The King Khafra

                                                                   The King Khafra

                                                          Khafra (Greek, Χεφρήν; Chephren) — also Khafre — was an Egyptian pharaoh of the Fourth dynasty, who had his capital at Memphis. According to some authors he was the son and successor of Khufu, but it is more commonly accepted that Djedefre was Khufu's successor and Khafra was Djedefre's. Khafra's two chief wives were Queen Meresankh III whose mastaba tomb is located at Giza and Queen Khamaerernebty I who was the mother of his successor, Menkaura. Khafre was the builder of the second largest pyramid in the Giza Necropolis complex (his is 3 metres shorter than Khufu's). Most modern egyptologists also credit him with the building of the Great Sphinx.




His name, Khaf-Ra, means "Appearing like Ra" for some translators and "rise Ra!" for others; the meaning is most probably the first, according to the hieroglyphic representing his name, which includes that crown. In ancient time his name was read out Ra-chaf to honor the supreme god Ra
           

-2 The Narmer Palette -

                                                                 -2 The Narmer Palette -







The name of Narmer is shown in a serekh between the two bovine heads.




The palette's top

                                                                                                                                                                        


                                                                                                                                                                                                                    Decoration






The top of the palette is 'decorated' in a similar manner on both sides: the name of the king is inscribed in a so-called serekh between two bovine heads. The animal's heads are drawn from the front, which is rather uncharacteristic of later Egyptian art. In most publications, these heads have been described as cows' heads, which is interpreted as an early reference to the cult of a cow-goddess, perhaps even Hathor. It is, however, equally possible that the animals are bulls and that they refer to the bull-like vigour of the king, a symbolism that occurs elsewhere on the palette and would be continue to be used throughout the Ancient Egyptian history as well.



- The Narmer Palette -

                                                             - The Narmer Palette -

      The front (left) and back (right) of the Narmer Palette.

                                                                  


  Named after the Horus Narmer, whose titulary appears on both its faces, the Narmer Palette is a flat plate of schist of about 64 centimetres in height. Its size, weight and decoration suggest that it was a ceremonial palette, rather than an actual cosmetics palette for daily use.




It was found in Hierakonpolis, the ancient Pre-Dynastic capital located in the south of Egypt, by the British archaeologist J.E. Quibell during the excavation season of 1897/98, in a deposit, along with other artefacts stemming from the early beginnings of the recorded history of Ancient Egypt: fragments of a ceremonial mace head belonging to Narmer and some other mace head fragments inscribed with the name of the Horus 'Scorpion', one of Narmer's predecessors. The exact finding circumstances of the palette have not been noted and there appear to be some contradictions in the publication of Quibell's work at Hierakonpolis.