Pre-dyanstic Egypt

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Current Anthropology
1965


Arkell, A. J. and Peter J. Ucko. Review of Predynastic Development in the Nile Valley. Current Anthropology April, 1965 Vol.6(2):145-166.

Arkell and Ucko survey the development of predynastic culture in Egypt while showing the need for further excavation. Their main goal, however, is to determine whether the Nile region was distinct from traditional Neolithic development in the Near East. The authors hope this will influence future research.

The survey of predynastic Egypt is separated into four chronological groups: Neolithic, Badarian, Naqada I (Amratian) and Naqada II (Gerzean). The Neolithic portion consists of site overviews on Fayum, Merimde, and Khartoum. The authors state that the Lower Egyptian sites of Merimde and Fayum are possibly related, but the majority of this section is spent on Khartoum. Fayum and Khartoum share many similarities such as: the presence of amazon-stone beads, the use of fire pits and hearths, the absence of cemetaries, the possible eventual domestication of animals, the burnishing of pottery, and the flaking and partial grinding of stone celts. Next, they list the characteristics of Badarian culture. Arkell and Ucko believe that the ?Tasian? culture in Upper Egypt is synonymous with the Lower and Middle Egyptian Badarian. The Khartoum Neolithic and Badarian share the characteristics of shell fishhooks, black top and ripple pottery, and flat-topped axes. They finish the survey with an overview of the Naqada cultures.

Throughout the article, Arkell and Ucko list problems caused by the lack of excavations. Little is known about Merimde, and Fayum has no real evidence of domestic animals, as the faunal samples were lost. Carbon-14 dates for Fayum, Merimde, and especially Khartoum, are criticized and the authors propose that the sites actually date earlier than the results. Dates from most predynastic sites are taken from a single sample, so they are much less accurate than a series of C-14 dates. While there is no stratigraphic evidence that the age of Fayum is older than Badarian culture, technological improvements support this idea. Since no Gerzean sites have been found in the Delta, it is the authors? opinion that the Naqada II culture need not originate in that area.

Finally, Arkell and Ucko conclude by emphasizing that the lack of modern excavations at predynastic sites leads to difficulty in locating the origins of Egyptian development. While they believe the wheat, barley, and flax grown at Fayum, the eldest of the Neolithic sites, must be of Asian origin, Arkell and Ucko do not see a continuing foreign influence in Egypt. Despite similarities to Beersheba, the authors support the theory that the development from Badarian to Naqada to Dynastic civilization was a natural and peaceful evolution, not an infiltration or conquest by Asiatic peoples. This theory is supported by stratigraphic evidence, similar iconography and comparable techniques.

COMMENTS

Most commentators commend the authors for specifying the lack of predynastic excavations in Egypt, but a few objected to Arkell and Ucko?s dismissal of early work in the area. Most disagreements were small or trivial. Kennedy, in particular, finds numerous objections to the authors? categorization among other points of dissension. Commentators Butzer and H.S. Smith believe that more attention should be paid to geology and the role of the environment in the course of predynastic Egypt. Clark agrees with Arkell and Ucko?s theory of native Egyptian development, while Baumgartel, Philip Smith, and Mellaart believe that outside influence is apparent or probable.

REPLY

Arkell and Ucko respond by stating their goals when writing the article: to show a need for further excavation; to present a review on predynastic development; and to influence subsequent field work. They point out that geological evidence raised by various commentators contradict each other. The authors then choose to show that Kennedy's objections have already been answered in the original article, in other commentators? replies, or in his own comments. Despite objections raised by their colleagues, Arkell and Ucko reaffirm their belief that Egypt's development is not based on major foreign interaction with native peoples.

CLARITY: 4

JACQUELINE F. PETKEWICZ Marquette University (Jane Peterson)
http://www.publicanthropology.org/Archive/CA1965.htm

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http://www.digitalegypt.ucl.ac.uk/fayum/neolithic.html

Fayum Neolithic (Fayum A)

Fayum Neolithic is the earliest securely attested full Neolithic culture in Egypt.

Most sites of the Fayum Neolithic (also called Fayum A) were found at the northern rim of the Fayum, excavated by Caton-Thompson, Gardner (1924-1926), Wendorf and Ginter and Kozlowski (in the 70s and 80s). The sites, datable about 5200-4000 BC are mostly camps located at the ancient lakeshore, similar to the sites of the Qarunian. Kom W is so far the largest known settlement. Almost no remains of buildings were found but about 248 'fire-holes', which the excavators interpreted as hearths. Many grain silos were found, mainly at Kom K. There are many animals bone - including domestic animals - attested, but it is not clear whether they were already fully domesticated. Hunting and especially fishing were very important. The Fayum Neolithic is contemporary with the Neolithic culture of Merimde and is in many ways connected with it (compare a map of African Neolithic cultures).

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3.0920
LARGACHA, Antonio Pérez, Some Suggestions and Hypotheses Concerning the Maadi Culture and the Expansion of Upper Egypt, GM 135 (1993), 41-52.

The author examines Maadi's chronological relationship with Upper Egypt and, especially, the degree to which Maadi's property was rooted in its commercial activity. Maadi supplied the Upper Egyptian elite with some of the products that they demanded. It is in this context that Maadi's property, particularly at the beginning of Naqada II, should be understood. The relationship between the abandonment of Maadi, Naqada II c, and the political-cultural expansion of the political entities of the South which cumulated in the unification of Egypt, at least culturally, during Naqada III, is discussed. Further, the author presents proof that Upper Egypt provoked the end of the Maadi culture, and of the creation of a series of centres in the Eastern Delta to promote trade with Southern Palestine. M.W.K.

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93.0921
SCHMIDT, Klaus, Comments to the lithic industry of the Buto-Maadi culture in Lower Egypt, in: Environmental Change and Human Culture, 267-277. (fig., map).

The lithic industries and pottery of the Buto-Maadi culture give the possibility of identifying Predynastic sites. In doing so a dense network of Predynastic sites becomes visible. The lithic tradition may be defined as a Lower Egyptian phenomenon with strong Levantine relations. W.H.

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SPENCER, A.J., Early Egypt. The Rise of Civilisation in the Nile Valley, London, Published for the Trustees of the British Museum by British Museum Press, 1993. (17 x 24 cm; 128 p., colour frontispiece, maps, plans, fig., ill. incl. colour). ISBN 0-7141-0974-6; Pr. £ 10

The purpose of this book for the general reader is to serve as an introduction to the formative stage of Egyptian civilisation, from earliest times through the Pre- and Protodynastic Periods to the beginning of the O.K. In the introduction the author relates the discovery of Predynastic Egypt by Flinders Petrie's excavations at Naqada in Upper Egypt about the end of the 19th century. A further important discovery was the royal tombs from the Archaic Period at Abydos. In ch. 1 the author deals with the Stone Age and the Early Predynastic cultures, first the Palaeolithic hunter-gatherers, and later the Early Predynastic settlements in Lower Egypt and the Fayum (the Fayum culture, Merimde and el-Omari), which were culturally quite distinct from the Upper Egyptian Badari and the following Naqada I cultural phase. Ch. 2 is devoted to the later Predynastic Period, a time of increasing urbanisation and starting around 3600 B.C. The cultural tradition of Upper Egypt continued its advance to the north, reaching ultimately as far as Buto. The distinct character of the Lower Egyptian cultures became gradually submerged. This Naqada II phase has i.a. also left traces at Hierakonpolis, and yielded much discussed decorated pottery and very sophisticated flint knives. Stone vessels became increasingly en vogue. The unification of the land (ch. 3) took place in two stages: the spread of a uniform material culture throughout the land during the Naqada III phase, and, later, the establishment of unified political control in a steady process of evolution. Much attention is paid to the ceremonial palettes, particularly the Narmer Palette, but also to palace-facade brickwork and the earliest mastaba tombs, and to the emergence of writing, of which the small ivory labels are testimony. Ch. 4, on the Ist-2nd Dynasties, starts with the problem of the identity of Menes, the founder of Memphis, and then deals with the sequence of known Archaic kings. After extensive attention to the Archaic royal tombs at Abydos and the evidence coming from there, the author turns to the cemeteries of Saqqara, Tarkhan and others. In this period dramatic advances in political organisation, technology and wealth were made. A major result of the application of new skills is the construction of the Step Pyramid at Saqqara, a landmark attesting the stability and formal style in the early O.K. (ch. 5). Further attention is given to the pyramid complex of king Sekhemkhet and IIIrd Dynasty private tombs at Saqqara, and early IVth Dynasty tombs at Meidum. The further development from the pyramid of Meidum through those at Dahshur to their apogee at the Giza Plateau is sketched.

Selected further reading and index added.

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von der WAY, Thomas, Untersuchungen zur Spنtvor- und Frühgeschichte Unterنgyptens, Heidelberg, Heidelberger Orientverlag, 1993 = Studien zur Archنologie und Geschichte Altنgyptens, 8; at head of title: Deutsches Archنologisches Institut Abteilung Kairo/ ؤgyptologisches Institut Universitنt Heidelberg. (21 x 30 cm; XXVIII, 140 p., maps, fig., pl.); rev. Orientalia 64 91995), 465-467 (Jürgen von Beckerath). ISBN 3-927552-16-X; Pr. DM 78

This study is for a large part based on the archaeological evidence from the author's excavations at Tell el-Fara'in (Buto). The author proceeds from the place of Buto in and the interrelations within the Lower Egyptian culture, studied in ch. 1. He defines first what is meant by Pre-, Proto- and Early Dynastic, describes the geographical and environmental situation of Buto, compares with other sites of the Buto-Maadi culture, establishes their chronology relative to the Upper Egyptian Naqada cultural phases, and investigates the roots of this Chalcolithic Delta culture of the 4th millennium B.C. The ceramic and lithic record is analysed; a comparison with Canaanite and Naqada pottery and decoration techniques is drawn. On the one hand it is rooted in the Lower Egyptian tradition, known from the Neolithic Merimde-Benisalame and Fayum A find complexes, but is deviant in its ceramic and lithic industries. In a late stage Nubian influence on some decoration elements through the Naqada culture is distinguishable. Regional differences between the find sites are clearly observable, particularly between Maadi and Buto. In both there were Canaanite influences, but at Maadi Syrian-Mesopotamian elements are absent. At Buto the Mesopotamian Uruk culture (in a trade quarter?) is present in some special architectural applications. The political problem of Lower Egyptian capitals or royal residences is above all connected with Sais and Buto. From the historical tradition cannot be concluded that once Buto was the capital of a Lower Egyptian Predynastic kingdom; in any case its location in the far north was not favourable. But a political unification resulting into central towns like Sais and Buto is more probable. There is no evidence for a late-Predynastic Delta culture superior to Upper Egypt (e.g., by having a writing system).

In ch. 2 the author widens the view by turning to Buto and the Near East. After a note on the trade colonies of the Uruk culture the author discusses the possibilities of a trade route from Mesopotamia to Upper Egypt through Lower Egypt and Buto or in a more direct way, and the nature of the contacts. Before discussing in ch. 3 the relations of Buto with the Naqada culture, the author points out that the old theory of a nomadic Upper Egypt and a sedentary Lower Egyptian must be dismissed as untenable. In the development towards cultural unity three stages of the dispersion of the Naqada culture, rather through assimilation than violent expulsions or destruction of the Lower Egyptian population, can be distinguished: an early phase in Naqada I-IIb with relatively little exchange between Lower and Upper Egypt, a middle phase in Naqada IIc-IId1 with more intensive contacts, and a final phase (Naqada IId1-2) in which Naqada became victorious over the Delta. But this cultural unity did not mean that Egypt was also a political unity, with the rule of one king in the whole country. For this the walled cities on the palettes, in part situated in the Delta, and the remains of actual walls are testimony. The following late-Predynastic phase is marked by written evidence for a number of kings, who are discussed. After a section on the presence of the Naqada culture in the Memphis area and the evolution towards one kingship with dualistic conception. In connection with the author's argument that no unified Lower Egyptian kingdom existed, but rather an organisation of city states, he studies the question of kings wearing the red crown on the Palermo stone and the reference to two dynasties preceding the Thinite kings in the Royal Canon of Turin. Another problem is the origin and the development of the recessed panelling architecture, which is first attested in Upper Egypt. Probably the contact with the Uruk culture entailed not only the use of a characteristic Mesopotamian architectural decoration, but also the presence of recessed panelling architecture in Lower Egypt, which may have stimulated its use in Upper Egypt. It may have been used in a temple or buildings of the Lower Egyptian elite, but was later incorporated in profane royal architecture, witness the serekh and the gate in Hierakonpolis. The recessed panelling architecture found also its way in Lower Egypt to funerary architecture, which resulted in its incorporation in royal funerary architecture from the time of king Aha.

At the end a map of sites mentioned, with lists giving the geographical and the alphabetical order; a time chart; and an index.

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http://www.arabicnews.com/ansub/Daily/D ... 81225.html


New 6000-year-old Pharaoh tomb found in Aswan
Egypt, Local, 8/12/2004

Egypt's Minister of Culture Farouq Hosni said that a Belgian mission excavated a tomb sculptured in the rock with a skeleton and funeral furniture inside.

The tomb, which was found in Wadi Hosh, Aswan, south Egypt, dates back to the pre-history age (4,000) BC.

He said that the analysis clarified that the dead is a lady aged between 40 and 50.

Meanwhile,Chairman of the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) Zahi Hawas said on Wednesday that an Australian arrested while prowling around the Sphinx at the pyramids area in Giza recently in search of "the key to the universe" was just an ardent cultist who did no harm to the monument. In statements on Wednesday, Hawas said that Mark Prisdan, who was arrested recently near the Sphinx, claimed he was a "prophet" and was searching for the key to the universe with the Pharaohs.

The man was nabbed some 50 metres from the Sphinx, Hawas said, adding that the man was not digging under the monument.

Prisdan tried several times to obtain a license for excavation near the statue but his request was rejected until he was caught with digging tools near the monument, said Hawas.

There are many Westerners who are obsessed with the mysteries of the ancient Egyptians and get carried away by their extreme infatuation with the Pyramids. This deep obsession feeds their fancies and hone their innovative minds to wave superstitious tales that put them in the spotlights, harping on the fame of the Pyramids and the Sphinx, added Hawas.

Meanwhile, Hawas said that a Singaporean university is currently embarking on designing a robot to explore the bowels of the Great pyramid of Cheops, said Chairman of the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) Zahi Hawas.

In statements on Wednesday, Hawas said that the manufacturing of the robot will start in October, with the Singaporean university footing of the bill. The exploration of Cheops mysteries will likely start next year, said Hawas, noting that the stone doors inside the Great pyramid could not just be there as an ornament.

They must have a function and hide something behind them, he said, adding that they could not just be there for dead King Cheops to slip through on his journey to heaven, as is widely believed.

Egypt has 118 pyramids scattered in various areas, but they have no such doors, he said. Their omni-presence inside Cheops must have reasons that should be revealed to help researchers answer many questions about ancient Egyptians, he added.

This will be the second robotic experiment after the American National Geographic Society conducted an unsuccessful first attempt inside the Great Pyramid in September 2002, when the robot was stopped in its tracks by a wall.

The mystery of the Great Pyramid further deepened when archaeologists penetrated a 4,5OO-year-old blocked shaft only to find another stone blocking their way.

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98.0925
LINGHU, Ruoming, Religious Beliefs as Seen from Predynastic Burial Customs in Egypt, in: Proceedings 7th Int. Congress of Egyptologists, 683-689.

Throughout the whole span of the Predynastic Period there is a great deal of archaeological evidence for the burial customs of the Egyptians, and all of the examples testify to their religious beliefs. Through the analysis of different burials of adults and infants, the custom of putting female figurines in the graves, secondary burial and the orientation of the dead in the graves, the author believes that the origin of ancient Egyptian funerary religion can be traced back to the Predynastic Period. Author

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98.1081
HILLMAN, Gordon, The principal plant foods available to Predynastic populations and their exploitation, Archéo-Nil, Paris 6 (septembre 1996), 17-26. (fig.).

Of the charred remains of plants likely to have been gathered as food, the most abundant are the tuber remains of nutgrass, Cyperus rotundus. The number of whole tuber equivalents for these two categories is not large but is nevertheless remarkable for a site of this antiquity. The abundance of charred fragments of nutgrass tubers probably reflects a major role in Kubbaniyan diet. Author

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Bodies of Evidence
Secrets of the sands:
Neolithic people from Dakhleh Oasis
Over the past few years, several skeletons, representing individuals from
about 3000BC, were found around the Dakhleh Oasis, in the western desert of
Egypt. These skeletons were recovered by Dr Jennifer Thompson, from the
University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV), as part of her investigation of
human adaptation to arid lands.

People have lived in and around Dakhleh Oasis for thousands of years - as
shown by the stone tools and pottery recovered throughout the region. From
the archaeological evidence, we know that the Neolithic people in this
region were pastoralists. Once the area began to become more arid, from
about 6000BC onwards, people moved closer to the centre of the oasis, where
water and plants were still available, and this shows that they were
affected by changes in their environment. However, not much was known about
the people themselves: what did they look like, did they have any connection
with the Nile Valley, and how did they manage to survive the rapid
aridification of the desert?

Skeleton keys

To answer the first question, there are now skeletons, or parts of
skeletons, of six individuals from this era. What can they tell us? Four of
these individuals are males, one a female, and one is of unknown sex as it
is too fragmentary to make a diagnosis. One male was at least 5ft 6ins tall
and the female about 5ft 2ins in height, so there were some size differences
between the sexes. Most of these people died between the ages of 20 to 30
years of age, while one male reached an age of about 40. So life must have
been pretty tough for these individuals.

Dakhleh Oasis, located about 250km west of Luxor, is several days travel by
foot from the Nile Valley: was there any contact between these two areas?
The older male individual suffered from arthritis, and markings left by his
muscles indicate that he was powerfully built and probably had walked long
distances. He was the only individual who had an artifact with his burial. A
copper pin was found underneath his pelvis. Apparently, in the Nile Valley,
Neolithic males carried copper pins in leather pouches on their waists, as
indicated by burials from that region. This suggests that there may have
been contact between people of the two areas.

A comparison of the skulls of the most complete male and the female show
interesting size and shape differences. The female is similar in facial
features to females from the Nile Valley, while the male is more similar to
males from sub-Saharan Africa. More work needs to be done to confirm this,
but this evidence, along with the copper pin, suggests that travel occurred
between several regions of Africa at this time.

Survival skills

How did these people cope with increasing aridification in the area
surrounding the oasis? Again, the skeletons reveal clues about the health of
these pastoralists. Several individuals have enamel defects on their teeth
that suggest they suffered systematic stress from disease or poor nutrition.
Some enamel defects may have occurred at weaning, while others occur
throughout the teeth and indicate long-term stress during the time when the
teeth were forming.

Several individuals had incidences of dental cavities (caries). Root caries
are commonly found in pre-agricultural people because the diet tended to be
more abrasive, wearing down the surfaces of the crowns before carious
lesions could form there. With root caries, the lesion starts on the root
and eats its way up to the crown. This can lead to tooth loss or infection
of the bone surrounding the teeth, causing an abscess. In fact, two
individuals had abscesses and this may have been the cause of their death.
Abscesses can lead to blood poisoning and without treatment can be fatal.

Lifestyle choices

What are the implications of all this in terms of the lives of these people?
In terms of health, many of them died young: most of these individuals were
20 to 30 years of age. Their teeth show signs of pervasive and ongoing
stress. Only one individual lived to about 40 years - long enough to develop
arthritis.

These skeletal and dental finds are important because this time period,
approximately 6500 to 4000 years ago, is so far not well documented in terms
of physical remains. Skeletal evidence becomes more plentiful when it became
more common for people to be buried in cemeteries. The discovery of these
individuals from Dakhleh Oasis has helped to shed light on the health of
people from this time, and also allows contrasts to be made with earlier
people in this area as well as later agriculturalists.

? Dr Jennifer Thompson is a physical anthropologist known for her work on
Neanderthal and early modern humans, on more recent Chinese immigrants from
northern Nevada, as well as on the prehistoric people of Dakhleh Oasis. She
has been a member of the Dakhleh Oasis Project since 1997 and was invited to
join the project as their expert in prehistoric human remains. For more
information visit her website.

http://www.channel4.com/history/microsi ... 0.html#jen

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Archaeologists find Egyptian Stone Age stores

Tuesday, December 28, 2004 Posted: 1844 GMT (0244 HKT)

CAIRO, Egypt (Reuters) -- Archaeologists in Egypt have found eight Stone Age grain stores at an oasis southwest of Cairo that help show the shift from hunting to agricultural societies, the Ministry of Culture reported.

The ministry said the discovery was made by a team from the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) in an area north of Fayoum 100 km (60 miles) southwest of Cairo, where 67 grain stores were found in 1926.

"The well-preserved nature of these stores helped experts to understand the transformation of societies, from depending on hunting to a stable agricultural society," government antiquities chief Zahi Hawas said in the statement.

The statement did not say when the discovery was made.

Copyright 2004 Reuters. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.



http://edition.cnn.com/2004/TECH/scienc ... very.reut/

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Merimde Beni-Salama

The site found at Merimde Beni-Salam is the earliest know settlement in Lower Egypt. It was occupied during the predynastic period. Found by German archaeologist, Herman Junker in 1928. It was excavated through 1939. Through carbon dating, the site was discovered to have been occupied between 4880 BC and 4250 BC. Unfortunately, most of Junker?s notes were destroyed in World War II. Eiwanger has conducted more recent studies.

The site found 50km northwest of Cairo, was thought by Junker to be about 160,000sq. m. The site is naturally raised above the level of a flood. The mound of Merimde covers 44 acres. The settlement had been constructed on a natural rise above the inundation, and gradually rose as the town was built upon it?s own debris. It is believed that there were about 5000 occupants at one time at this site. Because the site was occupied for a long time, the progression of house styles and street patterns reflect the growing level of urban organization. Large pits found were understood to be granaries. Some scholars believe that Merimde pooled together surplus crops in some form of a community organization. Besides growing grains, residents of Merimde reared cattle, goats, and pigs. They hunted animals such as antelope. The Nile River gave them an ample supply of fish, shellfish, turtle, and hippopotamus. The pottery found at the site was rather plain and simple in shape. Tools were also found. Those made of stone and flint would have been used for butchery, craftwork, and felling trees. Some scholars believe that the pear shaped flint mace heads were used not for the killing of animals, but for the use on other humans, and believed that Merimde may have been at conflict with a neighboring community.

The Merimde funerary culture was quite different than that of other predynastic sites. Instead of interring the dead in large, organized cemeteries, the bodies were buried inside the settlement, mainly in the unoccupied sections of the town. It is impossible to determine if the bodies were buried in the houses while living people were still occupying them. The bodies were buried in shallow oval pits and laid on their sides in a fetal position. The bodies very rarely had grave offerings, apart from the occasional beads, amulets or reed mats.
References:
http://www.grim.com.pl/egpoltxe.hml
http://www.mq.edu.au/

Brega, Isabella. Egypt, Ancient and Modern. The American University in Cairo Press. CTM Milan. 1999. pp130-151.

By: Kate Stensrud
http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/prehistory/ ... ebeni.html