- What is Gebel el-Arak Knife? What does the name of this knife mean?
Gebel el-Arak is a site, where a plateau near the village of Nag Hammadi, 40 kilometres south of Abydos. It is one of the oldest examples of bas-relief carving (where the sculpture projects only slightly from the background surface - Visual Art Encyclopedia).
- What is the origin of Gebel el-Arak Knife?
There are 17 similar knives in Egypt, manufactured in a particular place in Egypt, at a specific time in Egypt history.
Fun fact, the Gebel el-Arak knife is 1000 years older than the Great Pyramid. The knife was intended for display purpose or for ceremonial rituals, not to be used in combat, as the blade shows exceptionally thin and no evidence of wear.
Gebel el-Arak Knife was purchased in the year of 1914 in Cairo by Georges Aaron Benedite for the Louvre. It is now believed to come from Abydos, Egypt, not the site of Gebel el-Arak. This information is supported by Emile Amelineau, Flinders Petrie, Edouard Naville and Thomas Eric Peet.
- What is the story behind both sides of the handle?
(http://realhistoryww.com/world_history/ancient/Stele/Gebel_knife.htm)
Front: Battle Scene
- two groups of men fighting each other above two rows of ships.
- men attacking from the left are armed with clubs, maces and short bows, while the other group seem to be unarmed.
- They all wear penile sheaths and are barefoot, suggesting a very ancient raid.
Back: Master of Animals
- a man in the attire of a Sumerian Priest-King is depicted holding two lions apart.
- The lion usually symbolizes a King. Therefore this scene may represent a Sumerian King acting as a mediator between the two warring kingdoms depicted on the front side.
(http://sumerianshakespeare.com/748301/748322.html)
Back: Master of Animals
- this is the motif of the Sumerian king of Uruk, the original shepherd king. He wears a shepherd hat, the crown of a Sumerian king.
(“The continuous presence of animals in the iconography of the Uruk king is meant to establish his identity as a shepherd, as the guardian and protector of his flock, the people.” - Sumerian Shakespeare) (http://sumerianshakespeare.com/70701/507901.html)
Front: Battle Scene (Explains why the Sumerian King appear on the Gebel el-Arak Knife)
- divided into five registers
- the men with shaven heads are Sumerian soldiers. The men with long hair are the Egyptian soldiers. (Since a Sumerian king is shown on the back, and since Sumerian men are usually depicted with shaven heads)
- the first depiction of amphibious warfare in all of history.
- the first depiction of marines (shipborne soldiers).