13. Palette of King Narmer

 

Front and back of palette (Khan Academy)

Explanation of the front side's symbols (Khan Academy)

 Explanation of the back side's symbols (Khan Academy)

Palette of King Narmer 
Pre-dynastic Egypt. c. 3000-2920 B.C.E Greywacke

Egyptian archeological find, dating from about the 31st century B.C, containing some of the earliest hieroglyphic inscription ever found.

Form:

-Palette of King Narmer. Predynastic Egypt. c. 3000–2920 B.C.E. Greywacke 

-carved from slate (grayish/green siltstone), in bas-relief, 2.1 feet high (very large for a palette)

-typically palettes were smaller, very flat and didn't feature intricate designs, but the pallet of Narmer is unique 

-carved in stone, lasting, demonstrates strength of culture 

-found in the temple of horas (showed in his representative falcon)

Function:

-used as a well for grinding and mixing makeup, like dark eyeliner applied under eyes to protect from the sun's harsh glare (dessert region)

-found buried under the floor of a temple in Hierakonpolis

-leaders, upper class people, or anyone who had the money would give objects such as this to temples to demonstrate their piety and form a connection with the God 

-this palette was a ceremonial object, dedicated to a god, used for rituals, and could have been used to apply make up to the actual artistic depictions of the god in the temple

-would have been ritually buried after new donations were received 

-makeup could have been mixed in the well formed by the the two intertwining heads of the mythical seopards

Content:

-uniquely displays human action, opposed to animals or just mythical imagery

-contains iconography that is consistent with other Egyptian art thousands of years later, consistency representative of Egypts stability 

-contains several scenes, symbols and creatures of cultural significance all explained in full in the above images

-features the power of the king through use of hierarchical scale, registers, (uniquely) showingkilts, royal beard, and bull tail, him in the crown of both upper and lower egypt, kilts, the royal beard, and a bull tail

Context:

-palettes were very widely distributed, as makeup in Egypt was accessible for men and women of all social classes

-the unification of upper and lower Egypt under a single ruler was a very significant event in Egyptian history at this point in time, the duality of the piece with the king's two crowns and the two different faces of the palette represents their unity, while depicting their differences

-on both sides the lowest register features the dead bodies of defeated enemies, again demonstrating Egyptian strength, this time in a military sense

-could also be depicting chaos and order, an essential belief in the Egyptian understanding of the cosmos 

-some of the imagery could represent the journey of the sun god

Cross-Cultural Comparison: Symbolism 

Delacriox, Liberty Leading the People 

Cotsiogo, Hide Painting of a Sun Dance 

Ruler's Feathered Headdress