Min Palette
Encyclopedia
The Min Palette, or El Amrah Palette is an ancient Egypt
ian cosmetic palette
from El Amrah (for the Amratian
Period), found in Naqada
, tomb B62. It is held in the British Museum
, no. 35501.
scenes.
Two topics are displayed on the palette. The Symbol of Min, a compound-type hieroglyph arrangement, is centered at the top of the palette, and comprises 1/4 of the palette's front. The other motifs are opposed-facing bird head
s on each top corner; the heads are small, with a thin neck, about a tenth the height of the palette, and the right head is damaged.
A small suspension hole is centered on the palette's top.
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 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...
from El Amrah (for the Amratian
Amratian
Amratian, or Naqada I, is an era during Predynastic Egypt that lasted from c.4000-3500 BCE.See:*Amratian culture*Naqada*Predynastic Egypt...
Period), found in Naqada
Naqada
Naqada is a town on the west bank of the Nile in the Egyptian governorate of Qena. It was known in Ancient Egypt as Nubt and in classical antiquity as Ombos. Its name derives from ancient Egyptian nub, meaning gold, on account of the proximity of gold mines in the Eastern Desert.Naqada comprises...
, tomb B62. It is held in the British Museum
British Museum
The British Museum is a museum of human history and culture in London. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its...
, no. 35501.
Description
The Min Palette is a flat slate palette, unadorned, with no iconographicIconography
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...
scenes.
Two topics are displayed on the palette. The Symbol of Min, a compound-type hieroglyph arrangement, is centered at the top of the palette, and comprises 1/4 of the palette's front. The other motifs are opposed-facing bird head
Confronted-animals
Confronted animals, or confronted-animal as an adjective, where two animals face each other in a symmetrical pose, is an ancient bilateral motif in art and artifacts studied in archaeology and art history. The Anti-Confronted animals is the opposing motif...
s on each top corner; the heads are small, with a thin neck, about a tenth the height of the palette, and the right head is damaged.
A small suspension hole is centered on the palette's top.