Bull Palette
Encyclopedia
The Bull Palette is an ancient Egypt
ian palette in the corpus
of iconographic
cosmetic palette
s that focus on topics from the Late Predynastic Period, ca late 4th millennium BC.
Some of the various palettes in the corpus, Narmer Palette
, Libyan Palette
, Hunters Palette
, Min Palette
, etc contain forerunner iconography, or actual hieroglyphs of the Egyptian hieroglyph
language.
or schist
, and is etched in more atypical medium, to medium-low relief. A presumed 'fortified city' on the front in the upper register
has a major loss of the city-rectangle on upper left showing this medium-level bas relief. The register below appears to be a smaller area of the palette, and has the remains, (about 1/4), of a second fortified city; a bird is one identifier in the city-fortified interior, with the rest missing.
The rest of the front contains a large "fortified-walled-city", and is identified in the center with a "larger-lion
-and-'Nu'-(vessel); a smaller register section below contains the upper left quarter of a 2nd fortified-city. The 2nd city is of smaller size than the upper register identified city.
A rope appears to encircle, or is at least part of the entire reverse, as one of the reverse motifs. The remaining piece-(of this Bull Palette) has possibly one of the more important motifs preserved in the palettes corpus. Five standards are shown collectively on the palettes right, and each is an iat standard (hieroglyph), but notably the base of each standard transforms into a 'clenched hand', which embraces the large-diameter encircling rope.
The five standards are:
The palette's reverse contains only two other clues to the entire scene. The encirling rope has the Bull, and defeated Warrior, (and another presumed pair on left), and two other portions of warriors. Open space (field?) covers space as large, or larger than the two warrior portions. A warrior's leg is shown and is partially fractured-out (chipped), from the bas relief-(the knee portion); adjacent and below the leg, is a perfectly preserved warrior head, with eye, ear, beard, necklace cord, and a "stylized hairdo"-(close cropped).
Ancient Egypt
Ancient Egypt was an ancient civilization of Northeastern Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now the modern country of Egypt. Egyptian civilization coalesced around 3150 BC with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the first pharaoh...
ian palette in the corpus
Text corpus
In linguistics, a corpus or text corpus is a large and structured set of texts...
of iconographic
Iconography
Iconography is the branch of art history which studies the identification, description, and the interpretation of the content of images. The word iconography literally means "image writing", and comes from the Greek "image" and "to write". A secondary meaning is the painting of icons in the...
cosmetic palette
Cosmetic palette
The cosmetic palettes of middle to late predynastic Egypt are archaeological artifacts, originally used to grind and apply ingredients for facial or body cosmetics. The decorative palettes of the late 4th millennium BCE appear to have lost this function and became commemorative, ornamental, and...
s that focus on topics from the Late Predynastic Period, ca late 4th millennium BC.
Some of the various palettes in the corpus, Narmer Palette
Narmer Palette
The Narmer Palette, also known as the Great ierakonpolis Palette or the Palette of Narmer, is a significant Egyptian archeological find, dating from about the 31st century BC, containing some of the earliest hieroglyphic inscriptions ever found. It is thought by some to depict the unification of...
, Libyan Palette
Libyan Palette
The Libyan Palette is the surviving lower portion of a stone cosmetic palette bearing carved decoration and writing. It dates from the Naqada III or Protodynastic Period of Egypt...
, Hunters Palette
Hunters Palette
The Hunters Palette is an Ancient Egyptian cosmetic palette showing a complex iconographic lion hunt as well as other animals...
, Min Palette
Min Palette
The Min Palette, or El Amrah Palette is an ancient Egyptian cosmetic palette from El Amrah , found in Naqada, tomb B62. It is held in the British Museum, no. 35501.-Description:...
, etc contain forerunner iconography, or actual hieroglyphs of the Egyptian hieroglyph
Egyptian hieroglyphs
Egyptian hieroglyphs were a formal writing system used by the ancient Egyptians that combined logographic and alphabetic elements. Egyptians used cursive hieroglyphs for religious literature on papyrus and wood...
language.
The palette
The Bull Palette-(remainder piece), about 10 inches (25 cm) is made of mudstoneMudstone
Mudstone is a fine grained sedimentary rock whose original constituents were clays or muds. Grain size is up to 0.0625 mm with individual grains too small to be distinguished without a microscope. With increased pressure over time the platey clay minerals may become aligned, with the...
or schist
Schist
The schists constitute a group of medium-grade metamorphic rocks, chiefly notable for the preponderance of lamellar minerals such as micas, chlorite, talc, hornblende, graphite, and others. Quartz often occurs in drawn-out grains to such an extent that a particular form called quartz schist is...
, and is etched in more atypical medium, to medium-low relief. A presumed 'fortified city' on the front in the upper register
Register (sculpture)
In art and archaeology, a register is a vertical level in a work that consists of several levels, especially where the levels are clearly separated by lines; modern comic books typically use similar conventions...
has a major loss of the city-rectangle on upper left showing this medium-level bas relief. The register below appears to be a smaller area of the palette, and has the remains, (about 1/4), of a second fortified city; a bird is one identifier in the city-fortified interior, with the rest missing.
Bull Pallette front
The front of the Bull Pallette has the top left iconography of the Bull overpowering a Warrior. The right half is missing, with a probable second bull facing the first, as part of the upper borders, the left and the right.The rest of the front contains a large "fortified-walled-city", and is identified in the center with a "larger-lion
Lion
The lion is one of the four big cats in the genus Panthera, and a member of the family Felidae. With some males exceeding 250 kg in weight, it is the second-largest living cat after the tiger...
-and-'Nu'-(vessel); a smaller register section below contains the upper left quarter of a 2nd fortified-city. The 2nd city is of smaller size than the upper register identified city.
Bull Pallette reverse
The reverse has the same Bull overpowering a Warrior-(reversed).A rope appears to encircle, or is at least part of the entire reverse, as one of the reverse motifs. The remaining piece-(of this Bull Palette) has possibly one of the more important motifs preserved in the palettes corpus. Five standards are shown collectively on the palettes right, and each is an iat standard (hieroglyph), but notably the base of each standard transforms into a 'clenched hand', which embraces the large-diameter encircling rope.
The five standards are:
-
- A hippopotamus with open mouth
- A hippopotamus with open mouth
- The "Sacred Ibis"
- The standing HorusHorusHorus is one of the oldest and most significant deities in the Ancient Egyptian religion, who was worshipped from at least the late Predynastic period through to Greco-Roman times. Different forms of Horus are recorded in history and these are treated as distinct gods by Egyptologists...
-Hawk - Symbol: "Thuderbolt of Min"-(an encircled snake on standard?)
Bull motif; fortified city motif
The motifs of the palette are presumably the Bull overpowering an Enemy, the named-fortified-cities, war-scenes, a collection of gods supporting the war-scenery-(on standards).The palette's reverse contains only two other clues to the entire scene. The encirling rope has the Bull, and defeated Warrior, (and another presumed pair on left), and two other portions of warriors. Open space (field?) covers space as large, or larger than the two warrior portions. A warrior's leg is shown and is partially fractured-out (chipped), from the bas relief-(the knee portion); adjacent and below the leg, is a perfectly preserved warrior head, with eye, ear, beard, necklace cord, and a "stylized hairdo"-(close cropped).
See also
- Cosmetic paletteCosmetic paletteThe cosmetic palettes of middle to late predynastic Egypt are archaeological artifacts, originally used to grind and apply ingredients for facial or body cosmetics. The decorative palettes of the late 4th millennium BCE appear to have lost this function and became commemorative, ornamental, and...
- Gardiner's Sign ListGardiner's Sign ListGardiner's Sign List is a list of common Egyptian hieroglyphs compiled by Sir Alan Gardiner. It is considered a standard reference in the study of Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs....