s bearing the
rebus symbols ''n'r
(catfish) and mr'' (chisel) inside, being the phonetic representation of Narmer's name This material was used extensively during the
pre-dynastic period for creating such palettes and also was used as a source for
Old Kingdom statuary. A statue of the 2nd dynasty pharaoh
Khasekhemwy, found in the same complex as the Narmer Palette at Hierakonpolis, was also made of this material. The serekhs bear the
rebus symbols ''n'r
(catfish) and mr'' (chisel) inside, being the phonetic representation of Narmer's name. Both serekhs are flanked by a pair of bovine heads with highly curved horns, thought to represent the cow goddess
Bat. She was the patron deity of the seventh nome of Upper Egypt, and was also the
deification of the cosmos within Egyptian mythology during the pre-dynastic and Old Kingdom periods of Ancient Egyptian history.
Recto side Depicted at the top of either side, two human-faced bovine heads, thought to represent the patron cow goddess
Bat, flank the serekh of Narmer. The goddess Bat is, as she often was, shown in portrait, rather than in profile as is traditional in Egyptian relief carving.
Hathor, who shared many of Bat's characteristics, is often depicted in a similar manner. Some authors suggest that the images represent the vigor of the king as a pair of bulls. The largest relief on this side depicts Narmer, who lifts a royal mace in his right hand while with his left he pulls up a kneeling captive by the hair. In contrast to the verso depiction of Narmer, where he is shown with the
Red Crown of Lower Egypt, on this side he wears the
White Crown of Upper Egypt. His pose reflects the Ancient Egyptian convention of showing an important figure from multiple perspectives at once. His feet, legs and head are shown in profile, while the
torso and hips turn slightly and his shoulders face the front. One eye, even though it would normally not be seen if this were an actual profile head, is also shown from the front. The purpose was to provide the most complete information possible about a person on a flat surface. The Palette also shows the Egyptian
canon of body proportions. Based on an established unit correlating to the distance across the knuckles of human fist, this conventional form of measurement was a means of standardizing the proportions of important figures in Egyptian art. The standard measurement of 18 fists from the ground to the hairline on the forehead is apparent in the Palette. Both artistic conventions remained in use until at least the conquest by
Alexander the Great over 3,000 years later. The minor figures in active poses, such as the king's captive, the corpses and the handlers of the
serpopard beasts, are much more freely depicted. Attached to the belt worn by Narmer are four beaded tassels, each capped with an ornament in the shape of the head of the goddess
Hathor. They also are the same heads as those that adorn the top of each side of the palette. At the back of the belt is attached a long fringe representing a bull's tail. On the left of the king is a man bearing the king's sandals, flanked by a rosette symbol. To the right of the king is a kneeling prisoner, who is about to be struck by the king. A pair of symbols appear next to his head perhaps indicating his name (
Wash) or indicating the region where he was from. Above the prisoner is a falcon, representing
Horus, perched above a set of papyrus flowers, the symbol of Upper Egypt. In his talons, he holds a rope-like object which appears to be attached to the nose of a man's head that also emerges from the papyrus flowers.
Verso side Below the bovine heads is what appears to be a procession. Narmer is significantly larger than anyone else on that register, an artistic convention known variously as
hierarchical proportion, hierarchic scale or hierarchy of scale. As on the recto, his disproportionate size reinforces the ideas of conquest and political power as a god-like leader. He wears a
Red Crown of Lower Egypt, symbolized by a papyrus. He holds a mace and a flail, two traditional symbols of kingship. To his right are the hieroglyphic symbols for his name, though not contained within a
serekh. Behind him is his
sandal-bearer, whose name may be represented by the
rosette appearing adjacent to his head, and a second rectangular symbol that has no clear interpretation, but which has been suggested may represent a town or citadel. Immediately in front of the pharaoh is a long-haired man, accompanied by a pair of hieroglyphs that have been interpreted as his name:
Tshet (this assumes that these symbols had the same phonetic value used in later hieroglyphic writing). Before this man are four standard bearers, holding aloft an animal skin, a dog, and two falcons. At the far right of this scene are ten decapitated corpses with their heads placed between their legs and their severed genitals placed atop each head. These figures are generally understood to be victims of Narmer's conquest. s Below the procession, two men are holding ropes tied to the outstretched, intertwining necks of two
serpopards
confronting each other. The serpopard is a mythological creature, a mix of serpent and leopard. The circle formed by their curving necks is the central part of the Palette, which is the area where the cosmetics would have been ground. Upper and Lower Egypt each worshipped lioness war goddesses as protectors; the intertwined necks of the serpopards may thus represent the unification of the state. Similar images of such mythical animals are known from other contemporaneous cultures, and there are other examples of late-predynastic objects (including other palettes and knife handles such as the
Gebel el-Arak Knife) which borrow similar elements from
Mesopotamian
iconography, suggesting
Egypt-Mesopotamia relations. "Bull of his Mother", for example, was a common epithet given to an Egyptian king as the son of the patron cow goddess. This posture of a bovine has the meaning of "force" in later hieroglyphics. ==Scholarly debate==