Palette – zoomorphic, hartebeest PAL-0026
By Droux, Xavier
, Archaeological context unknown. 1896 : Antiquities Service excavation.Cairo, Egyptian Museum, CG 13145.
Date : Naqada IIC–D (?)
Assumed date of type pal_bov_2b, see Droux (2019).
Material : Greywacke
Preservation : Almost complete
Preservation information :
The muzzle and ear are broken off.
Description
The palette has a mostly rounded shape with added stylised zoomorphic details. The hartebeest is shown standing, with its head protruding directly from the body. A small hole is drilled through the back, likely for attaching a string or thong.
Decoration
The horns are thin, lyre-shaped, and seen frontally, as is characteristic for the hartebeest. A large, drilled hole separates them from one another and they seem to not have connected again before their tip pointed outward. Details of the head are limited to the ear that protrudes below the back horn, and the eye that is represented by a small, drilled depression, of which only a portion of the edge remains at the break; it is likely that both faces of the palette were treated in the same manner. The legs are short, with carved details of the hoofs. The tail is indicated by a small, oblique incision on the backside.
Dimensions (cm)
12.2
13
Additional information
pal_bov_2b
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.
References
1905
Archaic objects. Catalogue Général des Antiquités Egyptiennes du Musée du Caire. Cairo
, 223, pl. 44.