Ax or adze
Description
Ax, adze. Neolithic Period, Buto–Merimda–Maadi, ca. 4500–4000 B.C. Flint. L: 8.6 cm (3 3/8 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.
Photograph of a single flint artifact shaped like a bifacial cutting tool/edge implement, with a broad working edge and a natural-looking core surface.
The image shows one knapped stone object on a neutral light background. The artifact is elongated and roughly blade-like, with a sharper edge along one side and darker, weathered surfaces consistent with worked flint. The central and right portions show lighter orange-brown cortex/patches and darker gray-brown areas from patination or remaining core. No clear decorative carving, iconography, or standing/raised figures are visible. There is no legible hieroglyphic text, and no Greek/Coptic/Arabic script is visible; only a small, reddish/black printed-style number marking appears near the lower central area of the artifact, which is not a readable inscription. The overall form is consistent with a Neolithic flaked tool rather than an inscribed or royal object.
Cross-references (4)
- Wikidata-Q Q116415067 tier-1
- Collection-QID Q160236 tier-2 (wikidata-mediated)
- Inventory-Number 33.4.31 tier-2 (wikidata-mediated)
- MET-Object 547160 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.