Palette – zoomorphic, hartebeest PAL-0020
By Droux, Xavier
, Naqada or Ballas.
1894–1895 : William M.F. Petrie or Egyptian Research Account excavation.Collection unknown
Date : Naqada IIA–D
General dates of types pal_bov_2a and b, see Droux (2019).
Material : Greywacke
Preservation : Unknown
Preservation information :
At least the muzzle, the front horn, and possibly the legs are broken off, according to the drawing published by Petrie (1921).
Description
The palette has a mostly ovoid shape with added stylised zoomorphic details. The hartebeest is shown standing, with its head in a low position. A small hole is drilled through the back, likely for attaching a string or thong.
Decoration
It is difficult to ascertain the degree of precision of the published drawing. Not much of the head is preserved, but it seems that there are remains of a pierced hole between the horns, indicating that they were in all probability lyre-shaped and seen frontally, as is characteristic of the hartebeest. The eyes were represented by a hole pierced through the thickness of the palette, of which about half seems to remain. An angular protuberance at the neck, below the horn, may represent the ear.
There is a marked hump at the back before the junction with the neck.
Dimensions (cm)
6.7
14.5
Additional information
pal_bov_2
Comments
Palettes of shape-type pal_bov_2 are all carved in the shape of the hartebeest, although identification is sometimes tentative. In Droux (2019), this palette was tentatively included in sub-type 2a – the group of hartebeest palettes belonging to the earlier predynastic period. This was based on the elongated shape of the body, which differs from the rounded silhouette of the later palettes representing hartebeest (sub-type 2b). However, this attribution is likely incorrect, since the the horns - a more important identification factor - seem to be of the thinner style of sub-type 2b. Alternatively, it is possible that the horns had a different shape altogether and that the palette did not belong to either group.
References
1896
Naqada and Ballas, 1895. Egyptian Research Account 1. London
, pl. XLVII.3.1905
Primitive art in Egypt; translated from the revised and augmented original edition. London
, 78, n. 1, fig. 54.
