The Cosmetic palettes are archaeological artifacts originally used to grind ingredients for cosmetics. The decorative palettes of the late 4th millennium BCE appear to have lost this function and merely become commemorative and ornamental. They generally were made of soft stone such as slate or mudstone. Many of the palettes were found at Hierakonpolis, a centre of power in pre-dynastic Upper Egypt. They cease to appear in tomb assemblages after the unification of the country. Notable decorative palettes are:
- The Narmer Palette which is thought by some to depict the unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the pharaoh Narmer
- The Dogs Palette displaying canines, giraffes, and other quadrupeds
- The Battlefield Palette
- The Bulls Palette showing a bull, representing the king, goring his enemies
- The Hunters Palette
Even undecorated palettes were often given pleasing shapes, such as the Zoomorphic palettes, which include turtles. The Near East stone palettes are from Canaan, [1] Bactria, and Gandhara.
References
- David Wengrow, The Archaeology of Early Egypt: Social Transformations in North East Africa,
Cambridge University Press 2006
- Erik Hornung, Conceptions of God in Ancient Egypt: the one and the many, Cornell University Press 1982
- ^ Festschrift, Rëuben R. Hecht, Korén Publishers 1979
