Illustrative model — an approximation, not a scan of the original object.
c. 3100 BCE
Narmer Palette
c. 3100 BCE, late Dynasty 0 or early Dynasty 1.
- Material
- Siltstone (greywacke)
- Dimensions
- Height c. 64 cm
- Findspot
- Temple area, Hierakonpolis (Nekhen)
- Discovery
- Found by James Quibell and Frederick Green in the 1897–98 season.
- Held by
- Egyptian Museum, Cairo
- Inventory number
- JE 32169 / CG 14716
A ceremonial palette in the form of cosmetic grinding palettes, but far too large for practical use. Both faces are carved in relief with scenes centred on King Narmer.
The king’s name is written inside a serekh with the catfish and chisel signs. On one face he wears the White Crown, on the other the Red Crown.
The palette is regarded as a votive or ceremonial object, found among the temple deposits of Hierakonpolis.
- J. E. Quibell (1900) “Hierakonpolis I” Bernard Quaritch, London (Egyptian Research Account)
- Egyptian Museum, Cairo “Narmer Palette, inventory JE 32169 / CG 14716”
Reading it as a direct record of Egypt’s unification is debated; many read it as a symbolic statement of kingship.
Scholarly note: Earlier studies often read the scenes as a record of actual conquest; more recent work emphasises their ritual and ideological meaning.
- Toby A. H. Wilkinson (1999) “Early Dynastic Egypt” Routledge