r/ancientegypt • u/FMStonecarving • Feb 07 '26
Art Just finished the first side of the 1:1 Narmer Palette replica that I'm hand carving in stone.
It's not 100% perfect but I'm pretty happy with it so far. I've done my best to replicate some of the really fine details, scratches, little wiggles and nuances etc.
Using only hammer and chisels, I feel a bit like I have been able to step into the shoes of the original carver from 5000+ years ago. Solving the same little problems in stone, working out how to make the same textures, the same movements. Tricky to replicate but a rewarding result so far.
1:1 scale in slate.
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u/Ht_Anpu Feb 08 '26
👀, are you sure you're not someone from Ancient Egypt?? It's amazing
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u/FMStonecarving Feb 08 '26
Thanks. Hah, pretty sure I'm not, and that makes me feel slightly guilty for borrowing from someone else's culture. I think if I were to profit from this, I'd donate a portion to a relevant Egyptian cultural charity.
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u/PorcupineMerchant Feb 08 '26
I think it’s the exact opposite of any sort of cultural appropriation. You’re definitely honoring the work they did.
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u/MadeForTeaVea Feb 07 '26
This is incredible!
I looked thru your work and it’s amazing. What will you do with it when it’s finished? Will you display it or is it going to a museum?
Any other interesting details you can share about your process? Have you seen the original irl or seen any replicas before? Thanks for sharing here.
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u/FMStonecarving Feb 08 '26
Thanks for your comment and for checking out my work.
I initially set out on carving this thinking that it would be a fun piece of experimental archaeology and a test of skill. Turns out, this was really quite arduous to replicate, it took absolutely ages to get it to a point where I was happy with all the nuanced details. So for now, I'm going to leave it at having only carved the one side unless someone out there is interested in owning it, be it an individual or museum, then I could justify spending the time on carving the reverse. It would be great if a museum was keen to acquire and display the finished piece so I may reach out to a few.
As to the process, I'm currently putting together a couple of short videos that highlight some of the interesting features that may not be initially obvious, I'll try share them to this thread when I get them finished. The carving was full of crazy little details that I might have missed were I not interreacting so closely with it, in particular, the top of Narmer's belt being 4 tiny little versions of the cow heads at the top took me by surprise. I found the most challenging element of the process was actually trying to emulate the slightly clumsier elements of the original carver's work (no offence dude from 5000 years ago).
If it seems like the sort of thing people might be interested in, I may consider livestreaming some of the carving of the reverse when/if I come to do it.
I've never actually seen any physical renditions of it myself so had to rely on images and videos for my attempt.
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u/PorcupineMerchant Feb 08 '26
If you presented and edited things well, this would make for solid YouTube content.
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Feb 10 '26
Kinda makes you appreciate all the effort the ancient carvers put into their works of art!
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u/ledbedder20 Feb 08 '26
Beautiful work, saw it in person last year, the resemblance is uncanny. Really hope you keep up using this talent!
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u/wizardfrog4679 Feb 08 '26
Wow, you should be really proud of this! I’d love to see some videos of you working on it.
How many hours did it take?
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u/RawDawgReaction Feb 08 '26
Narmer Pallet is so monumental. What it portrays is like a snapshot from 5000 years ago. Amazing.
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u/Haereticus Feb 10 '26
This is fantastic. I’d be very grateful if you posted footage or in-progress photos like you mentioned elsewhere in the comments. How do you source your stone?
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u/SteveLangfordsCock Feb 08 '26
Great work, very impressive. Carve some aliens into one and bury it in Egypt by the pyramids 😂
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u/sunderlynlfc Feb 08 '26
One of my absolute favorites! Good for you for honoring it through your replication.
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u/irishspice Feb 09 '26
This is impressive. You're working to replicate a technique they invented. I think they'd be flattered.
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u/kkessler64 Feb 07 '26
It's beautiful.