Carved Ceremonial Palette in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, September 2010

Carved ceremonial palette

Period: Predynastic, Late Naqada III

Date: ca. 3200–3100 B.C.

Geography: Egypt

Medium: Greywacke

Dimensions: H: 9 cm (3 9/16 in); W: 5.5 cm (2 3/16 in.)

Credit Line: Gift of Edward S. Harkness, 1928

Accession Number: 28.9.8

Text from: www.metmuseum.org/Collections/search-the-collections/1000...

The circular area in the center of this palette would normally be used to grind eye paint. In this votive piece the circle has been reinterpreted as the body of a snake. Above this age-old symbol of both chaos and the universe, the artist has represented an emblem of a pharaoh: a falcon resting on a piece of irrigated land on which plants grow. It has been suggested that a pharaoh named "Falcon" is depicted here. The image is flanked by wild dogs similar to those on the palette on the right.

Text from the Metropolitan Museum of Art label.