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The Narmer Palette, also known as the Great Hierakonpolis Palette or the Palette of Narmer, is a significant Egyptian archeological find, dating from about the 31st century BC, containing some of the earliest hieroglyph inscriptions ever found. It is thought by some to depict the unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the king Narmer. On one side the king is depicted with the White crown of Upper (southern) Egypt and the other side depicts the king wearing the Red Crown of Lower (northern) Egypt. Egyptologist Bob Brier has referred to the Narmer Palette as "the first historical document in the world".^[1]

The palette, which has survived five millennia in almost perfect preservation, was discovered by British archeologists James E. Quibell and Frederick W. Green in what they called the main deposit in the temple of Horus at Hierakonpolis during the dig season of 1897/1898^[2]. Also found at this dig were the Narmer Macehead and the Scorpion Macehead. Unfortunately the exact place and circumstances of these finds were not recorded very clearly by Quibell and Green. In fact, Green's report placed the palette in a different layer one or two yards away from the deposit, which is considered to be more accurate on the basis of the original excavation notes.^[3] It has been suggested that these objects were royal donations made to the temple.^[4] Hierakonpolis was the ancient capital of Upper Egypt during the pre-dynastic Naqada III phase of Egyptian history.

Palettes were typically used for grinding cosmetics, but this palette was too large and heavy to have been for personal use, and was likely a temple object. One theory put forward was that it was used to grind cosmetics to adorn the statues of the gods.

The Narmer Palette is part of the permanent collection of the Egyptian Museum in Cairo.^[5]

Description

It is a large (63 cm), shield-shaped, ceremonial palette, carved from a single piece of flat, soft green siltstone. The stone has often been wrongly identified in the past as being slate or schist. Slate is layered and prone to flaking, and schist is a metamorphic rock containing large, randomly-distributed mineral grains. Both are unlike the finely-grained, hard, flake-resistant siltstone, whose source is from a well-attested quarry that has been used since pre-dynastic times at Wadi Hammamat.^[6] This material was used extensively during the pre-dynastic period for creating such palettes, and also was used as a source for Old Kingdom statuary. A statue of the 2nd dynasty pharaoh Khasekhemwy, found in the same complex as the Narmer Palette at Hierakonopolis, also was made of this material.^[7]

Both sides of the palette are inscribed, carved in raised relief. At the top of both sides of the palette are the central serekhs bearing the hieroglph symbols n'r (catfish) and mr (chisel) inside, being the phonetic representation of Narmer's name.

Obverse side

Below the bovine heads thought to represent the cow goddess Bat, who was a patron deity, flanking the serekh of Narmer. Below that is what appears to be a procession, with Narmer shown wearing the Red Crown of Lower Egypt whose symbol was the papyrus. He holds a mace and a flail, two traditional symbols of kingship. To his right are the hieroglyphic symbols for his name, though not contained within a serekh. Behind him is his treasurer bearin the symbol of his rank around his neck and carrying sandal and pot, whose name may be represented by the rosette and urn next to his head. Immediately in front of the king is a long-haired person, a pair of hieroglyphs appearing in front of him, which has been interpreted as being a name "tt" Assuming that these symbols had the same phonetic value used in later hieroglyphic writing Tshet. In front of this person are four standard bearers, holding aloft an animal skin, a dog, and two falcons. At the far-right of this scene are ten decapitated corpses. Above them are hieroglyps for a ship, a falcon, and a harpoon, indicating a name.

Contemporary 3000 BCE cylinder seal of Uruk displaying similar serpopard motif, Louvre.

Below the procession, two men are holding ropes tied to the outstretched, intertwining necks of two serpopards confronting each other, mythical felines with bodies of leopards — or more likely lionesses, given that there are no spots indicated — and snakelike necks. The circle formed by their exaggeratedly curving necks is the central part of the palette, which is where the cosmetics would be ground. These animals have been considered an additional symbol for the unification of Egypt, but it is a unique image in Egyptian art and there is nothing to suggest that either animal represents an identifiable part of Egypt, although each had lioness war goddesses as protectors and it may indicate the unification with the intertwining. Similar images of such mythical animals are known from other contemporaneous cultures.

At the bottom of the palette a bovine image is seen knocking down the walls of a city while trampling on a fallen foe. Because of the lowered head in the image, this is interpreted as a presentation of the king vanquishing his foes, "Bull of his Mother" being a common epithet given to Egyptian kings as the son of the patron cow goddess. ^[8] This posture of a bovine has the meaning of "force" in later hieroglyphics.

Reverse side

Repeating the format from the other side, two human-faced bovine heads, thought to represent the patron cow goddess Bat, flank the serekhs, uncharacteristically shown in full frontal view. This frontal display of the cows is atypical in ancient Egyptian art except for representations of this goddess and Hathor (who often appears in this view also). Some authors suggest that the images represent the vigor of the king as pair of bulls.

A large picture in the center of the palette depicts Narmer wearing the White Crown of Upper Egypt whose symbol was the flowering lotus, and wielding a mace. To his left is the kings son and treasurer bearing the king's sandals, and a rosette indicating royalty as badges of rank. To the right of the king is the kneeling god Akre the god of the earth and the personification of the field. Acre is labeled setat or irrigated field. This is done with a pair of symbols. The upper symbol is the instrument used to open the nostrils and release the Ka by the Ka priest. The lower is the hieroglyph for irrigated field. Akre is controlled by the king with what is known as the "Narmer" pose.^[9] The king uses the instrument to open the dikes innundating the fields or setats of Acre. What the palette illustrates is that in a desert he who controls the water controls the land.

The symbols that appear next to a head are almost always names. Above the prisoner is the falcon, Horus, perched above a set of papyrus flowers, the symbol of Lower Egypt. In his talons he holds a rope-like object which appears to be attached to the nose of Akres head that also emerges from the papyrus flowers, perhaps indicating that he is drawing life from the earth god. The papyrus has often been interpreted as referring to the marshes of the Nile Delta region in Lower Egypt. Some have failed to read the inscription before speculating that the king is killing an enemy rather than controlling a subject. The conjecture then continues that there was a battle, that the battle happened in a marshy area, and that each papyrus flower represents the number 1,000, indicating that 6,000 enemies were subdued in the battle. There is little evidence to support this sort of interpretation.

Below the king's feet in a third register, are depicting two bearded ancestors. Rather than being enemies, (as has been speculated by some) either running, or to be seen as sprawling dead upon the ground, they are the foundation on which the kings authority is based. Appearing to the left of the head of each man is a hieroglyph. The first a walled town, the second a knot. Again they are named, one as the founder of the city and the other as its protecter. ^[10]

Scholarly debate on the palette

It had been thought that the palette either depicted the unification of Lower Egypt by the king of Upper Egypt, or recorded a recent military success over the Libyans. More recently scholars such as Nicholas Millet have argued that the palette does not represent a historical event (such as the unification of Egypt), but instead represents the events of the year in which the object was dedicated to the temple. Whitney Davis has suggested that the iconography on this and other pre-dynastic palettes has more to do with establishing the king as a visual metaphor of the conquering hunter, caught in the moment of delivering a mortal blow to his enemies.^[11]

Palette location-Egyptian Museum, Cairo

The Narmer Palette resides in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, and is one of the initial exhibits that visitors see when entering the museum.^[5] It has the Journal d'Entree number JE32169 and the Catalogue Génèral number CG14716.

References

Brier, Bob., The First Nation in History. History of Ancient Egypt (Audio). The Teaching Company. 2001.
Kinnaer, Jacques. What is Really Known About the Narmer Palette?, KMT: A Modern Journal of Ancient Egypt, Spring 2004.

^ Brier, Bob. Daily Life of the Ancient Egyptians, A. Hoyt Hobbs 1999, p.202
^ www.ancient-egypt.org/kings/0101_narmer/palette.html The Ancient Egypt Site - The Narmer Palette, accessed September 19, 2007
^ Shaw, Ian. Exploring Ancient Egypt. p.33 Oxford University Press, 2003.
^ Bard, Kathryn A. The Emergence of the Egyptian State, in The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt. Ed. Ian Shaw, p.61. Oxford University Press, 2000
^ ^a ^b Shaw, Ian. Ancient Egypt: A Very Short Introduction. p.4. Oxford Press, 2004.
^ Shaw, Ian. Ancient Egypt: A Very Short Introduction. pp44-45. Oxford University Press, 2004.
^ Shaw, Ian. Ancient Egypt: A Very Short Introduction. p44. Oxford University Press, 2004.
^ Breasted, , James Henry. Ancient Records of Egypt, Chicago 1906, part Two, §§ 143, 659, 853; part Three §§ 117, 144, 147, 285 etc
^ The Narmer pose is a hieroglyph meaning under the domion or control of the king. it involves a threatening forward leaning posture with an upraised mace and a kneeling captive held by the hair. The pose is common in rock art of the eastern desert, across the red Sea in northern Saudi Arabia, in the portrayals of Naram Sin and of the storm god Baal.
^ to read the glyphs for yourself refer to Gardiner "Egyptian Grammar", or Faulkner "Middle Egyptian"
^ Shaw, Ian. & Nicholson, Paul. The Dictionary of Ancient Egypt, pp196-197. The British Museum Press, 1995.

External links

Narmer Palette - Archaeowiki.org
High resolution photograph of the Narmer Palette
Good images of Narmer Palette scroll down to the drawing of the palette and take the link to the photographs published by Francesco Rafaele
The Narmer Palette: The victorious king of the south
Narmer Palette (weber.ucsd.edu)
Narmer Palette (ancient-egypt.org)
Corpus of Eygptian Late Predynastic Palettes Images of more than fifty such palettes with various motifs

[1] Brier, Bob. Daily Life of the Ancient Egyptians, A. Hoyt Hobbs 1999, p.202

[2] www.ancient-egypt.org/kings/0101_narmer/palette.html The Ancient Egypt Site - The Narmer Palette, accessed September 19, 2007

[3] Shaw, Ian. Exploring Ancient Egypt. p.33 Oxford University Press, 2003.

[4] Bard, Kathryn A. The Emergence of the Egyptian State, in The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt. Ed. Ian Shaw, p.61. Oxford University Press, 2000

[Shaw,_Ian_2004-5] Shaw, Ian. Ancient Egypt: A Very Short Introduction. p.4. Oxford Press, 2004.

[6] Shaw, Ian. Ancient Egypt: A Very Short Introduction. pp44-45. Oxford University Press, 2004.

[7] Shaw, Ian. Ancient Egypt: A Very Short Introduction. p44. Oxford University Press, 2004.

[8] Breasted, , James Henry. Ancient Records of Egypt, Chicago 1906, part Two, §§ 143, 659, 853; part Three §§ 117, 144, 147, 285 etc

[9] The Narmer pose is a hieroglyph meaning under the domion or control of the king. it involves a threatening forward leaning posture with an upraised mace and a kneeling captive held by the hair. The pose is common in rock art of the eastern desert, across the red Sea in northern Saudi Arabia, in the portrayals of Naram Sin and of the storm god Baal.

[10] to read the glyphs for yourself refer to Gardiner "Egyptian Grammar", or Faulkner "Middle Egyptian"

[11] Shaw, Ian. & Nicholson, Paul. The Dictionary of Ancient Egypt, pp196-197. The British Museum Press, 1995.

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@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 [[Image:NarmerPalette ROM-gamma.jpg|350px|thumb|[[Obverse|Reverse]] and [[Obverse]] Sides of Narmer Palette, this facsimile on display at the [[Royal Ontario Museum]],  in [[Toronto]], [[Canada]]]]
-The '''Narmer Palette''', also known as the '''Great Hierakonpolis Palette''' or the '''Palette of Narmer''', is a significant [[Egypt]]ian archeological find, dating from about the 31st century BC, containing some of the earliest [[Egyptian hieroglyphs|hieroglyph]]ic inscriptions ever found.  It is thought by some to depict the unification of [[Upper Egypt|Upper]] and [[Lower Egypt]] under the king [[Narmer]]. On one side the king is depicted with the White crown of Upper (southern) Egypt and the other side depicts the king wearing the Red Crown of Lower (northern) Egypt. Egyptologist [[Bob Brier]] has referred to the Narmer Palette as "the first historical document in the world".<ref>Brier, Bob. ''Daily Life of the Ancient Egyptians'',
+The '''Narmer Palette''', also known as the '''Great Hierakonpolis Palette''' or the '''Palette of Narmer''', is a significant [[Egypt]]ian archeological find, dating from about the 31st century BC, containing some of the earliest [[Egyptian hieroglyphs|hieroglyph]] inscriptions ever found.  It is thought by some to depict the unification of [[Upper Egypt|Upper]] and [[Lower Egypt]] under the king [[Narmer]]. On one side the king is depicted with the White crown of Upper (southern) Egypt and the other side depicts the king wearing the Red Crown of Lower (northern) Egypt. Egyptologist [[Bob Brier]] has referred to the Narmer Palette as "the first historical document in the world".<ref>Brier, Bob. ''Daily Life of the Ancient Egyptians'',
  A. Hoyt Hobbs 1999, p.202</ref>
@@ Line 13: / Line 13: @@
 It is a large (63 cm), shield-shaped, ceremonial palette, carved from a single piece of flat, soft green [[siltstone]]. The stone has often been wrongly identified in the past as being [[slate]] or [[schist]]. Slate is layered and prone to flaking, and schist is a metamorphic rock containing large, randomly-distributed mineral grains. Both are unlike the finely-grained, hard, flake-resistant siltstone, whose source is from a well-attested quarry that has been used since pre-dynastic times at [[Wadi Hammamat]].<ref>Shaw, Ian. ''Ancient Egypt: A Very Short Introduction''. pp44-45. Oxford University Press, 2004.</ref> This material was used extensively during the [[predynastic Egypt|pre-dynastic period]] for creating such palettes, and also was used as a source for [[Old Kingdom]] statuary. A statue of the 2nd dynasty pharaoh [[Khasekhemwy]], found in the same complex as the Narmer Palette at Hierakonopolis, also was made of this material.<ref>Shaw, Ian. ''Ancient Egypt: A Very Short Introduction''. p44. Oxford University Press, 2004.</ref>
-Both sides of the palette are decorated, carved in raised relief. At the top of both sides of the palette are the central [[serekh]]s bearing the [[rebus]] symbols ''n'r'' (catfish) and ''mr'' (chisel) inside, being the phonetic representation of Narmer's name.
+Both sides of the palette are inscribed, carved in raised relief. At the top of both sides of the palette are the central [[serekh]]s bearing the [[hieroglph]] symbols ''n'r'' (catfish) and ''mr'' (chisel) inside, being the phonetic representation of Narmer's name.
 ===Obverse side===
 [[Image:NarmerPalette-ROM-front.jpg|thumb|250px|Obverse of a Narmer Palette facsimile]]
-Below the bovine heads thought to represent the cow goddess [[Bat (goddess)|Bat]], who was a patron deity, flanking the serekh of Narmer. Below that is what appears to be a procession, with Narmer shown wearing the [[Deshret|Red Crown]] of Lower Egypt whose symbol was the papyrus. He holds a mace and a flail, two traditional symbols of kingship. To his right are the hieroglyphic symbols for his name, though not contained within a ''[[serekh]]''. Behind him is his sandal bearer, whose name may be represented by the rosette appearing adjacent to his head, and a second rectangular symbol that has no clear interpretation, though it could also represent the name of a town.  Immediately in front of the king is a long-haired man, a pair of hieroglyphs appearing in front of him, which has been interpreted as being his name: ''Tshet''. This is assuming that these symbols had the same phonetic value used in later hieroglyphic writing. In front of this man are four standard bearers, holding aloft an animal skin, a dog, and two falcons. At the far-right of this scene are ten decapitated corpses, likely the victims of Narmer's conquest. Above them are the symbols for a ship, a falcon, and a harpoon, again perhaps indicating the name of the town that was conquered.
+Below the bovine heads thought to represent the cow goddess [[Bat (goddess)|Bat]], who was a patron deity, flanking the serekh of Narmer. Below that is what appears to be a procession, with Narmer shown wearing the [[Deshret|Red Crown]] of Lower Egypt whose symbol was the papyrus. He holds a mace and a flail, two traditional symbols of kingship. To his right are the hieroglyphic symbols for his name, though not contained within a ''[[serekh]]''. Behind him is his treasurer bearin the symbol of his rank around his neck and carrying sandal and pot, whose name may be represented by the rosette and urn next to his head.  Immediately in front of the king is a long-haired person, a pair of hieroglyphs appearing in front of him, which has been interpreted as being a name "tt"  Assuming that these symbols had the same phonetic value used in later hieroglyphic writing ''Tshet''. In front of this person are four standard bearers, holding aloft an animal skin, a dog, and two falcons. At the far-right of this scene are ten decapitated corpses. Above them are hieroglyps for a ship, a falcon, and a harpoon, indicating a name.
 [[Image:Uruk3000BCE.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Contemporary 3000 BCE [[cylinder seal]] of [[Uruk]] displaying similar serpopard motif, [[Louvre]].]]
@@ Line 29: / Line 29: @@
 Repeating the format from the other side, two human-faced bovine heads, thought to represent the patron cow goddess [[Bat (goddess)|Bat]], flank the serekhs, uncharacteristically shown in full frontal view. This frontal display of the cows is atypical in ancient Egyptian art except for representations of this goddess and Hathor (who often appears [[Hathor#Associations, images, and symbols|in this view]] also). Some authors suggest that the images represent the vigor of the king as pair of bulls.
-A large picture in the center of the palette depicts Narmer wearing the White Crown of Upper Egypt whose symbol was the flowering lotus, and wielding a mace. To his left is a man bearing the king's sandals, again flanked by a rosette symbol. To the right of the king is a kneeling prisoner, who is about to be struck by the king. A pair of symbols appear next to his head, perhaps indicating his name, or indicating the region where he was from. Above the prisoner is a falcon, representing [[Horus]], perched above a set of papyrus flowers, the symbol of Lower Egypt. In his talons he holds a rope-like object which appears to be attached to the nose of a man's head that also emerges from the papyrus flowers, perhaps indicating that he is drawing life from the head. The papyrus has often been interpreted as referring to the marshes of the Nile Delta region in Lower Egypt, or that the battle happened in a marshy area, or even that each papyrus flower represents the number 1,000, indicating that 6,000 enemies were subdued in the battle.
+A large picture in the center of the palette depicts Narmer wearing the White Crown of Upper Egypt whose symbol was the flowering lotus, and wielding a mace. To his left is the kings son and treasurer bearing the king's sandals, and a rosette indicating royalty as badges of rank. To the right of the king is the kneeling god Akre the god of the earth and the personification of the field. Acre is labeled setat or irrigated field. This is done with a pair of symbols. The upper symbol is the instrument used to open the nostrils and release the Ka by the Ka priest. The lower is the hieroglyph for irrigated field. Akre is controlled by the king with what is known as the "Narmer" pose.<ref> The Narmer pose is a hieroglyph meaning under the domion or control of the king. it involves a threatening forward leaning posture with an upraised mace and a kneeling captive held by the hair. The pose is common in rock art of the eastern desert, across the red Sea in northern Saudi Arabia, in the portrayals of Naram Sin and of the storm god Baal. </ref> The king uses the instrument to open the dikes innundating the fields or setats of Acre. What the palette illustrates is that in a desert he who controls the water controls the land.
+The symbols that appear next to a head are almost always names. Above the prisoner is the falcon, [[Horus]], perched above a set of papyrus flowers, the symbol of Lower Egypt. In his talons he holds a rope-like object which appears to be attached to the nose of Akres head that also emerges from the papyrus flowers, perhaps indicating that he is drawing life from the earth god. The papyrus has often been interpreted as referring to the marshes of the Nile Delta region in Lower Egypt. Some have failed to read the inscription before speculating that the king is killing an enemy rather than controlling a subject. The conjecture then continues that there was a battle, that the battle happened in a marshy area, and that each papyrus flower represents the number 1,000, indicating that 6,000 enemies were subdued in the battle. There is little evidence to support this sort of interpretation.
-Below the king's feet is a third section, depicting two naked, bearded men. They are either running, or are meant to be seen as sprawling dead upon the ground. Appearing to the left of the head of each man is a hieroglyphic sign, the first a walled town, the second a type of knot, likely indicating the name of a defeated town.
+Below the king's feet in a third register, are depicting two bearded ancestors. Rather than being enemies, (as has been speculated by some) either running, or to be seen as sprawling dead upon the ground, they are the foundation on which the kings authority is based. Appearing to the left of the head of each man is a hieroglyph. The first a walled town, the second a knot. Again they are named, one as the founder of the city and the other as its protecter. <ref> to read the glyphs for yourself refer to Gardiner "Egyptian Grammar", or Faulkner "Middle Egyptian"</ref>
 ==Scholarly debate on the palette==