The Gift of The Nile ~

Cosmetics and Ritual: The Palette of King Narmer and The Unification of Egypt

 

Although there were many palettes discovered by archaeologists from the Predynastic and Early Dynastic period of ancient Egypt that were the use of mixing cosmetic powders, one found in Hierkonopolis in Tomb 100 stands as more of a ritual object.The Palette of King Narmer, the first king to rule in Dynasty One and the first king to unite Upper and Lower Egypt, is a highly decorated palette of raised relief and was seen more than just for the sake of protecting the eyes and face with make-up.           

Front side of the palette

     Although it is still debated, the side with the area for the make-up has been said to be the back side of the pallet. In looking at the front side, it is divided into three registers, which in art are spaces in a work that section off certain content of a work. At the very top, the name of King Narmer is written at the top on both sides, enclosed in a square that is patterned in its lower half. The name itself is written in two hieroglyphs, a catfish and a chisel, which together would literally spell out the name ‘Narmer’. The king’s name is in the form of a serekh used by kings to contain their Horus name, one of the five royal names a king is given. The equation of the top of the palette with the sky is reinforced by the two full-view faces with cow’s ears and horns, for the sky goddesses could be envisaged as a cow (the goddess Hathor).

     The biggest register on the palette illustrates the king being the dominating figure and the largest (which is called hierarchical scale). Narmer is wearing the white crown of Lower Egypt, standing with one arm raised, holding a mace, while the other hand he grasps the hair of a kneeling prisoner, which is called the smiting position, a stance that will be the standard of kingship in ancient Egyptian iconography for thousands of years to come. 

     To the upper right of the register is a falcon perched on one leg, its talons are grasping a clump of papyrus that grows out of a strip of land terminating in a head. The other leg, ending in a human hand, grasps a rope attached to the nose. The papyrus reed, which grew in the Delta, became the representation of the plant of the north. The head growing out of the land represents the Delta population. The group demonstrates the falcon god dominating the inhabitants of the land where the papyrus grown, the subjugation made explicit by the rope attached to the head and held by the falcon. Behind the king is a much smaller figure on its own baseline, carrying the king’s sandals. The person represented here indicates that he must have been of high rank. Two fallen enemies; shown naked (humiliate opponents); positioned below the register containing the king, these enemies are visually placed beneath his feet. 

 

           Back side of the palette

     The back side of the famous Narmer palette has four different registers. The very top one is identical to the front side. The figure of the king does not immediately dominate, but his size clearly shows him to be the most important figure in the upper register, where he views two rows of enemy bodies that have been decapitated and their heads placed between their legs. He is again accompanied by his sandal-bearer, and also by another figure wearing long hair and an animal skin. Identified by two hieroglyphs as tjet.  Four even smaller standards topped with different emblems.

     The central register, and the register containing the circle for the eye makeup, illustrates a symmetrical group of two opposing animals with long neck twisted round one another, each controlled by a rope around it’s neck that is held by a male figure. Similar pairs of animals appear on contemporary Mesopotamian and Iranian cylinder seals and may have influenced the Egyptian composition. The symmetry and balance of the composition and the subjugation of mythical animals that perhaps represent the forces of chaos probably symbolize the order of the cosmos that it is the king’s duty to maintain. The very bottom register of the back side of the pallet shows the king, now in the form of a bull, attacks a walled and fortified town, only part of whose perimeter is shown, and tramples on the naked body of one of his inhabitants. The identification of the king with a bull was to remain a constant theme, and can be seen much later in the Horus names of New Kingdom kings, most of which begin ‘strong bull’.

 

     The Palette of King Narmer is an extraordinary find, not just in its design and iconography, but it also gave archaeologists insight into the first king that united Upper and Lower Egypt. I myself am fascinated with the concept of eye make-up in ancient Egypt, but even I have to know that this palette was created for more than just grinding make-up.

 

The Narmer Palette can be seen on display in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, Egypt. 

Jewelry of the Ancient Egyptians: Bracelets

Bracelets of Nimlot, said to be from Sais, the western Nile Delta, Egypt, 22nd Dynasty

These bracelets were made from gold sheets and inlaid with blue and red stones that are now lost. The bracelets were found with the mummies of kings, made during the Third Intermediate Period. The art depicted on the hinged gold sheets illustrates the god Horus the child (Greek name Harpokrates) sitting on a lotus flower holding a scepter, the flower being a symbol of the Delta (reincarnation and rebirth) and the scepter of kingship. On top of Horus’ head are moon discs. These bracelets illustrate how jewelry can show the wealth and royalty of the one who dawns them on their wrists. The beautiful relief on the gold sheet and the artistic style specific of the Third Immediate Period of ancient Egypt are both aesthetically pleasing and interesting to archaeologists and art historians. 

Although much of the set is in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, Egypt, these particular bracelets can be seen in The British Museum in London, England. 

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Jewelry of the Ancient Egyptians: Earrings

Hoops have been in fashion for quite some time. This gold hoop earring, now housed in The British Museum, was found in Egypt dating back to the New Kingdom (1475 - 1180 BC). On the outer side, now lost, the earring way inlayed with precious stones and other materials that were popular during the New Kingdom. Both men and women would wear these types of earrings. The more detailed king were saved for the royalty, both in symbolism of divinity and in wealth.

Most famously found were the gold cloisonné earrings were found amongst the riches of King Tutankhamun. Shown from the clasps are figures of hybrid birds with gold cloisonne bodies and wings of falcons and heads of ducks. The clasp of the earrings are the shape of the birds wings closing inward. The heads are made of translucent blue glass and the bodies and wings are inlaid with quartz, calcite, colored faience, and blue, red, white, and green glass. Pendent extensions from the tails of the birds have gold and blue inlay, with blue and gold beads. These elaborate earrings were worn by male princes and women among the elite. 

Earrings were a common piece of jewelry for men, women, and children, as found in examining the mummies of the ancient Egyptians and studying ancient Egyptian art, for the ears of the deceased and subject matter would be pierced. It is no surprise that there would be an abundant amount of gold jewelry found in Egypt, for there was a large natural resource of the metal. Whether gold or of another material, the craftsmen of jewelry during the New Kingdom was exceptional and beautifully detailed. 

Queen Hetep-heres and The Butterfly

        

This is furniture of Hetep-heres, who was the daughter of Huni, wife of Sneferu, and mother of Khufu, who was pharaoh during the Fourth Dynasty of ancient Egypt. These archaeological finds found in Gizeh, Egypt give you an inside look into how the elite and royalty lived during this period of ancient Egypt. The furniture and jewelry were made of the finest materials; the ends of the poles were gold and they were in the form of palm capitals from large granite columns in the court of the Abusir pyramid near the temple of Sahure. 

What fascinates me most are the bracelets, with butterfly designs made out of turquoise, lapis-lazuli, and carnelian inlays set in silver. These designs and use of materials and mediums are not seen after this period in ancient Egyptian history. Other instances of butterflies have been seen in tomb paintings during the Old and New Kingdom periods, but not again in jewelry such as Queen Hetep-heres. Could the butterflies have been a trend, a fashion statement, or just an interests of aesthetics at the time? Although no scholar is certain, these insects were not just beautiful but possibly a mystical motif to the ancient Egyptians. 

The furniture and bracelets can be seen on display in the Fine Arts Museum in Boston, Mass.