Cosmetic palette

Last updated
The "Four dogs Palette", Room 633 of the Louvre. Egypte louvre 322.jpg
The "Four dogs Palette", Room 633 of the Louvre.

Cosmetic palettes are archaeological artifacts, originally used in predynastic Egypt to grind and apply ingredients for facial or body cosmetics. The decorative palettes of the late 4th millennium BCE appear to have lost this function and became commemorative, ornamental, and possibly ceremonial. They were made almost exclusively out of siltstone with a few exceptions. The siltstone originated from quarries in the Wadi Hammamat.

Contents

Many of the palettes were found at Hierakonpolis, a centre of power in pre-dynastic Upper Egypt. After the unification of the country, the palettes ceased to be included in tomb assemblages.

Notable palettes

Notable decorative palettes are:

Even undecorated palettes were often given pleasing shapes, such as the zoomorphic palettes, which included turtles and, very commonly, fish. The fish zoomorphic palette often had an upper-centrally formed hole, presumably for suspension, and thus display.

There are also Near East stone palettes, from Canaan, [2] Bactria, and Gandhara.

History of Egyptian palettes

Siltstone was first utilized for cosmetic palettes by the Badarian culture. The first palettes used in the Badarian Period and in Naqada I were usually plain, rhomboidal or rectangular in shape, without any further decoration. It is in the Naqada II period in which the zoomorphic palette is most common. On these examples there is more focus on symbolism and display, rather than a purely functional object for grinding pigments. The importance of symbolism eventually outweighs the functional aspect with the more elite examples found in the Naqada III period, but there is also a reversion to non-zoomorphic designs among non-elite individuals.

List of famous ancient Egyptian predynastic palettes

NameImageDimensionsLocationNotes + Topic
Battlefield Palette
"Vultures Palette", etc.
The Battlefield Palette 3100 BC - Joy of Museums.jpg British Museum Egypt 028.jpg Full Height?
50 x 32 cm-(?)
(20 x 13 in)
British MuseumSide A: war; Side B: peace
('Order vs Chaos')
Bull Palette Palette with Bull-E 11255-IMG 9459-gradient.jpg Palette with Bull-E 11255-IMG 9466-gradient.jpg 26.5 x 14.5 cmLouvre
Hunters Palette HuntersPalette-BritishMuseum-August21-08.jpg 30.5 x 15 cm
(12 x 6 in)
British Museum
Louvre Museum
Only one side is sculpted, the palette is broken in four fragments, one of which is lost. The top-right fragment is on display at the Louvre, accession number E 11254
Libyan Palette Libyan Palette front cropped.jpg Libyan Palette back cropped.jpg Egyptian Museum, Cairo
Min Palette Mudstone palette with hieroglyphs in relief. Late Predynastic, Naqada III. 3250-3100 BC. From El-Amra.jpg British Museum
Narmer Palette
"Great Hierakonpolis Palette"
Narmer Palette.jpg 64 x 42 cm
(25 x 17 in)
Egyptian Museum, Cairo Narmer's victory over Lower Egypt
Oxford Palette
"Two Dogs Palette"
Two Dogs Palette.jpg Ashmolean Museum
"Four Dogs Palette" Palette with quadrupedes-E 11052-IMG 9460-gradient.jpg Palette with quadrupedes-E 11052-IMG 9470-gradient.jpg 32.0 × 17.7 cm Louvre Museum

Other palettes

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">4th millennium BC</span> Millennium between 4000 BC and 3001 BC

The 4th millennium BC spanned the years 4000 BC to 3001 BC. Some of the major changes in human culture during this time included the beginning of the Bronze Age and the invention of writing, which played a major role in starting recorded history.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Narmer Palette</span> Egyptian archaeological artifact

The Narmer Palette, also known as the Great Hierakonpolis Palette or the Palette of Narmer, is a significant Egyptian archaeological find, dating from about the 31st century BC, belonging, at least nominally, to the category of cosmetic palettes. It contains some of the earliest hieroglyphic inscriptions ever found. The tablet is thought by some to depict the unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the king Narmer. Along with the Scorpion Macehead and the Narmer Maceheads, also found together in the main deposit at Nekhen, the Narmer Palette provides one of the earliest known depictions of an Egyptian king. On one side, the king is depicted with the bulbed White Crown of Upper (southern) Egypt, and the other side depicts the king wearing the level Red Crown of Lower (northern) Egypt, which also makes it the earliest known example of a king wearing both types of headdress. The Palette shows many of the classic conventions of Ancient Egyptian art, which must already have been formalized by the time of the Palette's creation. The Egyptologist Bob Brier has referred to the Narmer Palette as "the first historical document in the world".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nekhen</span> Religious and political capital of Upper Egypt in Ancient Egypt

Nekhen, also known as Hierakonpolis was the religious and political capital of Upper Egypt at the end of prehistoric Egypt and probably also during the Early Dynastic Period.

The Early Dynastic Period, also known as Archaic Period or the Thinite Period, is the era of ancient Egypt that immediately follows the unification of Upper and Lower Egypt in c. 3150 BC. It is generally taken to include the First Dynasty and the Second Dynasty, lasting from the end of the archaeological culture of Naqada III until c. 2686 BC, or the beginning of the Old Kingdom. With the First Dynasty, the Egyptian capital moved from Thinis to Memphis, with the unified land being ruled by an Egyptian god-king. In the south, Abydos remained the major centre of ancient Egyptian religion; the hallmarks of ancient Egyptian civilization, such as Egyptian art, Egyptian architecture, and many aspects of Egyptian religion, took shape during the Early Dynastic Period.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prehistoric Egypt</span> Period starting at the first human settlement and ending at the First Dynasty of Egypt

Prehistoric Egypt and Predynastic Egypt is the period of time starting at the first human settlement and ending at the First Dynasty of Egypt around 3100 BC.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Art of ancient Egypt</span> Art produced by the Ancient Egyptian civilization

Ancient Egyptian art refers to art produced in ancient Egypt between the 6th millennium BC and the 4th century AD, spanning from Prehistoric Egypt until the Christianization of Roman Egypt. It includes paintings, sculptures, drawings on papyrus, faience, jewelry, ivories, architecture, and other art media. It was a conservative tradition whose style changed very little over time. Much of the surviving examples comes from tombs and monuments, giving insight into the ancient Egyptian afterlife beliefs.

The Gerzeh culture, also called Naqada II, refers to the archaeological stage at Gerzeh, a prehistoric Egyptian cemetery located along the west bank of the Nile. The necropolis is named after el-Girzeh, the nearby contemporary town in Egypt. Gerzeh is situated only several miles due east of the oasis of Faiyum.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Naqada III</span> Last phase of the Naqada culture of ancient Egyptian prehistory

Naqada III is the last phase of the Naqada culture of ancient Egyptian prehistory, dating from approximately 3200 to 3000 BC. It is the period during which the process of state formation, which began in Naqada II, became highly visible, with named kings heading powerful polities. Naqada III is often referred to as Dynasty 0 or the Protodynastic Period to reflect the presence of kings at the head of influential states, although, in fact, the kings involved would not have been a part of a dynasty. In this period, those kings' names were inscribed in the form of serekhs on a variety of surfaces including pottery and tombs.

The Amratian culture, also called Naqada I, was an archaeological culture of prehistoric Upper Egypt. It lasted approximately from 4000 to 3500 BC.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">British Museum Department of Ancient Egypt and Sudan</span> Ancient Egyptian And Sudanese Museum Department

The Department of Ancient Egypt is a department forming an historic part of the British Museum, with Its more than 100,000 pieces making it the largest[h] and most comprehensive collection of Egyptian antiquities outside the Egyptian Museum in Cairo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gebel el-Arak Knife</span> Ivory and flint knife dating from Egyptian prehistory

The Gebel el-Arak Knife, also Jebel el-Arak Knife, is an ivory and flint knife dating from the Naqada II period of Egyptian prehistory, showing Mesopotamian influence. The knife was purchased in 1914 in Cairo by Georges Aaron Bénédite for the Louvre, where it is now on display in the Sully wing, room 633. At the time of its purchase, the knife handle was alleged by the seller to have been found at the site of Gebel el-Arak, but it is today believed to come from Abydos.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battlefield Palette</span> Ancient Egyptian palette

The Battlefield Palette may be the earliest battle scene representation of the dozen or more ceremonial or ornamental cosmetic palettes of ancient Egypt. Along with the others in this series of palettes, including the Narmer Palette, it includes some of the first representations of the figures, or glyphs, that became Egyptian hieroglyphs. Most notable on the Battlefield Palette is the standard, and Man-prisoner hieroglyph, probably the forerunner that gave rise to the concept of the Nine bows.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Naqada culture</span> Archaeological culture of pre-dynastic Egypt

The Naqada culture is an archaeological culture of Chalcolithic Predynastic Egypt, named for the town of Naqada, Qena Governorate. A 2013 Oxford University radiocarbon dating study of the Predynastic period suggests a beginning date sometime between 3,800 and 3,700 BC.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hunters Palette</span> Cosmetic palette from prehistoric Egypt

The Hunters Palette or Lion Hunt Palette is a c. 3100 BCE cosmetic palette from the Naqada III period of late prehistoric Egypt. The palette is broken: part is held by the British Museum and part is in the collection of the Louvre.

<i>Bull Palette</i> Ancient Egyptian greywacke palette

The Bull Palette is the fragment of an Ancient Egyptian greywacke palette, carved in low relief and used, at least in principle, as a cosmetic palette for the grinding of cosmetics. It is dated to Naqada III, the final two centuries of the fourth millennium BC, immediately preceding the Early Dynastic Period). It is in the collection of the Louvre, inventory no. E11255.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fish cosmetic palette</span> Ancient Egyptian artifacts

The fish palettes of predynastic Egypt are one of the common types of cosmetic palettes, or more specifically zoomorphic palettes, which are shaped in the form of the animal portrayed. The fish palettes are mostly ovoid in shape.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Outline of ancient Egypt</span> Overview of and topical guide to ancient Egypt

The following outline is provided as an overview of a topical guide to ancient Egypt:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Egypt–Mesopotamia relations</span> Middle Eastern international relations

Egypt–Mesopotamia relations were the relations between the civilizations of ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia, in the Middle East. They seem to have developed from the 4th millennium BCE, starting in the Uruk period for Mesopotamia and the half a millennium younger Gerzean culture of Prehistoric Egypt, and constituted a largely one way body of influences from Mesopotamia into Egypt.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ny-Hor</span> Egyptian ruler

Ny-Hor was a possible pharaoh from the Predynastic Period. His name means "The Hunter" according to egyptologist Werner Kaiser. He may have ruled during the 31st century BC.

References

  1. Baines, J. (1993). Symbolic roles of canine figures on early monuments. Archéo-Nil: Revue de la société pour l'étude des cultures prépharaoniques de la vallée du Nil, 3, 57-74.
  2. Festschrift, Rëuben R. Hecht, Korén Publishers 1979
  3. Miroschedji, Pierre de. Une palette égyptienne prédynastique du sud de la plaine côtière d'Israël.

Further reading