If the knot Tit is the symbol of Isis, the pillar Ged is of his spouse Osiris; Moreover, the two most famous divine couple of Egypt comes these two symbols. The origin of Ged, however, is certainly prior to the appearance of Osiris in the Nile Valley. In the Neolithic period, it was a fetish, a totem linked to the power of the wheat, which was to be at the center of the cults aimed at celebrating the fertility of this plant essential for human food. The assimilation of Ged-Osiris had to take place in a completely natural way in historical times, since Osiris is also a deity of the grain. According to the researchers, the interpretation of the shape of the symbol is very different. There are those who want to see in it a stick with notches, a sort of ecclesiastical computation of the era; others affirm that it is a private tree of the branches to be related to the conifer cult, always very alive in Egypt.
“>There has also been talk of a sacred carved scepter, scepter of the capoclan, but a more convincing reading makes this symbol a pivot, a vertebral column ending in four vertebrae.
This pivotal idea is based on the etymology of Ged which is, in reality, the verb “to last”, “to be stable.” The pillar consists of two parts: the vertical axis, symbol of the energy that circulates freely, and the four horizontal planes that fix this energy and must certainly be put in relation with the cardinal points. It is in the Osiric symbolism that this sign takes on its full meaning. Lying on the ground, the Ged represents death. His erection is the movement of his resurrection. Thus, the dead man, like Osiris, can proclaim “I am the one who stands behind the pillar Ged”, which is equivalent to saying: “I have risen to eternal life; now, they are stable enough to last. In this way, the Ged also has another meaning: it is the symbol of Osiris’ victory over Seth, the triumph of life over death, of order over chaos.
The Ged is also a royal symbol. It seems that, even before being associated with Osiris, it was the brand of the god Ptah of Menfi. In fact, one of the four qualifications of Ptah, is “stable on his two feet.” The high priest of Ptah has always brought the title of “Nobile del Ged”.
On the occasion of the Heb-Sed ceremony, which every thirty years was destined to reactivate the king’s strength, one of the key moments was the erection of a pillar Ged for the pharaoh. In this way, the sovereign restored the stability of the monarchy and could be greeted with the well-known fomula: Ankh (reactivated life), Was (power), Ged (stability).
Finally, in the funeral sphere, the Ged is present in two forms: as a talisman on the mummy and as an object an integral part of the tomb. In fact, a Ged majolica pillar was placed on a clay brick and sealed in a small niche on the west wall of the tomb; therefore, it was turned to the East: It was sealed with earth impregnated with cedar oil. His presence in the eternal dwelling drove all Osiris enemies out of that place.
The mummy wore a Ged pillar around his neck hanging from a sycamore fiber cord, one of the sacred trees in Osiris. This talisman guaranteed her to become an eminent blessed in the Kingdom of the dead, to straighten up like Osiris and, like him, to rediscover the use of the spine. Thus, in the afterlife, the deceased would become a luminous spirit.