The Narmer Palette (verso).

The Narmer Palette (verso).

Detail map of Aswan Governorate, Egypt Overview map of Aswan Governorate, Egypt

A: Aswan Governorate, Egypt

The Narmer Palette, One of the Earliest Surviving Examples of Narrative Relief Sculpture and Egyptian Hieroglyphs

Circa 3200 BCE
The Narmer Palette (recto).

The Narmer Palette (recto).

The Narmer Palette, one of the earliest surviving examples of narrative relief sculpture, was found during excavations at Nekhen (Greek: Ἱεράκων πόλις 'city of hawks', Strabo xvii. p. 817, transliterated as Hierakonpolis, Hieraconpolis, or Hieracompolis; Arabic: الكوم الأحمر‎ Al-Kom Al-Aħmar) in the 1890s. It is also one of the earliest surviving records of Egyptian hieroglyphs.

The Narmer Palette is preserved in the Museum of Egyptian Antiquities (Egyptian Museum) Cairo.

Timeline Themes