12019-05-01T13:50:36-07:00Emilia Porubcin63ec028064958b3240cc8e4e010f355faa0c8e12332305structured_gallery2019-05-11T16:02:28-07:00Emilia Porubcin63ec028064958b3240cc8e4e010f355faa0c8e12A dealer named Mohammed Ali el Gabri sold artifacts to Jane Stanford in Cairo during her 1903/1904 winter trip to Egypt. His family was a clan of well-known Egyptian dealers and excavators. Many members were active in Cairo and Giza in the period Stanford University was accumulating its institutional collections. Stanford most likely dealt with Mohammed Ali, son of Ali Abd el-Haj el-Gabri (sometimes known as Ali el-Arabi). The latter was among the most active professional antiquities dealers to keep a shop near the Giza pyramids in the Bedouin village Kafr el-Haram, a well-known (and well-frequented) center for the trade in looted antiquities. Mohammed Ali el Gabri signed a document guaranteeing that all the items he sold to Stanford were genuine.
12019-03-07T07:17:57-08:00Emilia Porubcin63ec028064958b3240cc8e4e010f355faa0c8e12Ceremonial Knife (21861)4Flint knapping is the art of chipping away material from flint or other fracturing stone to create sharp points or tools. An example of flint knapping at its finest, this ceremonial blade was made in pre-Dynastic Egypt, possibly as an honored burial item as it shows no wear. Blades like this are often discounted as primitive and unsophisticated because they’re made of stone. However, the perfect strokes and precise pressure flaking indicates that this blade was made by a sophisticated professional craftsman.media/21861.jpgplain2019-05-14T22:35:46-07:00Collected by Mohammed Ali el Gabri in 1902, sold to Jane Lathrop Stanford in 1904, and donated to the Stanford Museum before 1905Emilia Porubcin63ec028064958b3240cc8e4e010f355faa0c8e12