ez-Zebib, an Old Kingdom fortress at Abydos, in the tomb of King Aha at
Nakâda, and in many walls of mastaba-tombs of the early time. This is
another argument in favour of an early connection between Egypt and
Babylonia. We illustrate a fragment of another votive shield or palette
of the same kind, now in the museum of the Louvre, which probably came
originally from Hierakonpolis. It is of exactly similar workmanship to
that of Narmer, and is no doubt a fragment of another monument of that
king. On it we see the same subject of the overthrowing of a Northerner
(of Semitic aspect) by the royal bull. On one side, below, is a
fortified enclosure with crenelated walls of the type we have described,
and within it a lion and a vase; below this another fort, and a bird
within it. These signs may express the names of the two forts, but,
owing to the fact that at this early period Egyptian orthography was
not yet fixed, we cannot read them. On the other side we see a row of
animated nome-standards of Upper Egypt, with the symbols of the god Min
of Koptos, the hawk of Horus of Edfu, the ibis of Thot of Eshmunên, and
the jackals of Anubis of Abydos, which drag a rope; had we the rest
of the monument, we should see, bound at the end of the rope, some
prisoner, king, or animal symbolic of the North. On another slate
shield, which we also reproduce, we see a symbolical representation of
the capture of seven Northern cities, whose names seem to mean the "Two
Men," the "Heron," the "Owl," the "Palm," and the "Ghost" Cities.

"Ghost City" is attacked by a lion, "Owl City" by a hawk, "Palm City" by
two hawk nome-standards, and another, whose name we cannot guess at, is
being opened up by a scorpion.

[Illustration: 050.jpg (left) OBVERSE OF A SLATE RELIEF.]

The operating animals evidently represent nomes and tribes of the Upper