Arguably the most valuable artifact discovered to date for understanding the period of state formation in Egypt; the palette measures approximately 25 inches tall by 16 inches wide.
The Turin and Abydos king lists, Manetho, and Herodotus name “Menes” as the first king of Egypt. Unfortunately, this king is nearly absent from the archaeological record. We encounter another king instead, named Narmer, who clearly wished to be remembered as Egypt’s first king. A great many objects from the First Dynasty are inscribed with his name, including the famous “Narmer Palette” recovered from the Main Deposit beneath the temple of Horus at Hierakonpolis.
Stone palettes are commonly found in predynastic Egyptian tombs. They were used for grinding malachite, galena, and red ochre to produce green eye shadow, black eye liner, and red rouge. The palettes were made from fine-grained, uniformly-colored, silt stone that was highly prized by the early Egyptians. Its equivalent in Mesopotamia and Elam was steatite and chlorite, materials likewise prized for their carvability. We will look at some of these objects shortly.
Simple palettes such as these were often placed in predynastic Egyptian tombs. As you may recall, a rhomboidal palette (right) was found with the Ghebelein Man.
Stinging Catfish
Narmer’s name was spelled with the symbols for “catfish” and “chisel” visible in the upper right corner of the image, next to the head of of the cow goddess Bat.
Narmer’s name is written with the hieroglyphs “catfish” and “chisel.” Using the rebus principle, these symbols spell the name Narmer. As you may recall, the rebus principle uses the sound value of a symbol to spell a word. Thus the symbols + + may be used to spell “I believe.”
The catfish and the chisel represent syllables which combine to spell the name “Narmer.”
The name “Narmer” literally means “stinging catfish,” a reference no doubt to the Nile catfish which emits an electric charge capable of paralyzing a grown man. Thus “Narmer” follows the archaic Egyptian convention of naming kings after deadly animals, such as cobras, scorpions, or catfish. No doubt the practice of attaching a rearing cobra (“uraeus”) to the crown of the pharaoh in later periods is a vestige of this early Egyptian naming convention.
These catfish are found in the depths of the Nile. Egyptian physicians reportedly used the electric sting of the catfish to heal certain ailments.
The name of the pharaoh is inscribed inside a rectangular serekh, the Egyptian hieroglyph for “palace” (the serekh represents the facade of the palace). The Horus falcon is usually also associated with the serekh but in the case of the Narmer Palette, it is the cow-headed goddess Bat instead. This goddess would later become identified with another cow-headed goddess, Hathor. The prominence given to Bat on the palette suggests that it was dedicated to her.
Side A – Smiting Pharaoh
This is one of the earliest representations of the archetypal smiting pose that will be adopted by rulers in subsequent ages.
Narmer is shown with a bull’s tail tucked into his kilt and is wearing the tall, conical “White Crown” of Upper Egypt. His attendant stands behind him, holding his sandals, as Narmer prepares to smash the head of the enemy with a mace. The man about to be smitten is identified by two hieroglyphs inscribed next to his head which spell the name “Washi.” More revealing is the falcon holding a rope in one hand (yes, this falcon has a hand!). The other end is hooked through the nose of a man who looks identical to “Washi” but in this instance, his head is attached to an oval—the hieroglyph for “land”—with six papyrus reeds growing from it. The papyrus reed was the symbol Egyptian scribes used to represent Lower Egypt, where it grew in abundance. The six papyrus reeds may represent six ‘tribes’, six ‘thousands’, or perhaps the number six has some other significance. In any case, the symbolism on palette suggests that it was intended to commemorate the conquest of people living in the Nile Delta. Perhaps Washi was a ruler of Lower Egypt or the name of a tribe which resided there.1Kemp 2006, 81
Side A – Conquered Enemies
The two symbols which appear next to the heads of the enemy seem to be used to classify two different groups.
In what is by now a familiar theme, the lowest register of the palette shows the king trampling his enemies underfoot. The two symbols which appear next to the heads of the trampled foe seem to function as a type of classification. One of the symbols clearly represents the walls of a city or fortress while the other is comprised of two stalks of papyrus which join together to form what looks like an awards ribbon.2Amiram 1968, 127 Perhaps these symbols represent two different groups of people: marsh dwellers and city dwellers.
Side B – Procession
The king travels with his royal retinue to inspect the enemy dead.
The pharaoh’s name appears a second time on the obverse, next to the scene of a procession in which the king appears nearly twice the height of the other figures. He is still wearing a short net skirt but a different crown this time—the Red Crown—which was generally associated with Lower Egypt. It is curious to note, however, that the earliest representation of the red crown appears on a shard of black-topped pottery found at Naqada, in Upper Egypt. The meaning of the spiral on the front of the crown is not well understood but according to one theory, it is the probiscis of a bee.
This sherd of black topped pottery found at Naqada displays what may be considered the earliest representation of the Red Crown.
An official named Tjet walks before the pharaoh wearing a leopard skin. The four standard bearers carry standards bearing images of a falcon, dog and what some have interpreted to be the placenta (first from the left). The standards are thought to have represented territories, towns, or gods.3Montet 2000, 17
Side B – Serpopards
Two lions with intertwined serpent heads, known as serpopards, symbolize the unification of Upper and Lower Egypt.
Two lions with intertwined serpent heads, known as ‘serpopards’, are controlled by two men holding ropes. The circle formed by their necks is where the red, green, and black minerals were crushed and mixed with oil to produce cosmetics. These distinctive creature have also been found on an Uruk period cylinder seal and on an archaic accounting tablet from Susa. Thus we have a potential synchronism between the Late Uruk period and the First Dynasty of Egypt.
These hybrid creatures appear on an Uruk period (?) seal with the lion-headed eagle, Imdugud.
An archaic accounting tablet from Susa shows identically shaped creatures with long, intertwined necks. An individual stands between them, holding them by the neck. A similar motif is depicted on the Narmer Palette.
Side B – Bull Pharaoh
The king is depicted as a bull destroying the walls of a city.
In the bottom register the pharaoh is represented as a bull breaking down the walls of a city. This constitutes an important representation of an ancient walled city from a period when cities were only just beginning to be fortified.
Who was Narmer?
We noted at the beginning of our discussion that the literary evidence from Egypt universally acclaims Menes the first king of Egypt. In contrast, the evidence from Hierakonpolis and Abydos suggests that this title should be given to Narmer. For example, a cylinder seal recovered from the tomb of Qa’a, the last king of the First Dynasty, lists all of the kings of the First Dynasty, beginning with Narmer. This means that Narmer was already perceived as the founder of First Dynasty by his immediate successors.4Heagy 2014, 80 One way of reconciling the conflicting traditions is if “Narmer” and “Menes” are in fact the same person.5For a discussion on the possibly etymology of the name ‘Menes’ see the entry on Umm an-Nar. There is strong evidence which points in this direction.
Qa’a was the last king of the First Dynasty. This seal was discovered in his tomb at Abydos. It lists all of the pharaohs of the First Dynasty, beginning with Narmer and ending with himself (Qa’a). Khentameniu was the god of the necropolis who would later be assimilated with Osiris and Anubis.
T. Heagy points to another cylinder seal which juxtaposes the serekh of Narmer with the gameboard hieroglyph “Min” followed by the wavy line hieroglyph “n”. This is how the Egyptians spelled the name Menes (the ‘s’ comes from the Greek transliteration of the name). “Narmer” may therefore have been the king’s Horus name while “Min” functioned as his personal name. This possibility is suggested by several other seals of the First Dynasty which likewise displays the kings personal name next to his Horus name.6Heagy 2014, 78; Other interpretations are possible, such as that “Min” on this seal refers to the crown prince, Hor-Aha, instead. In this case, we would have to identify Hor-Aha with Menes instead. But in light of the fact that Narmer already appears on First Dynasty seals as the first of ten kings buried at Abydos, it makes sense to identify Menes with him.
Left: This seal impression shows the serekh of Narmer next to the “gameboard” hieroglyph which is pronounced “mn.” Right: A reconstruction of a “mn” gameboard using objects from predynastic and early dynastic tombs.
Heagy, Thomas C. “Who Was Menes?.” Archéo-Nil , no. 24 (January 2014): 59-92. Link
Kemp, B. J.
Ancient Egypt : Anatomy of a Civilization.
New York: Routledge, 2006. Link
Montet, Pierre.
Eternal Egypt.
London: Phoenix Press, 2000.
Redford, D.B.
The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt.
Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press, 2001. Link