Stick and its symbolic position in ancient beliefs and cultures

Signs and symbols have had special concepts and meanings in the mythological and narrative history of each nation, and stories, beliefs and thoughts have been allocated to each one of them. Among all, an instrument like stick or baton, has had different functions and meanings in ancient times. In this regard, the present study tries to find out what functions stick had in different ancient beliefs and civilizations and what kind of symbol it had been considered to be. Also, it tries to understand what concepts this instrument conveyed in its tangible and abstract form in the hands of kings and religious leaders separately and how it had been depicted and introduced in religious beliefs, drawings and paintings. Hence, through studying and investigating historical texts and ancient paintings and referring to religious and mythological narratives and by using a descriptive-analytical method, it was found that in the material world, the stick in the hands of people had been the sign of glory and worldly or religious power, and in the hands of gods it had been the sign of divine power and by using this instrument, gods and their representatives on earth realized their desires. On the other hand, the stick in the hands of officials had been considered as the sign of their leadership and authority, and also in some other cases, it had been considered as the sign of wisdom and experience and old age, which gave a special glory and value to old people and masters and was considered as a symbol representing them.