Reuniting the Statue of Djedhor the Saviour

Back in September 2021 at our conference to mark fifty years since part of the Wellcome collection arrived to Swansea, it was announced by Anna Garnett of the Petrie Museum that the plaster cast of the statue of Djedhor the Saviour would be gifted to the Egypt Centre so that it could be reunited with its base (W302). In the intervening fourteen months, preparations for this transfer have been taking place. The base was sent to Cardiff for conservation, as previously discussed in a blog post by Krystina Parker, before returning to us in September. With the base back in Swansea, it was now time to arrange for the statue to be reunited with it. Anna and I had the chance to discuss this when I visited the Petrie Museum in October. This past Tuesday (29 November) was quite an exciting day at the Egypt Centre as the statue of Djedhor finally arrived to the Egypt Centre (fig. 1). It was appropriate that the statue arrived on Giving Tuesday, a global initiative that encourages people and organizations to donate their time and money to charitable causes.

Fig. 1: The reunited Djedhor the Saviour cast

As many readers will know, Djedhor was a Priest and “Guardian of the Gates of the Temple of Athribis” (located in the tenth Lower Egyptian nome). The original statue, which is on display in the Tahrir Museum in Cairo (JE 46341), is one of several known for Djedhor. A statue base is in the Oriental Institute, Chicago (OIM E10589), and a headless torso of a standing, naophorous statue is in Cairo (4/6/19/1). In all probably, the latter two statues were part of the same monument. According to Sherman (1981), JE 46341 was likely produced after the other statue. This is because JE 46341 is the only one of the two in which Djedhor has the “good name” of pꜣ-šd, “the Saviour”, which must have been given to him later in his life. The words of Djedhor on the Cairo statue indicate that he was alive at the time of its creation: “It is I who caused this saviour-statue to appear, along with the saviour-statue which is in the necropolis”. This inscription highlights how the statue was used for healing. The entire statue of Djedhor is covered with magical texts that protect, or heal, against snakes, scorpions, and other malicious creatures. These texts were published by Jelínková-Reymond (1956) and Sherman (1981), with an English translation available here. Users would pour water over the statue of Djedhor, which would absorb the magical healing powers of the hieroglyphs. This water would then collect in the depression located on the base directly in front of the statue, which could then be drunk or applied to a wound. From the inscriptions, we know that Djedhor lived during the reign of Philip Arrhidaeus (c. 323–317 BC).

Fig. 2: Cast of Djedhor on display in the Wellcome Historical Medical Museum

The cast of the Djedhor statue and base was produced in 1933 by the Cairo Museum at the request of Sir Henry Wellcome. Wellcome was particularly interested in objects associated with medicine, healing, and magic, so the object was of great importance to him. Upon arrival in London, it was given the Wellcome acquisition number A129212, with the later registration number R77/1935. The cast was soon displayed in the Wellcome Historical Medical Museum until it was transferred to University College London (UCL) in 1964 (fig. 2). It was here that that statue was separated from its base, with the former going to the Petrie Museum and the latter to Swansea in 1971. Discussions between the Petrie Museum and the Egypt Centre over reuniting the statue with the base first occurred around twenty years ago, but it was only in the last few years that these discussions allowed the reunification to occur. As far as I’m aware, this is the first time objects from the Wellcome collection have been reunited after their separation. Additionally, it is possibly the only cast of the Cairo statue known (I’d be interested to know if any readers are aware of others).

Fig. 3: Newly photographed Djedhor statue

Since the statue (now numbered W302a) arrived in Swansea several days ago, it has been photographed (fig. 3), 3D scanned (fig. 4), and been the guest of honour at the Egypt Centre’s Christmas party on Friday (fig. 5). Future plans include putting it on display and using it for our object-based learning at the museum. We are also planning a study day on Djedhor to take place in 2023, so stay posted for further details about this!

Fig. 4: 3D model of the combined Djedhor statue (https://skfb.ly/oAUI6)

We are grateful to all involved in making this reunification happen, particularly our colleagues at UCL Culture. This transfer could not have taken place without the support of Anna Garnett, the Curator of the Petrie Museum, for being so willing to make this happen!

Fig. 5: Wendy Goodridge next to Djedhor at the Egypt Centre Christmas party

Bibliography:

Jelínkova-Reymond, E. 1956. Les inscriptions de la statue guérisseuse de Djed-ḥer-le-Sauveur. Bibliothèque d’étude 23. Le Caire: Institut français d’Archéologie orientale. 

Rowland, Joanne, Salima Ikram, G. J. Tassie, and Lisa Yeomans 2013. The sacred falcon necropolis of Djedhor(?) at Quesna: recent investigations from 2006–2012. Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 99, 53–84.

Sherman, Elizabeth J. 1981. Djedḥor the Saviour statue base OI 10589. Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 67, 82–102.