Small Was Scepter

Small Was Scepter
July 9, 2005, updated July 28, 2006

While seeing the treasures of King Tut, I especially enjoyed seeing this Was Scepter:

faience Ankh, wooden Djed, and faience Was scepter

It is about 16 inches high (40cm), made of faience and comes from the 18th dynasty, reign of Amenhotep II. It was found in Thebes, in the Valley of the Kings, in Amenhotep II's tomb, as did the Ankh and wooden Djed pillar also seen in the above photo.

(Pardon the book scan. I woulda had my own photo, if it had been allowed!). I felt really cool energy coming off this item. (Okay, it's probably because I know its symbology that I felt the energy;) This symbol of power and prosperity which pharoahs and gods carry has a connection with Set.

Okay, Zahi Hawass, the author of the companion book to the exhibit, doesn't acknowledge this. He says it "has never been identified satisfactorily". That could be because he doesn't like the conclusions of other scholars. TeVelde says, "Gardiner holds that the head of these sceptres is probably the head of the Seth-animal. Wainwright drew attention to the special relation between these divine scepters and the god Seth. The nome sign of Oxyrhynchus, that was one of the nomes of Seth, consists of two was-sceptres, and an enormous was-sceptre was found in the temple of Seth at Ombos. Besides their function as sceptre in the hand of gods, was-sceptres serve to hold up the sky. As supporter of the sky Seth is appealed to in a prayer by Rameses II." (page 90)

Also, look at the close up of its head. It has Set's eyes and snout, and the top part is his ears seen in direct profile, so that two become appearing as one:

This is Set's head

In my web-wanderings, I have found further proof. When I was perusing the online collection at London's Petrie Museum, I happened to find a couple of was scepter fragments, one even with Set's eye clearly delineated:

This is from Set's head - (permission to use image given for educational purposes)

(note of July 28, 2006)
I was wandering the pages of Galen Frysinger, a very well travelled man who's taken lots of pictures. Naturally, I went to his section on Egypt, in particular his Kom Ombo collection. Kom Ombo was one of Set's regions. I noted a very unique Was scepter, but the totality of the original has been obscured by a plaque concerning the temple's renovations:

(This is a crop of a larger photo by Frysinger who gives nonprofit use permission.)

Perhaps the unique ear detailing will give us a clue of the identity of the Set animal.

(Note of November 25, 2006):
I found a better image of this Was. It is an ANKH bearing arms grasping the Was scepters. The photographer has a whole page of images from Kom Ombo.

This piece was inspired by the Ankh bearing arms grasping Was scepters
(Click for larger)