Was

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For other uses, see Was (disambiguation).

w3s
in hieroglyphs

A wooden was scepter.

Was ("power") scepters do represent the Set-animal (the Egyptian god Sutekh). Was scepters were carried by gods, pharaohs, and priests, as a symbol of power, and in later use, control over the force of chaos (Set). The head and forked tail of the Set-animal are clearly present. Was scepters are often depicted in paintings, drawings, and carvings of gods, and remnants of real Was scepters have been found constructed of faience or wood.

The Was (ws) is also the Egyptian hieroglyphic character that stands for a word meaning power.

In their 2004 book "The Quick and the Dead", Andrew H. Gordon and Calvin W. Schwabe speculated that the Ankh, Djed and Was symbols have a biological basis derived from ancient cattle culture, thus:

the Ankh - symbol of life - thoracic vertebrae of a bull (seen in cross section)
the Djed - symbol of stability - base or sacrum of a bull's spine
the Was - symbol of power and dominion - a staff made from a dried bull's penis that was the symbol for the goddess Wosret or Wasretɛïɜ

The was has a forked top, supposedly and a tripod base. One suggestion is that the staff was pushed into the ground and a line of sight set through the fork, hence the ruler of all he surveyed.