Flint in the Form of a Bird

4000–3000 BCE
Overall: 5.2 x 5.2 cm (2 1/16 x 2 1/16 in.)
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Location: 107 Egyptian

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Did You Know?

The exact function of objects like this is unknown; it may have been an amulet or charm.

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.
Flint in the Form of a Bird

Flint in the Form of a Bird

4000–3000 BCE

Egypt, Predynastic (5000–2950 BCE), Naqada II–III (3650–3000 BCE)

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