration, the Djed is in the bottom left and sits in what has been described by historians as altar stones. It can be added that at this point in my research I had no precise idea where the djed was positioned on the pyramid step. I did realize, however, that the crook was a tool that kept the djed in balance. I also wondered whether there were any other symbols that could have been used as tools. In my mind’s eye, I could see the djed positioned at varying heights along the horizontal step. Perhaps the position of the alter stone was the ‘base’ described by Herodotus. It is submitted that the ancient Egyptians balanced the Djed with a crook on the level above the base. This upper level can be described as rows. The only problem with the theory of a static winch is that the line or load to be lifted would be drawn up a single ramp towards the djed. This necessitates the need for
a second djed winch to operate in the opposite direction and thus requires a second ramp. This raises the question ’What did the ancient Egyptians construct the ramps with?’ It is submitted that the answer is relatively straightforward and obvious. The Egyptians used stone in all kinds of elaborate ways they cut statues and obelisks directly from the bedrock. So the natural progression for a race of people with this ability would be to use stone for building a ramp. Why import sand and rubble when it was possible to use the natural talents of the mason, thereby saving time and effort.
 

The stones pictured at the Sun Temple of Niuserre were 
possibly removable pivot or altar stones.

If there were many machines, they would have required many pivot stones. It is my belief that the stones pictured in the photograph (above) at the Sun Temple of Niuserre were removable pivot or altar stones. The small holes surrounding the ratchet mechanism were probably for lubrication. The Djed column would have rested in this stone. A hole drilled into the stone can clearly be seen on observation of the left hand side of the first stone in the picture. A rope placed through this hole would have given the mechanism the ability to be pulled to any location. 
Further investigation has confirmed that all of the pivot stones at Abusir, of which nine are visible, all have a similar large hole. The djed winch has been described as the backbone of Osiris. If the djed winch sat in the above pivots, would it not have been prudent for the ancient Egyptians to store them in the “Place of Osiris”?
The base of the Djed would need to have had some type of break. The picture (at right) shows a simple form of break ratchet.

This would have allowed the mechanism to revolve freely one way but not the other. This ratchet acted on the round protrusions carved onto the perimeter of the pivot stone. If the rising stone started to slip backwards down the ramp, the djed would have tipped and the breaking mechanism would have automatically stopped the stone. A controlled descent of the stone could have then been achieved by releasing tension on the tow rope.

View Flash demo of the operation of the Djed:  www.djed.co.uk/index2.html