Origin: Egypt
Circa: 6000 BC to 4000 BC
Collection: Egyptian
Style: Neolithic
Medium: Flint
The creation of tools utilizing the natural environment is what distinguishes man from animal. What was once created using stone, wood, and bone has, over the centuries, evolved into metalworking and modern-day plastics. But it is the earliest tools, those carved from stone, which allowed mankind to conquer the natural environment and to prosper. Holding this flint arrowhead in our hand, delicately carved to a fine point thousands of years ago, we are holding the nascent breath of civilization. Tools allowed mankind to utilize his natural setting to its fullest potential, to altar the surroundings to suite his needs, and to create his own collective habitats that would eventually evolve into great cities. An arrowhead head like this one, when tied securely to a wooden shaft, could have been used to fell a fleeing prey or to spear a fish. As well, the delicate serrated edge could be used to cut and prepare the meat for cooking. This stone arrowhead represents the innate human drive to altar the environment, to innovate, and to conquer. It is in these earliest tools that we are able to witness the birth of civilization. From such tools, mankind learned to carve stones and rocks into new shapes and forms that suited the needs of the people evolving from arrowheads to temples. - (N.1059)

Antiquities
Ancient Weapons