Head of a was scepter

The head of the was scepter, which is more accurately described as a staff, features an animal head with a human eye accented by a cosmetic line. When intact, the bottom of the staff is forked. Various interpretations of the was scepter exist regarding its origins, history, and relationship to the god Seth. The staff first appeared in Predynastic rock art, with early examples found in Lower Nubia. Some scholars have proposed that it represents a dried bull’s penis, while former Met curator Henry Fischer suggested that it originated instead within the pastoral sphere. Others have linked the staff to the Seth animal, pointing to its symbolic use in the nome sign of Oxyrhynchus (a site in ancient Egypt where Seth was celebrated) and to the discovery of a gigantic was scepter in the god’s temple at Ombos. Still others have proposed, conversely, that the god’s iconography derived from the staff itself. While Seth is strongly associated with the was scepter, the hieroglyph for the staff came to signify "dominion," and it is shown being carried by other deities. The was scepter also appeared early on (by the Early Dynastic Period) in imagery as a support for the sky.