Boat-shaped palette / Late Naqada l–Naqada II / MMA ( 07.228.156) Greywacke L. 25.3 x H. 11.4 x Th. 1.4 cm Boat-shaped palettes date to the early Naqada II period.The vessel depicted in this example has an upturned prow and stern and a small cabin amidships, much like those illustrated on the somewhat later decorated Ware jars. The palette has three holes, some of which were probably used to suspend it. The choice of a boat for the palettes shape may signal simply a need to represent the river, but it is possible, at least in theory, that the vessel seen here symbolizes the boat the sun god uses to traverse the heavens, a symbol well known in Pharaonic times. The presence of boat graves (either a buried boat or a boat-shaped grave) as components of early Dynastic royal and elite tombs suggests that such a concept had an early beginning., Source Dawn of Egyptian Art (2011) photo Museum
Posted on: Tue, 01 Jul 2014 10:24:07 +0000