Tyet
The tyet, called the girdle or buckle of Isis: an amulet meant to bring the protection of Isis to the dead.
Meaning
Petrie gives its meaning as protection by the blood of Isis, and describes it as the early women’s girdle, fuller than the men’s girdle tie that he took the Ankh to be. It was usually made of carnelian, red jasper, red glass or another red material. The 156th chapter of the Book of the Dead, often inscribed on it, calls on the blood of Isis, the strength of Isis and the words of power of Isis to protect the dead.
Origin and history
On coffins, Budge notes, the right hand of the dead grasps the tyet and the left the Djed pillar.
Write in hieroglyphs
stringmash.comHieroglyphics translatorSpell a name in Egyptian hieroglyphs, letter by letter, and put it in a cartouche.Read next
- Next in Egyptian hieroglyphicsCrook and flailThe shepherd’s crook and the flail, emblems of rule that a hymn to Osiris says the god received as prince of gods and men.
- In Egyptian gods and their symbolsIsisIsis’s symbol is the throne, the hieroglyph that writes her name, which she wears on her head. From the New Kingdom she also wears the cow’s horns and sun disc she took from Hathor, and the knot amulet called the tyet was read as her blood.
See also
Ankh, Eye of Horus, Scarab, Djed pillar, Was sceptre, Shen ring.
Sources
- Amulets, illustrated by the Egyptian collection in University College, London, W. M. Flinders Petrie, 1914, Constable and Company, London (Internet Archive), No. 88
- Egyptian Magic, E. A. Wallis Budge, 1901, Internet Archive (Getty Research Institute copy), Amulet 3
The same shape elsewhere
Browse symbols formed from curves and waves or lines.
Researched, edited and approved by Rory Hansen before publishing. Last reviewed September 25, 2026. How we research
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