Note 895 — Chapter XXX · NO ROD, ALTHOUGH CLOSE INTERCOURSE WITH EGYPT

The carved ivory handle of a flint knife in the Louvre proves (according to Petrie) that the art of slate-palettes in Egypt originated from Elamite civilisation, which flourished before its rise. It must be of prehistoric age, yet shows a well-developed art with Mesopotamian or Elamite affinities earlier than the sculptured slate-palettes and maceheads. M. G. Bénédite (Monuments Pict.) holds that in this knife-handle we have the most tangible evidence yet found of a connection in very early times between the Egyptian and Mesopotamian civilisations. King (Jour. Egypt. Archæology, vol. IV., p. 64) suggests that there was a connection with Babylonian-Elamite seals from Susa.