Bull Palette
The Bull Palette (French: palette célébrant une victoire) is the fragment of an Ancient Egyptian greywacke palette, carved in low relief and used, at least in principle, as a cosmetic palette for the grinding of cosmetics. It is dated to Naqada III, the final two centuries of the fourth millennium BC, immediately preceding the Early Dynastic Period). It is in the collection of the Louvre, inventory no. E11255.
| Bull Palette | |
|---|---|
| French: palette célébrant une victoire | |
| Year | 3200 to 3000 BC |
| Medium | Greywacke |
| Dimensions | 26.5 cm × 14.5 cm (10.4 in × 5.7 in) |
| Location | Louvre, Paris |
The palette is broken and only a portion of half of it remains. Both sides of it are carved, with some figures on each side differing from the other. The accompanying image presents both sides.
The obverse of the cosmetic palette contains a large circular fortified city that is identified in its interior with a "larger-lion-and-'Nu'-(vessel)"–
a hieroglyph represented to the right of the lioness.
The reverse of the cosmetic palette has iconography that became hieroglyphs for the: clenched fist, five standards surmounted by animals, being represented by two hippopotamuses, the "Sacred Ibis", the Horus-Falcon, and the thuderbolt of Min–symbol.