Palette – zoomorphic, hartebeest PAL-0019
By Droux, Xavier
, Archaeological context unknown.Hannover, Museum August Kestner, 1967.45.
Date : Naqada IIA–B
General date of type pal_bov_2a, see Droux (2019).
Material : Greywacke
Preservation : Almost complete
Preservation information :
Most of the muzzle and horns are missing; small chips along edges; traces of glue on one side.
Description
The palette has a mostly ovoid shape with added stylised zoomorphic details. The hartebeest is shown standing, with its head and neck projecting toward the front, raised not much above the level of the back. A small hole is drilled through the back, likely for attaching a string or thong.
Decoration
Not much detail of the head is preserved. Both horns are broken off; the remains of a pierced hole between them is still visible, indicating that they were in all probability lyre-shaped and seen frontally, as is characteristic of the hartebeest. The eyes were represented either by shallow depressions drilled on each side of the palette, or by a hole pierced through the thickness of the palette, of which only a small part of the edge remains. A small, triangular ear projects backward below the horn.
There is a marked hump at the back before the junction with the neck. The legs appear as two simple, rounded protuberances. The tail is indicated by a small incised oblique line on each side of the backside.
Dimensions (cm)
10
21.8
Additional information
pal_bov_2a
Comments
Palettes of shape-type pal_bov_2 are all carved in the shape of the hartebeest, although identification is sometimes tentative; sub-type 2a seems to pre-date sub-type 2b; see Droux (2019); this assumption is based on stylistic considerations since no palette of sub-type 2b comes from a known, precise archaeological context.
Acknowledgements
We thank Christian Loeben for facilitating the study of this artefact.