Serpopard

thumb|Oxford Palette from [[Hierakonpolis. Ashmolean Museum.]] thumb|3000 BC cylinder seal of [[Uruk with serpopard design.]] The serpopard (also known as monstrous lion) is a mythical animal known from ancient Egyptian and Mesopotamian art. The word "serpopard" is a modern coinage. It is a portmanteau of "serpent" and "leopard", derived from the interpretation that the creature represents an animal with the body of a leopard and the long neck and head of a serpent. However, they have also been interpreted as "serpent-necked lions". There is no known name for the creature in any ancient texts.

==Images== The image is featured specifically on decorated cosmetic palettes from the Predynastic period of Egypt, and more extensively, as design motifs on cylinder seals in the Protoliterate period of Mesopotamia (circa 3500–3000 BC). Examples include the Narmer Palette and the Oxford Palette. The cylinder seal of Uruk (image above) displays the motif very clearly. Typically, two creatures are depicted, with their necks intertwined. They are also occasionally depicted on birth tusks (also known as amuletic wands). One example is an amuletic wand held in the British Museum's collections. thumb|Birth tusk|Amuletic Wand with serpopard, Middle Kingdom. [[British Museum.]] thumb|Narmer Palette with central depression for mixing cosmetics. (3200–3000 BC) ==Interpretations==