Commemorative Label of Horus Narmer

A label bearing the name of Horus Narmer was found during the German archeological survey of Abydos in 1998. The drawings on this label may relate to the same historic event that is also portrayed on the Narmer Palette.

Narmer’s Year Label shows the king, symbolised by his name, slaying an enemy from a marshland.
Source: EEF Archive.


In the top register, a personified catfish, symbol of Narmer, raises a mace in one hand, while in the other, it has grasped the papyrus headgear of the foe it is about to strike down. Although portrayed differently, the latter figure is, to some extent, reminiscent of the personified marshland on the back of the Narmer Palette and it is not unlikely that both sources relate to the same event.


© Jacques Kinnaer 1997 - 2023