Module 2 West Asia, Egypt, & the Aegean
This sublime relief was created for the tomb of Tutankhamun. It clearly shows colorful pharos facing towards each other, ones hand raised and some sort of hieroglyph between the two of them. The purpose of reliefs such as these was to serve a godly or departed recipient. They were never designed to be seen. Sacred acts and manifestations were to be conducted while in the presence of a relief such as this one. The spirit of the individual may communicate with the terrestrial realm through the statuary. Daily rituals were conducted before the statuaries. Even though the statuary may have been out of sight, their energy would still be felt.
Ceremonial palettes such as this one are some of the most sacred objects from Egyptian civilization.The palette of King Narmer is so valuable that it has never been allowed to leave Egypt. On once side a man is holding some sort of object and in the other hand he's grabbing a man. The way he's standing above the three men probably resembles his power over them. On the other side of the relief, two animals have intertwined heads. I'm very curios as to why this is. The detailed carving on the palette depicts a scene of King Narmer. Many theories were created while trying to understand the meaning behind this palette. This palette is very significant, however, not very easy to understand. The purpose of these palettes was to grind and mix cosmetics. Cosmetics would be applied ritually due to the very hot and dry environment. Eyeliner and/or today's eye black was created using the palette and was worn to reduce glare from the sun.
Dr. Amy Calvert, "Ancient Egyptian art," in Smarthistory, August 8, 2015, accessed September 3, 2021
Dr. Amy Calvert, "Palette of King Narmer," in Smarthistory, August 8, 2015, accessed September 3, 2021
Hi Caira, I really liked how you added in the purpose of each piece. Do you happen know what part of Egypt the palette was found in? For your first piece, I felt that you could have described the work a little bit more, like adding the colors used for example. Great job, and thanks for sharing.
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