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Abstracts Carolyn A. Graves-Brown Institute of Archaeology, UCL We know from religious texts that flint had certain magic/religious properties which made it important to the Bronze Age Egyptians. Its connection with the eastern desert, with serpents, the Eye of Re and fiery goddesses are all specific items which we might not expect to see archaeologically. Why then use archaeological material? I would argue that while archaeology cannot so clearly spell-out the specific symbolism behind Egyptian use of flint, it can be used to show how ideological practices were implemented in the real world. The texts, as is often stated, related to an ideal, often archaic world, perhaps a world only recognised by a small elite. Archaeology can be used to test how far flint was actually used in the magico/religious realm, and in which particular areas. In addition our knowledge of the metaphorical meaning of Egyptian materials which is presented in text and iconography can be used with contextualized archaeological material to widen our understanding of categorisation in the ancient mind. | Back to Abstracts | Back to the Timetable | |