This essay theorizes and explains
the Palette of Narmer, 31st Century BC for ART207
Summer Semester 2020
The shape of the pallet is sometimes identified as a shield. I boldly distance from consensus and propose this represents a jar, a vase. The vase was important in Egyptian culture. The organs at death rested in canopic jars, the most valuable commodity was entrusted to jars.
As we know, shape is an important factor in artistry and storytelling. This shape could have been like the Stele of Naram Sin: mountainous to a peak. It could have been a round object such as the Uruk Vase of 3300-3000[1], and told in registers.
Not unlike Atlas the Titan, with the world on his shoulders[2], we have the term Atlas as to identify a map, due to that Greek Titan. Narmer, a King, in his own time was a venerable god-like pharaoh. Narmer was the unifier of Egypt, founder of the First Dynasty.[3] That would be like today one person making peace between all of North America, or perhaps the entire world. That person would be a great and powerful presence.
I preface this because that is how important this pallet is. It is a cosmetic pallet, which is a piece of art traditionally used to grind cosmetics for body beautification.[4] Or that it was a jar shape, and flat[5] gives us a conceptual clue to current belief of the time. Egyptians believed that the earth was flat sphere of land[6]. That the shape of this pallet is flat, could be indicative of the piece having some representation of the world as they saw it. Perhaps they are representing the earth and Narmer being the potential ruler of the whole earth, and the current fashion for flat objects was cosmetic pallets and thus the two shapes married was seamless wisdom to the artist.
Cosmetic pallets are not overly large, at first glance with no background scale item, I thought it was perhaps as large as the Stele of Narmer Sin being a 6 foot iconic mountain. No, this pallet and most pallets are between 1 and 2 feet[7]. Pallet of Narmer is just 25x17 inches, that’s like a moderate serving platter, a large fruit dish, or two sheets of paper side by side.
To know what the pallet represents, posit the reason for the shape and determine the use of the pallet, might help us to understand the environment of the age it was created. This extraordinary and valuable work of art was created purely for artistry and adornment purposes. Additionly, this cosmetic pallet had fallen out of general use and it’s possible this pallet was crafted after the grinding of cosmetics lost this function and became purely ornamental or commemorative; not unlike now-a-days plates that hang on the wall of middle and upper class houses, dinner plates that are never eaten off of. This society was rich with superfluous items and artistic grandeur.
I will now describe the piece’s visual elements, using contemporary artistic vernacular:
- · This a two dimensional form, a closed geometric shape
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- · It has a ground line, and there is a similarity to registers in that respect.
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- · It uses overlapping to indicate one object behind another.
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- · The composition is relatively symmetrical.
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- · Content is recognizable.
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- · Period style, classic of the Egyptian dynastic artistry.
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- · Regional style, classic Egyptian region south of the Mediterranean Sea
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- · Style is Realism/Naturalism. Objects are identifiable as from the real world.
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- · This is a Sculptured Relief with Iconography/Symbolism of the culture and environment.
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- · Use of Actual Lines
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- · Textured, smooth.
Recto Side: From top left to right, there is an icon wearing horns: horns in Egypt represent a god. This refers to Hathor[8] the divine mother. She is watching over the scene; Hathor is a sky deity, her position at the top is appropriate. In between the heads of Hathor is the hieroglyphic writing for the name Narmer, so we know even though you and I can no longer recognize the image of Narmer, that this is who the palette is representing.[9]
Horus is represented by the Falcon standing above and to the right of Narmer[10]. Horus is the protector of the pharaohs. Horus is holding a rope which is bound to an enemy head. The enemy is in a marsh, the marsh is thought to represent Lower Egypt. It is possible that six marsh reeds represent 6,000 people defeated[11]. This is because the papyrus plant symbolizes the numeral 1000 in hieroglyphs. This portion of the palette is telling the reader that Horus has given the god-gift of assistance in conquering Lower Egypt; Narmer is considered a unifier of Egypt.
Narmer is larger than life in the central portion of the front side of the palette. His left hand is raised above holding a mace in what is so common in Egyptian art and what we call a “smiting pose”. His right hand holds the hair of an enemy, with smaller slain enemies below him. To the left of Narmer is a Sandal Bearer[12], which is a servant of the king. Similar to a knight’s squire or a nobleman’s valet.
Verso Side:
As the Recto Side, the top is accompanied by the Sky Deities’ and Narmer’s name. Narmer appears with his sandal bearer (his squire) and he is again larger than life, announcing his high status. He is holding his mace and flail, similar to the way a European monarch would hold his sword and shield in or after battle. The classic pose of the warrior king. His crown is important as it is the war crown of Lower Egypt,[13] this signifies that he has conquered Lower Egypt. To the king’s right are a standard bearer regiment. Then we see ten decapitated bodies. This may be a symbol of how many thousands of people were conquered, or towns.
The third register makes the circular indentation for which powders were ground. The animals are lions. Their long necks twining, symbolizing the unification of Lower and Upper Egypt.[14]
The fourth register shows a bull hitting what appears to be a town or a city, and a dead foe beneath it. Further corroboration of Narmer, backed by god-strength (bull horns represents a god) conquering Lower Egypt.
[7] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosmetic_palette#List_of_famous_ancient_Egyptian_Predynastic_palettes
[10] https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgf2EYckJflXkSWq5E0PQTQyafldPk08EeJD7HA1_vLWpYBVwyUR78LozUs43RQHu1MY7Pw63QIDtFsJoIyFl72B9QwHPmD89qha4uyAVuC6EQY0hDPDFIAtOUTjDgsHEGG81GtQBTLtM/s1600/rastafari+egypt+narmer+front+and+back.jpg
[11] https://i1.wp.com/www.raisinguppharaoh.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/narmer_palette_2b.gif?resize=640%2C385
[14] Art History 6th Edition Vol 1, Stokstad, Cothren page 53 ISBN 9780134479279
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