Museum Explorer
Warfare in
Ancient Egypt
The Battlefield Palette
Perhaps from: Abydos, Egypt
Date: Late Predynastic period, around 3150 BC
A palette is a flat surface used to prepare make-up or paint, but at some point the ancient Egyptians also began to carve them with pictures that showed important events in their history.
The gruesome scene on this palette shows a lion and vultures feeding on dead bodies after a battle. Some historians think that the lion might represent a king attacking his enemies, although if this is the case it is unusual that they are shown as already dead.
