What scepter

The what-scepter is an ancient Egyptian symbol in the form of a staff . It shows a stylized animal head at the upper end , is forked at the lower end and has either a straight or a wavy shaft .

In representations, the scepter appears primarily as a symbol of power or good luck for various gods and the king. As a rule, it is presented to the king by the gods; in Ptolemaic - Roman temple scenes, an inverted offering is also shown. It also appears as a common symbol behind the king's name.

The what scepter is the Gauzeichen of the 4th and 19th Upper Egyptian Gaues. It serves as a name for the deities Waset , Wasetiu, Igai and Iat and, as a cult symbol, has its own deification and personification.

The symbol appears for the first time on monuments from early Egyptian history as a god scepter or heavenly support. There are different theories for the origin and original meaning. On the one hand, it is said to have been derived from a stick used to drive donkeys , on the other hand it is said to represent the stylization of a giraffe or a snake-necked panther or to have been a device for catching snakes . It could also be a shepherd's staff , as shepherds with Was-shaped sticks are shown in some Ramessid tombs.

The scepter has been preserved as a real object in the form of temple offerings, grave goods and amulets .

literature

William J. Cherf: The Function of the Egyptian Forked Staff and the Forked Bronze Butt. A proposal. In: Journal for Egyptian Language and Antiquity. 109, 1982, ISSN 0044-216X , pp. 86-97.
Karl Martin: What scepter. In: Wolfgang Helck (Hrsg.): Lexikon der Ägyptologie (LÄ). Volume VI, Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 1986, ISBN 3-447-02663-4 , Sp. 1152-1154.
Andrew H. Gordon, Calvin W. Schwabe: The Egyptian Was-Scepter and its Modern Analogues: Uses as Symbols of Divine Power or Authority. In: Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt. 32, 1995, ISSN 0065-9991 , pp. 185-196.
Richard Lobban: A Solution to the Mystery of Was Scepter of Ancient Egypt and Nubia. In: A Modern Journal of Ancient Egypt. (KMT) 10/3, 1999, ISSN 1053-0827 , pp. 68-77.

Web links

Commons : What-Scepter - collection of images, videos and audio files

Remarks

↑ Next to the characters

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↑ ^a ^b ^c Karl Martin: Was-Zepter. In: Wolfgang Helck (Hrsg.): Lexikon der Ägyptologie (LÄ). Volume VI, Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 1986, ISBN 3-447-02663-4 , Sp. 1152-1154.
↑ Norman de Garis Davies : Two Ramesside Tombs. New York 1927, plates 30, 31 A, 34.

[1] Next to the characters

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[LÄ-2] Karl Martin: Was-Zepter. In: Wolfgang Helck (Hrsg.): Lexikon der Ägyptologie (LÄ). Volume VI, Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 1986, ISBN 3-447-02663-4 , Sp. 1152-1154.

[3] Norman de Garis Davies : Two Ramesside Tombs. New York 1927, plates 30, 31 A, 34.