The Pitt-Rivers Knife, from Sheikh Hamadeh, Egypt

 

                   

               The Pitt-Rivers Knife, from Sheikh Hamadeh, Egypt, about 3200 BC

One of the greatest achievements of the Naqada II culture was the production of some of the

finest flint knives ever made. The ivory handle is decorated on both sides with rows of birds and

wild animals, carved in raised relief. It isn't always easy to identify the animals precisely, but they

include cranes, elephants, lions, Barbary sheep, hyenas, donkeys, and cattle. All these could

probably be seen in Egypt at the time or were familiar from elsewhere. It's difficult to imagine

something so delicate and elaborately decorated fulfilling a utilitarian function; it must have had a

'ceremonial' purpose.