List of ancient Egyptian palettes
# List of ancient Egyptian palettes

A list of a small subset of ancient Egyptian palettes, ranging in the Naqada periods, 4th millennium BC, probably mostly from ~3500 to 3000 BC; some palettes may be from the later period of the earliest 3rd millennium BC.

These cosmetic palettes come in numerous shapes and sizes, and were often found in tombs or graves. They were preceded by a period of palettes called rhomboidal palettes, unadorned, and without the cosmetic mixing circle found on some of the later Naqada period palettes.

## List of ancient Egyptian Predynastic palettes

| Name | Dimensions | Image | Location | Notes + Topic |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| Battlefield Palette Vultures Palette, etc. | Full Height? 50 x 32 cm-(?) (20 x 13 in) | | British Museum | Side A: war; Side B: peace ('Order vs Chaos') |
| Bull Palette | – | | Louvre | |
| Gerzeh Palette | – | Gerzeh palette | Egyptian Museum, Cairo | |
| Hunters Palette | 30.5 x 15 cm (12 x 6 in) | | British Museum | (smaller fragment in Louvre) |
| Libyan Palette | (original, approximated: 70 x 25 cm) (ht x width) | | Egyptian Museum, Cairo | (surviving dimensions: ~18.5 x ~21 cm, (7 x 8 in)) (ht x width) |
| Min Palette El Amrah Palette | – | | | |
| Narmer Palette Great Hierakonpolis Palette | 64 x 42 cm (25 x 17 in) | | Egyptian Museum in Cairo | Unification of Southern Egypt, Delta Egypt, (Upper and Lower Egypt) |

## Shield-shape palettes

A list of shield-shaped palettes; the majority are vertically oriented. (The Hunters Palette is an example of a horizontally-oriented palette.)

| Name | Dimensions | Location | Notes + Topic |
| - | - | - | - |
| "Two-bird heads palette (Brooklyn)" | 22.5 x 11.8 cm (8.8 x 4.6 in) | Brooklyn Museum, USA | Unadorned palette, Shield-shaped, with 2-opposed-Bird-Heads |
| Four Dogs Palette Giraffes Palette Louvre Palette | – | Louvre | Obverse:Four canines and other animals, w/cosmetic circle |
| "Duck, trussed" Trussed-Goose Palette- | – | British Museum | |
| Hunters Palette | (horizontally– –oriented) 30.5 x 15 cm (12 x 6 in) | British Museum | (smaller fragment in Louvre) |
| Manshiyet el Ezzat Palette | (Broken top) 23.5 to 27 x 12 cm, (9-10 x 5 in) (ht x width) | | Discovered in a tomb, dated to Pharaoh Den's reign Cosmetic Circle: two confronted lions with intertwined necks, (as on the Narmer Palette). |
| Min Palette El Amrah Palette | – | | The only adornment is a "typographic ligature" style combination of the archaic "Min symbol"– with the hieroglyph for "crook-staff"– (1/4 of palette face) |
| Narmer Palette Great Hierakonpolis Palette | 64 x 42 cm (25 x 17 in) | Egyptian Museum, Cairo | Unification of Southern Egypt, Delta Egypt, (Upper and Lower Egypt) |
| Oxford Palette Minor Hierakonpolis Dogs Palette "Ashmolean Palette" "Two Dog Palette" | 42 x 22 cm (17 x 9 in) | Ashmolean Museum, no. E3294 | greywacke, ca. 3150 BC 2-Lions, necks framing a mixing circle, and necks in wave-motion-(3-cycles); both lions are licking a gazelle, (as a newborn, or young) |

## Zoomorphic palettes

A list of zoomorphic, or animal style Egyptian palettes.

| Name | Dimensions | Location | Notes + Topic |
| - | - | - | - |
| "Anchor Palette" ("Double Bird (Pelta) Palette") | – | Pelta? | Anchor-shaped, double outward facing bird-heads |
| Bird (Louvre) (a goose) | – | Louvre | Naqada IId-IIIc |
| "El Ahaiwah Dog Palette" | – | | from El Ahaiwah- (El Ahaiwah) |
| "Duck, trussed" Trussed-Goose Palette- | – | British Museum | portrayed later in hieroglyphs as G54, a 'trussed goose' |
| Elephant palette | (length-(horizontal): ~20.5 cm, (~8 in) | Egyptian Museum, Berlin | |
| Geese Palette | (broken palette) 14.5 x 11.5 cm (6 x 5 in) | British Museum, 32074 | schist remainder piece has large, entire cosmetic circle, 2 small confronted geese below |
| Barbary Goat palette | – | British Museum | |
| Turtle Palette {circular) | – | Louvre | Circular shape with small turtle appendages |
| Turtle Palette no. 2 {circular) | – | Egyptian Museum, Berlin | Circular shape with small turtle appendages |

## Bird palettes

| Name | Dimensions | Location | <--> Form | Notes + Topic |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| Bird (Louvre) (a goose) | – | Louvre | | Naqada IId-IIIc goose, seated-(at rest) |
| "Duck, trussed" Trussed-Goose Palette- | – | British Museum | | |
| "Two-bird heads palette (Brooklyn)" | 22.5 x 11.8 cm (8.8 x 4.6 in) | Brooklyn Museum, USA | | Unadorned palette, Shield-shaped, with 2-opposed-Bird-Heads |
| Guinea Fowl Palette | 28.5 x 19 cm (11.3 x 7.5 in) | Brooklyn Museum, USA | ? | Guinea Fowl shape, Naqada II, (with small inlaid white eye) |

## Miscellaneous palettes, fragments

| Name | Dimensions | Location | Notes + Topic |
| - | - | - | - |
| Min Antelope Palette | – | | (Naqada IId-IIIc) circular with suspension hole, inscribed with antelope, 1/3 of face |
| "Ka Palette (no. 1)" | – | ? | , Ka hieroglyph-shaped plate large vertical offering-style plate (see the Hotep-style plates, and the Ancient Egyptian offering formula) |
| "Ka Palette (no. 2)" | – | ? | , Ka hieroglyph-shaped plate plus Ankh, Papyrus, and U3S-staff , , |

## Egyptian hieroglyphs and the palette's corpus

A list of the Egyptian hieroglyphs and the individual palettes.

### Gerzeh Palette

The Gerzeh Palette, or "Hathor Palette", "Cow-Head Palette" has topics containing 5-stars, a pair of horns, and a stylized "head". The hieroglyphs are:

, and possibly a relation to

, Hathor-sistrum, (the shape of the cow's head, as on the Narmer Palette), and

### Min Palette

The only adornment is a "typographic ligature" style combination of the archaic "Min symbol"--

with the hieroglyph for "crook-staff"--

(1/4 of palette face).

## Galleries

### Zoomorphic gallery

* Bird - (non-typical, sitting Goose-(duck))
* Fish-(Dolphin-shape)
* Hippopotamus
* Turtle

### Miscellaneous pallettes

* Battlefield Palette
* Four Dogs Palette
* Hunters Palette
* Narmer Palette (copy)
* Plover palette
* Oxford Palette Minor Hierakonpolis Palette
