Cleveland Museum of Art

Flint in the Form of a Bird

Date

4000–3000 BCE

Medium

tan-colored flint

Culture

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

Department

Egyptian and Ancient Near Eastern Art

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

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

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