Cosmetic Palette

Egyptian faience palette in the shape of a shen ring which surrounds a circular hollow. The edge of the ring and the tie are decorated with black lines. The surface is friable, the original blue-green surface colour is now lost. Studied by Egyptologist Barbara Adams who noted: "No similar object is known among the objects previously excavated from the Main Deposit or the Temple Area at Hierakonpolis, but the condition of the glazed composition is typical of the Early Dynastic faience objects found there" ('Ancient Nekhen', p. 122). Thought to be from the temple area of the excavations at Hierakonpolis (find no. 615).