flint knife

Egypt Exploration Society

A Flint Knife of King DjerAuthor(s): W. NeedlerSource: The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology, Vol. 42 (Dec., 1956), pp. 41-44Published by: Egypt Exploration SocietyStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3855120 .Accessed: 14/04/2014 18:01

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(41)

A FLINT KNIFE OF KING DJER By W. NEEDLER

THE flint knife illustrated on pl. III was acquired by the Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, more than forty years ago. It was bought from a dealer in Luxor in the spring of I9I4 by G. D. Hornblower, acting for the museum. Before buying it Mr. Horn- blower described it in a letter as 'a very large flint knife, its handle covered with gold and bearing a "hawk" name of an early king. Fine thin flint, broken across in the finding.' It has not been published, except recently in a brief listing by Godron.' It is especially important to bring the knife to the attention of Egyptologists in view of Professor Emery's discoveries at Sakkarah.2

Its outline and its flaking are characteristic of a type of curved knife with small 'cut- out' handle which has been frequently found in tombs of the First Dynasty. The type appears suddenly at the beginning of the Dynasty, and its characteristic S-curved back and downward-pointing handle-spur tend to degenerate towards a straighter, clumsier outline after Udimu. Handled knives of roughly similar outline and inferior quality come from the temple areas of Abydos and Hierakonpolis. The finer and truly typical specimens have been found only in tombs, principally the great tombs of Abydos, Sakkarah and Nadah, butand Nakadah also at, Gzbutah also Nagat edD, Tarkhan, and elsewhere.3

In the quality of its flint work the the Toronto knife compares favourably with any of the known examples of the type. The concavity of its back is about equal to that of the illustrated specimens from Emery's tomb no. 3504 (Wadjy)4 and is greater than that of the specimens from the tomb of Hemaka (Udimu),5 thus mildly supporting Petrie's theory of the evolution of the type.6 The knife is 37 cm. long, much larger than the knives from Emery's tomb no. 3504 and slightly larger than all those from the tomb of Hemaka except the 41 cm. specimen. Its peculiar interest lies in the gold foil covering the handle. A hieroglyphic inscription embossed on the gold contains the name of King Djer, and, indeed, we do not know of any other instance of an Early Dynastic knife having its original gold overlay preserved.

I 'Activites de l'6gyptologie americaine (en souvenir de Brown University)', in Bull. Soc. franf. d'LSg. ii (Oct. 1952), 63.

2 Professor Emery saw the knife when he was in Toronto in April 1955, and expressed the desire to see it published as soon as possible. The writer is indebted to him for speeding a project long overdue. It is hoped that he and other interested scholars will solve the many problems connected with the object.

3 E.g. the fine specimen, 26 cm. long, from a small private tomb, ILN, Jan. 2, 1937, 3, fig. 3. 4 Great Tombs of the 1st Dyn. ii, 67, fig. 96, and pl. 34. s Tomb of Hemaka, p. 1 9, and pl. i i. 6 Abydos, i, 8. For an exceptionally late example of the characteristic curved outline see Reisner, Early

Dyn. Cem. of Naga-ed-Der, p. I I2, and pl. 40 (a). The knives from the tomb of Hemaka (Tomb of Hemaka, pl. i i) show that there was considerable variation in outline among pieces found together. The remarkable variation in size is best seen in Tombs of the Courtiers, pl. 6.


PLATE III

i. Flint knife of King Djer with gold-covered handle 2. The gold-covered handle of the knife

3. Inscription on the gold covering of the handle

A FLINT KNIFE OF KING DJER IN THE ROYAL ONTARIO MUSEUM


This overlay (p1. III, 2 and 3) has a straight-cut edge running obliquely on each face from the inner angle of the handle cut-out to the back of the blade. It consists of a large piece folded around the grip, and covering about two-thirds of the obverse, and a smaller piece folded over the end. The whole was carefully cut, folded, and pressed to fit the peculiar outline of the handle. The gold was secured to the stone by means of an adhesive, vwhich has shrunk in the course of the centuries causing the gold to wrinkle and crack.' We know of only one other flint knife in which the original gold overlay is preserved, the Cairo knife said to be from Gebel et-Tarif.2 The latter is dated before the First Dynasty, mainly on grounds of flint-working technique. Unlike the gold covering on our knife, the gold of the Cairo knife was cut in two pieces, one

FIG. i. Inscription on knife of King Djer.

for each face, and secured by sewing down the overlap with gold thread around the edges of the reverse. De Morgan mentions a flint knife (presumably of the same type as the gold-handled knife in Cairo) which was found with gold chlorides on one-third of its length, evidence of a gold covering which had disappeared.3 Do any known specimens of our type of knife bear such evidence, perhaps undetected, of having been encased in gold? Little gold has escaped the plunderers of the great Early Dynastic tombs at Sakkarah and Abydos, but there is ample evidence that gold foil very similar to the overlay on the Toronto knife was used lavishly for their furnishing.4 Other knives from the royal tombs of the First Dynasty may well have had this embellish- ment.

The knife is obviously intended for the right hand, since on the lower edge of the handle the flint is bevelled for the three fingers which would fit snugly between the blade and the spur. It is fitting, therefore, that on the reverse face, which would be

I The nature of the adhesive is undetermined. It is perhaps resin, which was used in sealing a jar from the tomb of HIemaka, according to Lucas (Anc. Eg. Materials and Industries, 3rd ed., I2).

2 De Morgan, Recherches, I, 84, 112-15; Quibell, Archaic Objects, 237, pl. 49 (14265); Capart, Primitive Art, 68-69. The object is photographed only in De Morgan, Recherches, II, pl. 5, where the foil may be compared with ours for quality and condition. The Gebel et-Tarif provenance is uncertain.

3 Op. cit. I, 113-I4. 4 For examples of gold foil from the Early Dynastic period see Abydos, I, pl. 5; Hierakonpolis, I, pI. 20 (9);

Great Tombs of the xst Dyn. II, pl. 13 (c), and fig. 3.

W. NEEDLER 42


A FLINT KNIFE OF KING DJER covered by the hand when the knife was in use, the gold is entirely devoid of decora- tion. The inscription on the obverse is suitably placed about 3 cm. from the end of the handle and a little below the centre, so that the thumb and fingers would not press against it. This inscription (fig. i) reads from left to right, and consists of the serekh name of Djer followed by the falcon on a perch a within the pr sign 9c-. The design was made with a pointed instrument which impressed but did not cut the gold. The combined width of the signs is 2d7 cm. and the distance between the top of the large falcon and the bottom of the se of the serekh 3 cm. In spite of the wrinkling, which warps and effaces parts of the signs, the hieroglyphs are quite clear on close examination, including the dr and the pr, which may not show up sufficiently well in the published photograph. I have not succeeded in finding a parallel for this inscription. Was the building a temple, tomb, or palace? It is perhaps not unreasonable to suppose that it was the structure in which the knife was buried.

Since it was purchased in Luxor, it seems nearly certain that the knife knife was taken by plunderers from the tomb (or cenotaph) of Djer at Abydos. Since it was purchased in 1914, it may have come from the excavations of either Amelineau, Petrie, or Naville. Notwithstanding the large quantities of material lost from Amelineau's excavations, when the tomb must still have contained much treasure, it does not seem particularly likely that the knife was removed from the tomb fifteen years before it was picked up on the market. Not even Petrie succeeded n s eliminating theft from his excavations, and it is possible that the knife disappeared during the course of his work at the tomb of Djer. But the purchase date perhaps points to Naville. In April 1911 Hornblower wrote, 'Naville has been digging at Abydos, and has found fine predynastic things, many of which have leaked out owing to his not giving backsheesh, I suppose.' Naville dug at and around the tomb of Djer between 1908 and 191iI. He mentions finding in the course of this excavation less important material 'which had at an unknown period strayed from the royal tombs'., One is reminded of Petrie's accidental find at the tomb of Djer of Der of a 'strayed' human arm bearing the four sensational bracelets.2

The knife immediately suggests the slaughter of animals offered to the king during or after his funeral, and one can well imagine it being used to slit the throats of oxen or oryx.3 It is also tempting to see in it the instrument employed to kill a human victim, as pictured on a tablet of Djer,4 whether or not that scene represents a ceremony at the king's funeral. Its sharply retouched cutting-edge extends around the point and along the back. With this edge and with the small handle the type would be suitable for thrusting as well as for slicing.

It is certain that a hieroglyph on one of the private stelae from Abydos (reign of Udimu) is a knife of the same type as ours. It seems to be a title or part of a title, and it follows the common sign group ;h ' within inverted k; U, a group which possibly

I Cem. of Ab. I, 38-39, and pl. 21, which shows the location and extent of his digging in and around the tomb of Djer.

2 Royal Tombs, ii, 16-17. 3 A very similar knife was used for slaughter of animals at least as early as the end of the Third Dynasty.

See Montet, 'Scenes de boucherie', in Bull. Inst. fr. 7, 55, and Montet, Anc. Emp. 164 if. 4 Tomb of Hemaka, 35-36, pis. 17, I8 The scene also appears in Royal Tombs, Is, pl. 3 (Aha).

43


44 W. NEEDLER

signifies a priestly title.' Is the knife on this stele connected with the office of butcher for the royal funerary cult and, if so, does it indicate the function of the Toronto knife? The latter remains a mystery, but close examination shows that the knife belongs beyond doubt to the reign of Djer, and it is thus an important document of the First Dynasty.

I Royal Tombs, I, 27, pis. 31, 34 (24). For suggested interpretations of the group which precedes the knife sign, see Scharff, Altertiimer der Vor- und Frihzeit, 1, i88 (50I), and Emery, Great Tombs of the 1st Dyn. 120 (24).


Article Contentsp. 41[unnumbered]p. 42p. 43p. 44

Issue Table of ContentsThe Journal of Egyptian Archaeology, Vol. 42 (Dec., 1956), pp. 1-132Front MatterEditorial Foreword [pp. 1-2]The Carnarvon Statuette of Amn [pp. 3-7]A Pharaonic Encomium (II) [pp. 8-20]The Man Who Was Tired of Life [pp. 21-40]A Flint Knife of King Djer [pp. 41-44]A Statuette of King Nyneter [pp. 45-49]King wf? [pp. 50-53]The Hieroglyph [unknown] [pp. 54-57]Maru-Aten: Pleasure Resort or Temple? [pp. 58-64]Solar Barks Prow to Prow [pp. 65-79]The Dynastic Race in Egypt [pp. 80-85]Burial Customs and Beliefs in the Hereafter in Predynastic Egypt [pp. 86-96]A Temple of atr at Kusae [pp. 97-98]S. R. K. Glanville [pp. 99-101]Aylward Manley Blackman [pp. 102-104]Bibliography: Graeco-Roman Egypt: Greek Inscriptions (1955) [pp. 105-115]Brief CommunicationsStone Bowls of Kha'ba (Third Dynasty) [p. 116]A Further Note on Rock-Cut Boats [pp. 117-118]On the Statue Group: Amn Affixing the Crown of the King [pp. 118-119]The Daily Income of Sesostris II's Funerary Temple [p. 119]A Ushabti with an Unusual Formula [p. 120]A Graffito of the Scribe utotpe, Reckoner of Gold, in the South-Eastern Desert [pp. 121-122]Another Variant of nr ' wr (n) ' pr [p. 122]A Note on Campioneum Nottinghamense [pp. 122-123]

Notices of Recent PublicationsReview: untitled [p. 124]Review: untitled [pp. 124-125]Review: untitled [pp. 125-127]Review: untitled [pp. 127-130]Review: untitled [p. 130]Review: untitled [pp. 130-131]

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