1) In each scene (with the exception of the 3rd and 4th scene) Narmer is portrayed as much larger than those with him. In fact, it appears that in every scene, the higher the class is directly reflects the size of the character in the portrayal. I am going to break down each scene from left to top right to bottom right.
Left Scene: Depicts Narmer as a fierce warrior. He is standing above the bodies of his slain foes and looks to be smiting another with his mace. It also appears that one of his victims is female. This may be a showing that he is merciless and will kill male or female. The Falcon represents Horus (http://www.ancient-egypt-online.com/horus.html). In many cultures throughout history a picture of a god in a scene usually represents
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His standard bearers in front followed by what appears to be a priest or perhaps a musician? In this scene, his sandal bearer is again following behind. It is interesting to note that Narmer stands tallest, followed by his sandal bearer, priest (musician), and finally the standard bearers. This shows that perhaps the sandal bearer may have some significance or rank. Narmer is also wearing the more traditional headdress which is what gives me the impression that this is a parade to celebrate victory in battle. To the right appear to be eyes. In Ancient Egypt, eyes were very significant and meant many things. It could be the eyes were representative of the many people at the parade, or it could represent Narmer’s time gone. According to some myths that relate the tearing out of Horus’ eye during the battle of Set and the renewal by Thoth, that this relates to the waxing and waning of the moon ( http://www.ancientegyptonline.co.uk/eye.html ). So as there are 10 eyes, this could represent 10 nights of battle. Another representation of the eye is a symbol of protection. This could signify that Narmer is the protector of his …show more content…
They appear to be restrained by 2 handlers. I interpret this to be perhaps a show, sort of like the lions of Rome and the lions are twisted in battle. Perhaps this is a show as part of the celebration of battle or it could be to show his enemies that he (Narmer) controls lions or as is hinted, could represent the north and south.
Bottom Right Scene: This depicts a bull goring a man. In ancient Egypt, a bull was representative of the god Apis and bulls were also considered (and I believe still are) sacred. The bull represents fertility and strength in war. (http://www.bible-history.com/archaeology/egypt/apis-the-bull-god.html ) I interpret this to mean one of two things. Either Narmer is again using another symbol of a god to show his favor with the gods (as he did with the falcon of Horus) or he is showing that he uses bulls to destroy his enemies (as he did with the lions).
2) There could be several clues as to the unification. Perhaps the symbols on the standards are representative of north and south, so Narmer’s conquest could be represented in the standards (as was common much later in history). It could also be represented in headdresses of the fallen enemies, or perhaps the intertwining of the 2 lions could represent the north and