Fishtail Knife
Description
Predynastic, Naqada III-Dynasty 1, ca. 3300–2900 B.C. Obsidian. L. 13.5 × W. 5.1 × Th. 0.8 cm (5 5/16 × 2 × 5/16 in.). Said to be from: Abydos, Northern Upper Egypt. Credit: Rogers Fund, 1924.
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 dark, stone-like fishtail-shaped blade fragment is shown against a neutral background, with a pointed, notched end and a long, broad cutting edge form.
The object appears as a single, flattened piece with a characteristic fishtail/leafy profile: one end is pointed/rounded with a slight notch, while the opposite end is broader. The surface shows irregular, knapped texture typical of lithic working; a central band of darker tone and lighter edges are visible. No handle components, hafting materials, or decorative elements can be clearly distinguished in the image. There are no clearly readable hieroglyphs and no cartouches visible. No associated inscriptions (Greek/Coptic/Arabic) are present in the provided view.
Connections
Cross-references (4)
- Wikidata-Q Q116415121 tier-1
- Collection-QID Q160236 tier-2 (wikidata-mediated)
- Inventory-Number 24.2.13 tier-2 (wikidata-mediated)
- MET-Object 547201 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.