Griffins and serpopards -2

Amid this jumbled mixture of wild beasts, one can readily recognize three serpopards, serpentnecked felines, and a winged griffin, which has the head of a falcon (?) and a body of a lion. These hybrid creatures are engaged in attacking their prey, while two of the serpopards, encircling the raised rim of the grinding area, appear to be licking (the flowing blood?) from the body of a dead antelope before devouring it, which lies directly below an ostrich.

In addition, notice the enigmatic figure of a walking jackal playing a flute or, possibly, a huntsman wearing a jackal’s head and tail. He may be involved in some sort of ritual hunting magic. While the significance of the imagery present on this élite object has been the subject of considerably diverse and clever interpretations by Egyptologists since its discovery, it would be hazardous to make an attempt at evaluating its full meaning here. What does seem comparatively clear, however, is that within the symmetrically sculpted rampant cape hunting dogs, the ‘Two Dog Palette’ presents to its viewer a confusion of combative figures, thus revealing a horrid vision of the disorder and terrors which lie outside the confines of the security in the Nile Valley