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Palettes were used in Egypt for 3,000 years. Usually made of slate, they provided a smooth surface on which cosmetics could be ground: a green eyeshadow can be made by mixing some duck fat with a little powdered malachite. The Narmer Palette was almost certainly ceremonial, probably used in a temple to grind the cosmetics that would anoint the statue of the god housed in the temple’s innermost sanctuary. Its full significance was not understood when it was first discovered in 1898 at Hierakonpolis in Upper Egypt. Consequently, it was not carefully recorded, and we do not know its exact find spot.
Dating from around 3000 BC, it is the earliest recording of an actual event – the uniting of Upper and Lower Egypt by King Narmer. The obverse shows Narmer wearing the tall white crown of the South. He holds a mace in his hand and is about to smite a foreign enemy. The reverse shows Narmer leading a victory procession, but now he is wearing the red crown of the North. So not only is the palette the earliest historical document, but it also bears witness to the unification of Upper and Lower Egypt.
Importantly, the palette established artistic conventions that would be followed for 30 centuries. One such is ‘hierarchical proportions’ – the idea that more important figures are shown larger than less important individuals. Narmer is the largest person on the palette; on the reverse, the next largest figure is Narmer’s vizier, who walks in front of him in the procession; and less important figures are even smaller. Another first on the palette is ‘registration’: figures do not float in space as they do on earlier palettes but stand on a line. The palette also bears an image that practically became the logo of Egypt: the pharaoh smiting an enemy. This appears on temple walls, obelisks, and royal objects for centuries.
The palette has been studied by scholars for more than a century, but I would like to present an observation about it that I have not seen discussed before: the palette’s two sides were carved by different people. This is evident when we compare the same images from both sides of the palette. At the top, between the two cows, is a motif called the serekh – a schematic depiction of the front of the king’s residence. Clearly, they are drawn by different hands. Even Narmer’s name, spelled phonetically with a fish and a chisel, is executed differently. The catfish (the nar- part of his name) has six whiskers on one side and ten on the other. The sandal-bearer, who trails Narmer on both sides, carries sandals of different styles, and the rosette near his head, part of his designation as ‘servant’, has seven petals on one side, but six on the other. These differences indicate that the two sides were carved by different artists, but I am not sure why, nor how important this could be.
Bob Brier, Senior Research Fellow, Long Island University/ LIU Post
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