The monumental sculpture of Ancient Egypt is world famous, but refined and delicate small works exist in much greater numbers. The Egyptians used the distinctive technique of sunken relief, which is well suited to very bright sunlight. The main figures in reliefs adhere to the same figure convention as in painting, with parted legs (where not seated) and head shown from the side, but the torso from the front, and a standard set of proportions making up the figure, using 18 "fists" to go from the ground to the hair-line on the forehead. This appears as early as the Narmer Palette from Dynasty I (c. 31st century BCE), but there, as elsewhere, the convention is not used for minor figures shown engaged in some activity, such as the captives and corpses. Other conventions make statues of males darker than females. Very conventionalized portrait statues appear from as early as Dynasty II (before 2,780 BCE).
Early tombs contained small sculptural models of the slaves, animals, buildings, and objects, such as boats necessary for the deceased to continue his lifestyle in the afterlife, and later Ushabti figures. However, the great majority of wooden sculpture has been lost to decay, or probably used as fuel. Small figures of deities, or their animal personifications, are commonly found in popular materials such as pottery. There were also large numbers of small carved objects, from figures of the gods to toys and carved utensils. Alabaster was often used for expensive versions of these, while painted wood was the most common material, normally used for the small models of animals, slaves, and possessions that were placed in tombs to provide for the afterlife.
Tomb Sculpture
The El-Amra clay model of cattle (c. 3500 BCE) predates the Early Dynastic Period but provides an idea of the appearance and production method of tomb sculptures of the time. Cattle more commonly represented a source of blood, rather than meat or dairy products, but likely symbolized a source of food in the afterlife. The model is small scale (8.2 cm high), was fired at a low temperature, and was originally painted. Remnants of linen on the model suggests that it was either placed under a cloth or completely wrapped in one.
El-Amra clay model of cattle
This model was found in a tomb and was likely intended as a symbolic source of sustenance in the afterlife.
Palette of Narmer
The Palette of Narmer (c. 31st century BCE) is named for the pharaoh who unified Upper (southern) and Lower (northern) Egypt and founded the Dynasty I. As in the art of many cultures of ancient times, the palette contains hieratic scale, in which Narmer is the largest figure. Narmer's headgear symbolizes the historic unification of the two kingdoms. On the recto (front) side of the palette, he wears the bulbed White Crown of Upper Egypt. To the right is a set of papyrus flowers, which symbolize Lower Egypt. On the second register of the verso (back) side, he wears the more geometric Red Crown of Lower Egypt. The figures on both sides of the palette were carved in low relief.
The recto side of the palette depicts the unification of Egypt as a violent one. Narmer wields a mace in his right hand as he grabs a kneeling man by the hair with his left. The king's right arm is raised in a manner that foreshadows a deadly blow about to be struck to the enemy. Behind Narmer is his servant holding his sandals. In the bottom register, two conquered foes either flee in fear or lie dead or dying. The hieroglyphs to the left of each man's head respectively represent a walled city and the name of a defeated town. Meanwhile, the presence of the cow goddess Bat on the top register and the falcon god Horus to the right of Narmer suggests that the king acted with divine approval.
The subject matter of the verso side is more complex than that of the recto side. Bat once again flanks each side of the top register. On the second register, Narmer marches between his sandal bearer on the left and a procession of standard bearers. To the far right are ten decapitated corpses of vanquished foes. Above them are the names of towns that have fallen to Narmer. The third register depicts two mythological animals whose intertwined necks symbolize the newly unified Egypt and form a recessed area in which cosmetics were ground. On the bottom-most register, a bull tramples a vanquished foe and knocks over the walls of a city. From the epithet "Bull of His Mother," the image likely symbolizes the pharaoh, the perceived son of Bat. In later hieroglyphics, the bull with the bowed head would symbolize force.
The Palette of Narmer
On each side of the palette, the first king of a unified Egypt is depicted as an active conqueror and as a victorious son of divinity.