Knife handle K 1262a
The knife handle K 1262a is the handle made of ivory of a ceremonial knife from the predynastic period (probably Naqada IId, around 3200 BC) of Egyptian history . He was found in the 1990s in the U cemetery in Umm el-Qaab near Abydos .
Finding circumstances
The knife handle was discovered while sifting through the surface material. More detailed information on this is not available.
description
A fragment of the upper end of the handle has been preserved from this knife. It is 7.63 cm long, 3.4 cm high and has a maximum diameter of 0.75 cm. The handle ends on one side at the top of the blade bed and on the other side at the apex of the handle. Based on a blade bed about 3 cm deep, Günter Dreyer reconstructs the total length of the original handle to about 10 cm and its height to about 4.5 cm. Of the decoration, the lowest three on the presumably rear side and the lowest two on the presumable front side of the presumably originally eight rows of animals oriented lengthways to the knife blade have been preserved.
Probable front
Significantly less decor has been preserved on the front than on the knob side. The top of the two rows still preserved shows two animals. The rear one is a lion with a cocked tail. The animal in front cannot be clearly identified; Dreyer suspects an elephant . In the lower row, only the legs of a mammal have survived. A species identification is not possible.
Presumably pommel side
The top row still preserved shows the rear part of an animal whose species can no longer be determined. But it seems to be a four-legged friend. The following series shows two animals in which only the rear parts and the drooping tails have been preserved. A more precise identification of the species is not possible here either. It is much better in the bottom row. This shows five animals. The first four are four-legged friends with drooping tails. Although the heads are only partially preserved, one can still recognize cattle in them . Behind them is another lion with its tail stretched up.
literature
- Günter Dreyer : Motifs and dating of the decorated predynastic knife handles. In: Christiane Ziegler (ed.): L'art de l'Ancien Empire égyptien. Actes du colloque organisé au musée du Louvre par le Service culturel les 3 et 4 avril 1998 . La Documentation française: Musée du Louvre, Paris 1999, pp. 195–226.