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Source Description
This flint is ground on one side and ripple-flaked on the other, indicating the date. Nonrepresentational flints were tools and weapons. Representational ones like this, however, were undoubtedly tomb gifts and never used. The type of bird represented is a Guinea fowl or quail. A number of Egyptian flints in this form are known although this one is one of the largest and is of exceptional quality.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
159217
label
Flint in the Form of a Bird
core
obj
dtoType
object
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
159217
contentType
object
title
Flint in the Form of a Bird
description
This flint is ground on one side and ripple-flaked on the other, indicating the date. Nonrepresentational flints were tools and weapons. Representational ones like this, however, were undoubtedly tomb gifts and never used. The type of bird represented is a Guinea fowl or quail. A number of Egyptian flints in this form are known although this one is one of the largest and is of exceptional quality.
date
4000–3000 BCE
citation
rights
CC0
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
wikidata
Q60747839
genreSpecific
Tools and Equipment
imageCount
1
source
import
dimensionsRaw
Overall: 5.2 x 5.2 cm (2 1/16 x 2 1/16 in.)
cul
Egypt, Predynastic (5000–2950 BCE), Naqada II–III (3650–3000 BCE)
accession
1995.4
Source extras
tec
tan-colored flint
tombstone
Flint in the Form of a Bird, 4000–3000 BCE. Egypt, Predynastic (5000–2950 BCE), Naqada II–III (3650–3000 BCE). Tan-colored flint; overall: 5.2 x 5.2 cm (2 1/16 x 2 1/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, John L. Severance Fund, 1995.40
collection
Egypt - Predynastic
didYouKnow
The exact function of objects like this is unknown; it may have been an amulet or charm.
citations
citation
Cleveland Museum of Art. <em>Annual Report</em>. Cleveland, Ohio: The Museum, 1995.
page_number
p. 38
citation
Berman, Lawrence M., and Kenneth J. Bohač.<em> Catalogue of Egyptian Art: The Cleveland Museum of Art.</em> Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1999
page_number
Reproduced: p. 120; Mentioned: p. 120
creditline
John L. Severance Fund
updatedAt
2026-05-29 08:15:08.807000
sourceId
159217
dept
Egyptian and Ancient Near Eastern Art
coll
Egypt - Predynastic
med
tan-colored flint
thumbnail_url
image_url
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
photo
mediaId
8ba6a6dfe14b69dc