The Narmer macehead is better preserved than the
Scorpion Macehead and has had various interpretations. One opinion is that, as for the
Palette, the events depicted on it record the year it was manufactured and presented to the temple, a custom which is known from other finds at
Hierakonpolis. A theory held by earlier scholars, including
Petrie and
Walter Emery, is that the macehead commemorates great occasions like Narmer's
Heb Sed festival or marriage to a possible Queen
Neithhotep. . The scene depicts a ceremony in which captives and plunder are presented to King Narmer, who is enthroned beneath a canopy on a stepped platform. He wears the Red Crown of Lower Egypt, holds a flail, and is wrapped in a long cloak. To the left, Narmer's name is written inside a representation of the palace facade (the serekh) surmounted by a falcon. At the bottom is a record of animal and human plunder; 400,000 cattle, 1,422,000 goats, and 120,000 captives.
Ashmolean Museum,
Oxford. On the left side of this macehead is a king sitting under a
canopy on a
dais; he is wearing the
Red Crown (
deshret) and is covered in a long cloth or cloak. The king is holding a
flail and above the canopy a
vulture, possibly the local goddess
Nekhbet, hovers with spread wings.
Nekhen, or
Hierakonpolis, was one of four power centers in
Upper Egypt that preceded the consolidation of
Upper Egypt at the end of the
Naqada III period. Hierakonpolis’s religious importance continued long after its political role had declined. Directly in front of the king is another dais, or possibly
litter, on which a
cloaked figure sits facing him. This figure has been interpreted as a princess being presented to the king for marriage, the king's child or a deity. The dais is covered by a bow-like structure and behind it are three
registers. In the center register, attendants are walking or running behind the dais. In the top register, an enclosure, with what seems like a cow and a calf, might symbolise the
nome of Theb-ka, or the goddess
Hathor and her son
Horus, deities associated with kingship since earliest times. Behind the enclosure, four
standard-bearers approach the throne. In the bottom register, in front of the fan-bearers, are a collection of offerings. On the center part of the macehead, behind the throne with the seated king, there is a figure just like the supposed
sandal-bearer from the
Narmer palette, likewise with the
rosette sign above its head. He is followed by a man carrying a long pole. Above him three men are walking, two of them also carrying long poles. The
serekh displaying the signs for Narmer can be seen above these men. The top field to the right of the center field shows a building, perhaps a
shrine, with a
heron perched on its roof. Below this, an enclosure shows three animals, probably
antelopes. This has been suggested as signifying the ancient town of
Buto, the place where the events described on the macehead might have taken place. ==References==