Griffins and serpopards -1

In the present state of our knowledge, monsters made their Egyptian début on a select number of monumental or votive slate cosmetic palettes, a gold-handled flint knife and few carved ivory objects, all with low relief decoration on them, which date from about Naqada III (or dynasty 0), approximately 5000 years ago.
Among the first and finest of these fascinating objects is the so-called ‘Two Dog Palette’, found at Hierakonpolis (Kom el-Ahmar) in Upper Egypt, and is now housed in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford. Carved on either side of this shield-shaped palette is a mêlée of true and strange desert dwelling animals, which are in the midst of intense conflict, and is bordered by two large heraldic cape hunting dogs.