"An interesting point is that the bull's leg, like the was-sceptre to be discussed below, seems to have played a part in the local cult of Seth. Both in Ombos and in Sepermeru Seth bears the epithet "Powerful of forefoot"." (page 89)


"The spiral shaft of the djam-sceptre might be an imitation of lightning."(page 90)

Furthermore, 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)


Was scepters shown standing on the hieroglyph denoting earth (ta) and holding up the sky (pet hieroglyph),
from _Symbol and Magic in Egyptian Art_, by Richard H. Wilkinson, page 139
The two-dimensional depiction is understood to represent three dimensions, thus two was scepters represent four.

The following is only a fragment, but it's particularily interesting because it so clearly shows Set's eye:


From Petrie Museum, University College, London, UC45117, New Kingdom, (1350BCE-1550BCE),
Blue glazed faience sceptre head in form of Seth animal

I was privileged to see a complete scepter while seeing the treasures of King Tut in 2005 at the Lacma museum:


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 would have had my own photo, if it had been allowed!). So this scan comes from the companion book to the exhibit, _Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharoah_, photos by Kennett Garrett and text by Zahi Hawass. Hawass doesn't accept the many conclusions of other scholars and declares the identification with Set not "identified satisfactorily".. However, the vast majority agree, it is Set.

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

Tutankhamun had another was scepter, this one with much more detail, even though it is considerly smaller than the one above:


Just over 4 inches (10.5cm) at the Cairo museum #61787
Photo from Tutankhamun, text T. G. James, photos A. DeLuca
Large detail underneath

Another Was scepter, this one at the British Museum:

Photo courtesy of Egyptarchive.co.uk, Jon Bodsworth


line drawing overlay to show details...

The Metropolitan museum in New York has one very similar to this:


Top and bottom (center part restored) of a faience votice was-scepter, excavated at Faras in Nubia, Late period, MMA 41.2.9


(Full size underneath)-(photo credit Joan Lansberry (this one 2008, above one 2009)

The Brooklyn Museum also has a was scepter:


Was-Scepter, Wadj-Scepter, Faience
Late Period - Macedonian Period, circa 664-305 B.C)
Broolyn Museum 37 1650E, 37 886E, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund


This intriguing was and ankh seen at touregypt.net, no attribution given.
However, while perusing Tutankhamun, text T. G. James, photos A. DeLuca, I found the source:

Gilded wood statue of Ptah, with bronze was scepter, inlaid with gold.
The base titles him, Ptah, Lord of Ma'at, and also names Tutankhamun
That base is also shaped like the hieroglyph for Ma'at (truth, balance, connective justice.)
Carter 291 A, J.d'E 60739 (Cairo Museum), Height 60.2 cm (almost 24 inches)

There are also tiny amulets of the was scepter:


Found on a shelf with lots of tiny amulets at the Met museum, details unknown


These amulets at the Met museum were not even an inch long!
I didn't capture info, but I think I found them in the 18th dynasty study room

De Lubicz via Paul LaViolette speaks of the was as "a living branch that conducts nourishing, vivifying sap, fluid that ascends..." and even found some was scepters "made from the living branch of a tree that had been cut so as to include a section of the lower source brance as well as two offshoots coming from its upper end (figure 2.5)". (Genesis of the Cosmos, page 30)

I'm not sure how they were formed, but the Metropolitan museum has wooden was scepter fragments:



(Fischer's photo shows a fragment with the forked end)
From a late Middle Kingdom burial, Met museum
"subsequently identified as coming from Pit 211 of the 'priests' cemetary' at Deir el Bahri,
belonging to a certain Snwsrt-'nh, no earlier than the end of the Twelfth Dynasty"
from _Notes on Sticks and Staves in Ancient Egypt_, Henry G. Fischer, Metropolitan Museum Journal, 1979
(color photo ©JAL 2008)

And here's another Was found at the Met draped with a Uraeus snake which is wearing a Shen symbol for eternity:


From a relief of Amenemhat I and Senwosret I
Dynasty 12, c. 1991-1962 B.C.
From Lisht, North Pyramid, MMA, Rogers Fund 1908
Limestone

Perhaps the combination of the two entities is showing them acting together. Here's a particularily unusual Was, given the ability to walk and grasp:


Personified was sign, temple of Seti I at Abydos. Nineteeth Dynasty,
_Reading Egyptian Art_, Richard Wilkinson

This isn't the only instance of a Was scepter with the ability to grasp. A Ramesside era stele featuring Amun-Re in the British Museum also has such a Was:


2.812
- Hieroglyphic Texts from Egyptian Stelae-, Part 12
edited by M.L. Bierbrier, British Museum Press
"There are two registers on this round-topped stela decorated with scenes in sunk relief and incised texts. In the upper register the ram-headed Amen-Re' is enthroned on the right on one side of an altar heaped with offerings. The goddess Werethekau in the form of a serpent is entwined around a lotus flower on the left side of the altar. Behind her a small was-sceptre carries a large floral bouquet in its arms."


Hans Kontkanen, who visited Luxor in December 2010, shows an armed Was and Ankh, in context they are holding standards high. I must study what the kidney bean shape symbolizes.


Hans Kontkanen has a photo of even more unusually active Was and Ankh, the Ankh holding a fan and the Was an archery bow.

Usually only the gods and occasionally royalty held the was scepter, along with the priesthood, but there are a few rare scenes of commoners with the scepter:



"Two Eleventh Dynasty inscriptions, from Dendera and Thebes, show a hieroglyph in which the w3s-staff is held by a standing figure that is neither royal nor divine (Figure 35). In the first case (a) it serves as the determinative of hl3w 'chiefs' in the statement of an official: '[I acted as] stew[ard] for six chiefs.' In the second (b) it is an ideograph, evidently replacing _ _ _ in the word mniw 'herdsman,' and the context is: 'the herdsmans was beside his----(word lost)... the herdsman was beside his swine.' A third Eleventh Dynasty inscription from Thebes shows the w3s-staff in the hands of a mummiform determinative of twt 'statue,' where it is emblematic of the Osiride hereafter (Figure 35C)."
from _Notes on Sticks and Staves in Ancient Egypt_, Henry G. Fischer, Metropolitan Museum Journal, 1979

There's even an example of a craftsman sculpting a was scepter:


Sixth Dynasty Craftsmen
The was scepter is "among the equipment that is being manufactured for two of the Sixth Dynasty nomarchs at Deir el Gebrawi."

Fischer adds that "the w3s-column may have likewise have belonged to the equipment of the local temple"

While tracking down the source of an image TeVelde used, I found info on the huge was scepter found at the ancient Temple of Set in Naqada:


Printable pdf version is available
"Within the temple, in the most N.W. chamber, were a large quantity of fragments of blue glaze. After getting these to England, we at last found them to be parts of a gigantic uas sceptre, about 7 feet high (LXXVIII). This could be mainly restored, and has been erected at South Kensington Museum. It gives a fresh Ka name, vulture and uraeus name, and golden hawk name, though too much broken to be all restored with certainty. It was made by baking the sandy core in 8 or 10 separate pieces, each made on a centering of straw twist. These were engraved with all the devices, placed in one column, with the head-piece separate, covered with glaze and fired in a kiln, which was capable of baking a length of five feet upright, without letting the glaze become burnt or unequally heated. It is the greatest triumph of glazing known in ancient work." _Naqada and Bellas_, Petrie, page 68

Thanks to Jon Bodsworth via 'cyberlynx' _wAs Sceptre Theories_, and Mogg Morgan of Ombos - House of Life we do have some idea of its appearance:

  


Other views of this available
Close view of the cartouche also available

Not only that, we do have a photo of another Was scepter which came from the Naqada area, and most likely from the Temple of Set there:


Manchester Museum, #1033
Faience with black decoration, 25.3cm high
Dynasty 18, cartouche of Thutmose III
Donation by Mr Jesse Haworth, 1895-1896

"On the neck of the sceptre, before it breaks off, is the cartouche of king Thutmose III." (info from Manchester Museum website

While exploring the Global Egyptian Museum, I found two statues from the Hermitage Museum, one faience of Ptah holding a very clearly ribbed Was and the other in Bronze of Ptah with a ribbed Was:


State Hermitage Museum,Inventory # - 10/002/13390
Provenance unknown,
(Recorded in the Golenischeff catalogue of 1891)
Late period, 26th Dynasty, Faience, Height (12.8 cm)

State Hermitage Museum,Inventory # - 10/002/13428
Provenance unknown,
(Recorded in the Golenischeff catalogue of 1891)
Late period, Bronze, Height (27.8cm)

Could the Was scepter also have associations with the spine, this region being given as Set's in the Book of the Dead? The ribs could be suggesting the divisions of the spine:


From Wikipedia

"There is also evidence identifying Seth with the pillar that supported the sky. In the Ramesseum Dramatic Papyrus, Seth is identified as a sacred pillar beneath Osiris, while according to G.A. Wainwright the djed-pillar at Busiris (Djedu) belonged originally to Seth prior to its reassignment to Osiris." (Alan F. Alford, _The Midnight Sun_, page 294)