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Was ("power") scepters represent the typhonic or Set-animal (the mascot of the Egyptian god Set
Set (mythology)

In Ancient Egyptian religion, Set is an ancient god, who was originally the god of the desert, Storms, Darkness, and Chaos. Because of the developments in the Egyptian language over the 3,000 years that Set was worshipped, by the Greek period, the t in Seth was pronounced so indistinguishably from th that the Greeks spelled it a...
). Was scepters were depicted as being carried by gods, pharaohs, and priests, as a symbol of power, and in later use, as a symbol of control over the force of chaos that Set represented. Was scepters often occur in paintings, drawings, and carvings of gods, and remnants of real Was scepters have been found constructed of faience
Faience

Faience or fa?ence is the conventional name in English language for fine tin-glazed pottery on a delicate pale buff body. The invention of a white pottery glaze suitable for painted decoration, by the addition of an stannous oxide to the slip of a lead glaze, was a major advance in the history of pottery....
 or wood, where the head and forked tail of the Set-animal are visible.

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

In their 2004 book The Quick and the Dead, Andrew H.






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Was ("power") scepters represent the typhonic or Set-animal (the mascot of the Egyptian god Set
Set (mythology)

In Ancient Egyptian religion, Set is an ancient god, who was originally the god of the desert, Storms, Darkness, and Chaos. Because of the developments in the Egyptian language over the 3,000 years that Set was worshipped, by the Greek period, the t in Seth was pronounced so indistinguishably from th that the Greeks spelled it a...
). Was scepters were depicted as being carried by gods, pharaohs, and priests, as a symbol of power, and in later use, as a symbol of control over the force of chaos that Set represented. Was scepters often occur in paintings, drawings, and carvings of gods, and remnants of real Was scepters have been found constructed of faience
Faience

Faience or fa?ence is the conventional name in English language for fine tin-glazed pottery on a delicate pale buff body. The invention of a white pottery glaze suitable for painted decoration, by the addition of an stannous oxide to the slip of a lead glaze, was a major advance in the history of pottery....
 or wood, where the head and forked tail of the Set-animal are visible.

The Was () 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
Ankh

The ankh was the Egyptian hieroglyphic character that read "eternal life", a triliteral sign for the consonants Ayin-Nun -?a'. Egyptian gods are often portrayed carrying it by its loop, or bearing one in each hand, arms crossed over their chest....
, Djed
Djed

The Djed symbol is a pillar-like ancient Egyptian symbol representing stability. It has been interpreted as the backbone of the Ancient Egypt god Osiris, especially in the form Banebdjedet ....
 and Was symbols were derived from various parts of a bull that were significant in ancient cattle culture, thus:
  • the Ankh - symbol of life - thoracic vertebrae of a bull (seen in cross section
    Cross section (geometry)

    In geometry, a cross-section is the intersection of a body in 2-dimensional space with a line, or of a body in 3-dimensional space with a plane, etc....
    )
  • the Djed - symbol of stability - base or sacrum
    Sacrum

    The sacrum is a large, triangular bone at the base of the vertebral column and at the upper and back part of the pelvic cavity, where it is inserted like a wedge between the two hip bones....
     of a bull's spine
  • the Was sceptre' - symbol of power and dominion - a staff made from a dried bull's penis that was the symbol for the goddess Wosret
    Wosret

    'Wosret', 'Wasret', or 'Wosyet' meaning the powerful was an Egyptian mythology with a cult centre at Thebes, Egypt. She initially was a localised guardian deity, whose cult rose widely to prominence during the stable Twelfth dynasty of Egypt when three pharaohs were named as her sons, for example, Senusret I - the man of Wosret...
     or Wasret.


The was has a forked top 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.
Egypt