Does anyone know anything about protecting wood furniture?

We bought a solid wood (ash) table for our kitchen. The wood is getting scratched up much faster than I thought it would. I assembled a light fixture on it and put a few small dents in it, that was my own stupidity, but now I'm seeing some small scratches that look like they might be from the cat jumping up on it.

Is there a way to protect the wood so that it won't scratch so easily? Will a coat of wax do the trick?