Ax or adze
Description
Ax, adze. Neolithic Period, Buto–Merimda–Maadi, ca. 4500–4000 B.C. Flint. L: 3 3/4 in. (9.5 cm). 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.
A flint stone tool fragment shaped like an axe/adze, shown photographed on a neutral background.
The image shows a single small lithic implement with a curved/oval outline. One end appears more sharply worked and could correspond to a cutting edge, while the opposite end is blunter and irregular due to breakage. Surface texture is consistent with flint knapping: chips, small removals, and weathering are visible across the face. No carved decoration or inlaid elements are visible. There are no visible hieroglyphs or other textual elements, and no iconography of deities or royal figures. The catalogue description of a Neolithic flint "Ax or adze" is plausible based on the lithic form, but the fragmentary condition and angle prevent confident confirmation of the exact axe vs adze subtype.
Cross-references (4)
- Wikidata-Q Q116415069 tier-1
- Collection-QID Q160236 tier-2 (wikidata-mediated)
- Inventory-Number 33.4.33 tier-2 (wikidata-mediated)
- MET-Object 547162 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.