Knife handle K 2185
The knife handle K 2185 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
There is only a small fragment of the upper handle section of this knife. It has a length of 4.5 cm, a height of 1.65 cm and a maximum diameter of 0.75 cm. From the decoration of rows of animals oriented lengthways to the knife blade, only parts of a row have survived. It shows the remains of two lions with their tails laid on their backs and their front legs stretched forward (the latter can only be seen on the lion in the back). Günter Dreyer emphasizes the similarity of the piece to the Carnavon handle due to the size and representation of the two lions . There is also a certain similarity to the Gebel-el-Tarif knife due to the depiction of the lions with their tails on their backs.
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.