{{short description|Egyptian archaeological artifact}} {{infobox artifact | name = Oxford Palette | image = Two_Dogs_Palette.jpg | image_size = 250 | material = [[Siltstone]] | created = {{circa}} 3200 BC | discovered_place = [[Edfu]], [[Aswan Governorate|Aswan]], [[Egypt]] | discovered_date = 1898 | location = [[Oxford]], [[England]], [[United Kingdom]] | id = E3924 | discovered_by = [[James Quibell]] and [[Frederick W. Green (Egyptologist)|Frederick Green]] | height = {{circa}} 42 cm | width = {{circa}} 22 cm }}
The '''Oxford Palette''', also known as the '''Two Dog Palette''' or the '''Minor Hierakonpolis Dogs Palette''', is an [[Ancient Egypt]]ian [[cosmetic palette]] discovered in [[Hierakonpolis]]. It is part of the collection of the [[Ashmolean Museum]] in [[Oxford]], [[United Kingdom]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Two Dog Palette |url=https://www.ashmolean.org/two-dog-palette |website=www.ashmolean.org |access-date=18 February 2024 |language=en}}</ref>
The Palette was discovered by [[United Kingdom|British]] [[archeologist]]s [[James Quibell]] and [[Frederick W. Green (Egyptologist)|Frederick W. Green]], in what they called the Main Deposit in the [[Nekhen#Horus cult center|Temple of Horus]] at [[Hierakonpolis]], during the dig season of 1897–1898.
==Description== Carved in [[low relief]], the obverse side of the palette features two [[African wild dog]]s at the top, two [[serpopard]]s licking a gazelle framing a mixing circle, and [[Saluki]] hounds attacking ibexes at the bottom. It is the earliest known representation of a [[griffin]]-like figure in [[Ancient Egyptian art]],<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Frankfort |first1=Henri |title=Notes on the Cretan Griffin |journal=Annual of the British School at Athens |date=November 1937 |volume=37 |pages=106–122 |doi=10.1017/S0068245400018025}}</ref> which appears on its reverse side with comb-like wings. At the bottom of the reverse side, a jackal-headed figure wearing a belt or penis-sheath plays a flute.<ref>{{cite web |title=Nekhen News |url=http://www.hierakonpolis-online.org/nekhennews/nn-30-2018.pdf |website=Hierakonpolis Online |access-date=18 February 2024}}</ref>
==See also== {{Commons category|Two Dogs Palette}} * [[Narmer Palette]]
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== * [https://www.ashmolean.org/two-dog-palette Official museum page]
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[[Category:Ancient Egyptian palettes]] [[Category:Collection of the Ashmolean Museum]] [[Category:1898 archaeological discoveries]] [[Category:Archaeological discoveries in Egypt]]