Cosmetic palette

Many of the palettes were found at Hierakonpolis, a centre of power in pre-dynastic Upper Egypt. After the unification of the country, the palettes ceased to be included in tomb assemblages.

Notable palettes

Notable decorative palettes are:

• The Cosmetic palette in the form of a Nile tortoise
• The Narmer Palette, often thought to depict the unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the pharaoh Narmer, Egyptian Museum, Cairo
• Libyan Palette, Egyptian Museum, Cairo
• The Four Dogs Palette, displaying African wild dogs, giraffes, and other quadrupeds, Louvre
• The Battlefield Palette, British Museum and Ashmolean Museum
• The Bull Palette, at the Musée du Louvre, named for the bull at the top — obverse and reverse — trampling a man
• The Hunters Palette, British Museum and Louvre

Even undecorated palettes were often given pleasing shapes, such as the zoomorphic palettes, which included turtles and, very commonly, fish. The fish zoomorphic palette often had an upper-centrally formed hole, presumably for suspension, and thus display.

There are also Near East stone palettes, from Canaan, Bactria, and Gandhara.