The Scorpion macehead (also known as the ''Major Scorpion macehead'') is a decorated ancient Egyptian

macehead A mace is a blunt weapon, a type of club (weapon), club or virge that uses a heavy head on the end of a handle to deliver powerful strike (attack), strikes. A mace typically consists of a strong, heavy, wooden or metal shaft, often reinforced wi ...

found by

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

archeologist Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...

s James E. Quibell and Frederick W. Green in what they called the main deposit in the temple of Horus at Hierakonpolis during the dig season of 1897–1898. It measures 25 centimeters long, is made of limestone, is pear-shaped, and is attributed to the

pharaoh Pharaoh (, ; Egyptian: '' pr ꜥꜣ''; cop, , Pǝrro; Biblical Hebrew: ''Parʿō'') is the vernacular term often used by modern authors for the kings of ancient Egypt who ruled as monarchs from the First Dynasty (c. 3150 BC) until the ...

Scorpion Scorpions are predatory arachnids of the order Scorpiones. They have eight legs, and are easily recognized by a pair of grasping pincers and a narrow, segmented tail, often carried in a characteristic forward curve over the back and always en ...

(c. 3200–3000 BCE) due to the glyph of a

scorpion Scorpions are predatory arachnids of the order Scorpiones. They have eight legs, and are easily recognized by a pair of grasping pincers and a narrow, segmented tail, often carried in a characteristic forward curve over the back and always en ...

engraved close to the image of a king wearing the

White Crown Hedjet ( egy, ḥḏt "White One") is the formal name for the White Crown of pharaonic Upper Egypt. After the unification of Upper and Lower Egypt, it was combined with the Deshret, the Red Crown of Lower Egypt, to form the Pschent, the double cr ...

of Upper Egypt. A second, smaller macehead fragment showing Scorpion wearing the

Red Crown Deshret ( egy, dšrt "Red One") was the formal name for the Red Crown of Lower Egypt and for the desert Red Land on either side of Kemet (Black Land), the fertile Nile river basin. When combined with the Hedjet (White Crown) of Upper Egypt, it for ...

of Lower Egypt is referred to as the "Minor Scorpion macehead".

Description of the maceheads

Egyptian pictorial conventions

Ancient Egyptian depiction obeyed a number of conventions. Perspective being unknown, depth was often hinted at by depicting a more remote scene above a closer one. People's lower body, their legs, arms, and head were almost always shown in profile, while their torso was depicted in frontal view, as was the eye. Legs are always apart. Size was often dependent on status, kings being depicted larger than their inferiors.

The Major Scorpion macehead

On the macehead the king sporting a bull's tail is standing by a body of water, probably a canal, holding a hoe. He is wearing the

of Upper Egypt and is followed by two fan bearers. A scorpion and a rosette are depicted close to his head. He is facing a man holding a basket and men holding standards. A number of men are busy along the banks of the canal. In the rear of the king's retinue are some plants, a group of women clapping their hands and a small group of people, all of them facing away from the king. In the top register there is a row of nome standards.Edwards 1925: 26 A bird is dangling from each of them, strung up by its neck. Detail from the mace-head of King Scorpion.jpg Mace-head of king Scorpion.jpg

The Minor Scorpion macehead

Little is left of this macehead and its imagery: A king wearing the

of Lower Egypt, sitting on a throne below a canopy, holding a flail. Beside his head images of a scorpion and a rosette. Facing him is a falcon who may be holding an end of a rope in one of its claws – a motif also present on the

Narmer Palette The Narmer Palette, also known as the Great Hierakonpolis Palette or the Palette of Narmer, is a significant Egyptian archeological find, dating from about the 31st century BC, belonging, at least nominally, to the category of cosmetic palettes. ...

References

Bibliography

* * * *{{Cite journal , last = Yurco , first = F. J. , title = Narmer: First king of Upper and Lower Egypt. A Reconsideration of his palette and macehead , journal = Journal of the Society for the Study of Egyptian Antiquities , volume = 25 , date = 1995

External links

Ashmolean Museum
4th-millennium BC works 1897 archaeological discoveries Collection of the Ashmolean Museum Decorative maceheads Predynastic Egypt Individual weapons