Papyrus column amulet (wadj)

This faience amulet depicts a papyrus-shaped column, the wadj column standing on a base. In the temple architecture, the column heads, which imitated the papyrus chalice, evoke the papyrus marsh surrounding the primordial mound emerging from the primordial waters at the creation of the world. In the hieroglyph writing, the wadj column had the meaning ’green’ or ’fresh’, and as an amulet gave vitality and regenerative power to the living and the dead. The light-coloured decoration on the top of the small amulet indicates the chalice. The framed inscription on its side is addressed to Bastet: “Word spoken by Bastet to my heart”. This typical plant of the northern country is a symbol of the protector goddess of Lower Egypt, Bastet, and the papyrus adds the concept of regeneration and rebirth to the protective and life-giving aspects of the goddess. The many representations from the first millennium BC represent a cat sitting on the top of a wadj column, where the cat refers to the goddess Bastet.