Get Even More Visitors To Your Blog, Upgrade To A Business Listing >>

Scepters In Ancient Egypt

The scepter or Staff is one of the most ancient symbols of authority. The words "nobleman" and "official" both included the hieroglyph of a staff, so at an early stage the staff seems to have represented the authority of any person with significant power, not just the pharaoh. One of the oldest staffs discovered in Egypt was recovered from a pre-dynastic grave in El Omari Lower Egypt (a neolithic site now absorbed by the suburbs of Cairo). 

 

We do not know whether the owner of this staff was a local chief, or priest, but it is generally agreed that the staff was an emblem of his authority. The staff soon became associated with pharaonic authority. An early scepter carved from wood to resemble a bundle of reeds was recovered from a First Dynasty mastaba in Saqqara. 

 




Similar fragments were found in royal tombs at Abydos and the pharaoh Den is depicted on an ivory label holding a long staff. A beautiful gold and sard ceremonial scepter was recovered from the tomb of Khasekhemwy. The mks staff was a variant of the standard design of long staff, characterised by a nodule approximately half way down the staff. 

 

It is thought that it was originally a defensive weapon, but soon accrued more ceremonial, priestly connotations. Stone vessels depict Anedjib bearing the mks scepter, and Djoser is depicted with a similar scepter on a panel located underneath the Step Pyramid of Djoser.




This post first appeared on Egy King, please read the originial post: here

Share the post

Scepters In Ancient Egypt

×

Subscribe to Egy King

Get updates delivered right to your inbox!

Thank you for your subscription

×