Bow-Tie Flint

Rectangular piece of flint notched in the centre producing a bow-tie shape that may possibly represent a double axe head. Studied by Dr Renée Friedman, director of the Hierakonpolis expedition, it can be compared to some other intricately shaped lithics excavated at Hierakonpolis in 2009 and 2011 (tombs 20, 48 and 49). Marked in ink, El Kab. Jan. 1902. Cas. "Basilea". This refers to the dealer Michel Casira, a Cairo based antiquities dealer active in the early 1900s; Basilea is the largest modern city in proximity to Hierakonpolis on the west bank of the Nile; and Elkab being a well-known tourist destination directly across the river on the east bank. Wellcome Historical Medical Museum accession number 24632; Purchased at Sotheby's London, 31 July 1923 (Eleanor Beren's collection) lot number 12/11 "Seven stone Arrow-heads, barbed; a double Axe-head; and three Axe-heads, in flint and green granite".