The Narmer palette is a finely decorated plate of schist of about 64 cm high. It was found in a deposit in Hierakonpolis, a Predynastic capital located in the South of Egypt, during the excavation season of 1897/98. Its size, weight and the fact that it was decorated on both sides show that it was a ceremonial, commemorative rather than an actual cosmetic palette intended for daily use. It is a key piece in the identification of Menes, the almost legendary first king to have ruled over the whole of Egypt.
The deposit where it was found also contained other artefacts stemming from the early beginnings of Ancient Egypt's recorded history: fragments of a ceremonial mace head belonging to Narmer and other mace head fragments inscribed with the name of king Scorpion, one of Narmer's alleged predecessors. The exact finding circumstances of these artefact have, however, not been noted in the survey report.