Two-dog pallet

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Two-dog pallet
Two-dog pallet
Two-dog pallet (front)
material Light slate
Dimensions H. 42.5 cm; W. 22 cm;
origin Upper Egypt , Hierakonpolis
time Predynastic Period , Naqada III or II , around 3100 BC Chr.
place Oxford , Ashmolean Museum , E. 3924

The two-dogs palette or Ashmolean palette (English Two-dogs palette or Heraldic animals palette ) is a decorated palette from the predynastic period of Egypt .

The two-dog palette got its name from the representation of two canids that dominate the palette's visual program. It is one of the earliest examples of luxurious palettes decorated in relief with this special art style. Your image program gives rise to various interpretations and explanations.

Site and dating

The 42.5 × 22.0 cm artefact is dated to the end of the Predynastic Period of Egypt (around 3100 BC), the Naqada III or Naqada II epoch ( Girzéen culture ). It comes from Hierakonpolis and is made of light slate . Today the work of art is in the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford under the list designation E. 3924 .

Description and interpretations

front

The front of the two-dog palette is dominated by the representation of two large canids ( hyena dogs ), which adorn the upper end of the object on the left and right and touched each other with their snouts in the original state .

Reverse: being making music and giraffe (detail)

The center of the pallet is taken up by a circular depression with a raised hem, around the circle are two serpentine panthers , they too look at each other. Both mythical creatures tear apart an antelope , and a stork-like bird with spread wings can be seen above their heads . Among the Anhinga panthers several are hunting dogs of Saluki -type seeing the antelopes and gazelles break.

back

The back is designed similarly, animals such as antelope, gazelle and a giraffe are hunted here too . However, the dogs are replaced here by two lions , a snake-necked panther, a hyena and a cheetah . Special attention is given to a winged griffin , which in the further history of Egypt was assigned a special function as a “reward for Re ”, for example in the demotic fable The Seer and the Listener .

Beatrix Midant-Reynes also refers to the - for her - indefinable beings that can be seen on the two-dog palette. Their exact role assignment remains unclear to them. Particularly puzzling to her is the depiction of an indefinable figure with a giraffe head mask, who is attempting to charm the giraffe in the immediate vicinity by playing on a flute-like instrument.

Barry J. Kemp interprets the scene as a cosmogonic allegory in which the stronger always wins over the weaker. In the animal-headed flute player he sees a particularly early depiction of the god Seth .

Wolfgang Helck sees the animal-headed flute player as a masked hunter. In his opinion, the masquerade and the music serve the magical protection against the wild animals and mythical creatures. Helck sees in such representations the first allusions to the later royal robe, which included animal tails and replicas of lion's manes .

literature

  • Whitney Davis: Masking the Blow. The Scene of Representation in Late Prehistoric Egyptian Art (= California Studies in the History of Art. Volume 30). University of California Press, Berkeley CA et al. 1992, ISBN 0-5200-7488-2 , pp. 93-119.
  • Barry J. Kemp: Ancient Egypt. Anatomy of a civilization. 2nd edition. Routledge, London et al. 2006, ISBN 0-4152-3550-2 , p. 94.
  • Nicolas-Christophe Grimal : A history of ancient Egypt. Blackwell, Oxford et al. 1996, ISBN 0-631-19396-0 .
  • Béatrix Midant-Reynes: The prehistory of Egypt. From the first Egyptians to the first pharaohs. Blackwell, Oxford et al. 2000, ISBN 0-6312-1787-8 .
  • Eveline Zahradnik: The dog as a beloved pet in ancient Egypt. Based on pictorial, written and archaeological sources. Old and Middle Kingdom. Pro Business, Berlin 2009, ISBN 978-3-86805-408-8 , pp. 40–41 (also: University of Vienna, diploma thesis, 2008).

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Eveline Zahradnik: The dog as a beloved pet in ancient Egypt. Berlin 2009, p. 40.
  2. ↑ Eveline Zahradnik: The dog as a beloved pet in ancient Egypt. Berlin 2009, p. 41.
  3. ^ Béatrix Midant-Reynes: The prehistory of Egypt from the first Egyptians to the first pharaohs . Blackwell, London / New York 2000, ISBN 978-0-631-21787-9 , pp. 240-241 ( at Google books ).
  4. ↑ Wolfgang Helck: History of ancient Egypt. Brill, Leiden / Cologne 1981, ISBN 90-04-06497-4 , pp. 17-19.