Metropolitan Museum of Art — Egyptian Art (Open Access) · tool

Bifacial Knife

Source of record: Metropolitan Museum of Art — Egyptian Art (Open Access) — catalogued by the holding institution. View the original record →

Description

knife, Bifacial Knife. Neolithic Period, Buto–Merimda–Maadi, ca. 4500–4000 B.C. Flint. L. 8.1 × W. 3 × Th. 0.7 cm (3 3/16 × 1 3/16 × 1/4 in.). From: Merimda Beni Salama, Western Delta, Egypt. Excavation: Vienna Academy of Science excavations 1929–30. Credit: Gift of Albert Rothbart, 1933.

AI image analysis GPT-5.4-nano

Machine-generated from the object's image on Jul 2026. Not curatorial; treat deities, names, and signs below as the model's best reading, not authority.

The image shows a single chipped stone tool with a pointed, lanceolate form and a relatively broad working edge, photographed against a plain gray background.

The object appears as an elongated, bifacially worked stone implementing flaking along both sides. The surface is brownish-tan with lighter patches, consistent with chert/flint coloration and knapping scars. No markings, carvings, or inscriptions are visible. The shape reads as a simple pre-dynastic/Neolithic flaked implement (knife-like), with a tapering tip and edges that look irregular from knapping. There are no visible hieroglyphs or any Greek/Coptic/Arabic text, and no cartouches or royal iconography.

decorative Neolithic Period, Buto–Merimda–Maadi (as catalogued) good
Materials flintchert (likely)

Connections

Materials FlintChert

Cross-references (4)

  • Wikidata-Q Q116415059 tier-1
  • Collection-QID Q160236 tier-2 (wikidata-mediated)
  • Inventory-Number 33.4.26 tier-2 (wikidata-mediated)
  • MET-Object 547155 tier-2 (wikidata-mediated)
About this record's data
  • From the source institution — accession, description, dimensions, and dating are as catalogued by Metropolitan Museum of Art — Egyptian Art (Open Access).
  • AI-inferred — the image-analysis panel (deities, names, signs) is machine-generated and may be wrong.
  • Approximate location — most map points are plotted at the site centroid, not the exact findspot.
  • Inferred links — cross-references marked with a match method other than explicit-source-field were matched by us, not stated by the source.