The date palm… became associated with all things sweet and pleasant…
The images of fallen warriors being scavenged by wild animals and carrion crows give a ceremonial palette in the British Museum (EA20971) its nickname: the ‘Battlefield Palette’. This relief is in stark contrast to the idyllic scene on the palette’s reverse, which depicts two giraffes browsing the lower fronds of a palm tree. The comparison of the chaotic aftermath of warfare with the harmony of nature is repeated on the ‘Four Dog Palette’ (E11052) in the Musée du Louvre.
However, these artefacts also bear two of the earliest Egyptian images of the date palm, Phoenix dactylifera, which became associated with all things sweet and pleasant. The name of Bener-ib – a royal lady from the reign of Aha (c.3100 BC) – as inscribed on an ivory plaque found in the Abydos cemetery, is written with the date palm hieroglyph, and may be translated as ‘Sweet of Heart’ or simply ‘Sweetheart’.
