Predynastic (5,500 - 3,100 BC)
Beginning just before the Predynastic period, Egyptian culture was already
beginning to resemble greatly the Pharaonic ages that would soon come
after, and rapidly at that. In a transition period of a thousand years
(about which little is still known), nearly all the archetypal characteristics
appeared, and beginning in 5500 BC we find evidence of organized, permanent
settlements focused around agriculture. Hunting was no longer a major
support for existence now that the Egyptian diet was made up of domesticated
cattle, sheep, pigs and goats, as well as cereal grains such as wheat
and barley. Artifacts of stone were supplemented by those of metal,
and the crafts of basketry, pottery, weaving, and the tanning of animal
hides became part of the daily life. The transition from primitive nomadic
tribes to traditional civilization was nearly complete.
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- One of the most interesting aspects of
the transition period is the shift in burial customs. Previous to the
permanent settlements, most burials were done where it was convenient,
often in a centrally-located cemetery near to or inside the settlement,
such as the cemeteries at Jebel Sahaba. As the seasonal hunting camps
grew into more stable agricultural villages, burial sites and practices
changed. Cemeteries and single graves were no longer located near the
living, but were placed further and further away, both from the villages
as well as the cultivated land, most often on the very edge of what
would be considered the village's "territory." Even children,
formerly buried under the floor of their home, were now relegated to
these outer cemeteries. The reasons for this are unknown, but a growing
feeling of necrophobia, a fear of the dead, might be the cause, as is
often the case in many cultures. Practices too, changed. Here we see
the beginnings of the "life after death" beliefs that centuries
later, would make the ancient Egyptians famous. The dead were buried
with provisions for the journey into the next life, as well as pottery,
jewelry, and other artifacts to help them enjoy it. Offerings of cereals,
dried meat, and fruit were included, but hunting and farming implements
were also common (presumably so the dead would not starve after having
eaten all the offerings). Even then, the Egyptians believed that the
next life would be very much like this one. Interestingly enough, the
dead were buried in a fetal position, surrounded by the burial offerings
and artifacts, facing west, all prepared for the journey to the world
of the dead, where the sun shone after leaving the world of the living.
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- The Chalcolithic period, also called
the "Primitive" Predynastic, marks the beginning of the true
Predynastic cultures both in the north and in the south. The southern
cultures, particularly that of the Badarian, were almost completely
agrarian (farmers), but their northern counterparts, such as the Faiyum
who were oasis dwellers, still relied on hunting and fishing for the
majority of their diet. Predictably, the various craftworks developed
along further lines at a rapid pace. Stoneworking, particularly that
involved in the making of blades and points, reached a level almost
that of the Old Kingdom industries that would follow. Furniture too,
was a major object of creation, again, many artifacts already resembling
what would come. Objects began to be made not only with a function,
but also with an aesthetic value. Pottery was painted and decorated,
particularly the black-topped clay pots and vases that this era is noted
for; bone and ivory combs, figurines, and tableware, are found in great
numbers, as is jewelry of all types and materials. It would seem that
while the rest of the world at large was still in the darkness of primitivism,
the Predynastic Egyptians were already creating a world of beauty.
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- Somewhere around 4500 BC is the start
of the "Old" Predynastic, also known as the Amratian period,
or simply as Naqada I, as most of the sites from this period date to
around the same time as the occupation of the Naqada site. The change
that is easiest to see in this period is in the pottery. Whereas before
ceramics were decorated with simple bands of paint, these have clever
geometric designs inspired by the world around the artist, as well as
pictures of animals, either painted on or carved into the surface of
the vessel. Shapes too, became more varied, both for practical reasons
depending on what the vessel was used for, and aesthetic reasons. Decorative
clay objects were also popular, particularly the "dancer"
figurines, small painted figures of women with upraised arms. Yet perhaps
the most important detail of all about this period is the development
of true architecture. Like most of Egyptian culture, we have gleaned
much of our knowledge from what the deceased were buried with, and in
this case, we have several clay models of houses discovered in the graves
that resemble the rectangular clay brick homes of the Old Kingdom. This
shows that the idea of individual dwellings, towns, and "urban
planning" started around 4500 BC!
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- The third stage of the Predynastic period
is dated to around 4000 BC and is labeled the Gerzean period or Naqada
II. Amratian and Gerzean are vastly different from one another, and
one can see the growing influence of the peoples of the North on those
of the South. Soon this would result in a truly mixed people and culture,
that of the Late Predynastic, or Naqada III. The greatest difference
between the Amratian and the Gerzean peoples can be seen in their ceramics
industries. While Amratian pottery did have some decorative aspects,
its primary purpose was functional. Gerzean pottery, on the other hand,
was developed along decorative lines. Gerzean pottery is adorned with
organic-inspired geometric motifs, and highly realistic depictions of
animals, people, and the many other things that surrounded the Gerzean
people. There are more than a few surprises in the motifs, however.
Unusual animals such as ostriches and ibexes give clues to a possibility
that the Gerzeans hunted in the sub-desert, as such animals were not
to be found near the Nile. We also find what are possibly the first
representations of gods, almost always shown riding in boats and carrying
standards that greatly resemble the later standards that would represent
the various provinces of Egypt. It is possible too, that these are simply
some form of historical records (visits of chieftains, battles, perhaps?),
but as they are almost always painted on votive artifacts buried with
the dead, the plausible explanation points to the sacred.
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- When compared to the Pharaonic periods,
the Gerzean culture is not much dissimilar, having reached a high level
of civilization, especially in is religious aspects, and particularly
in those dealing with funerary customs. Amratian burials were most often
simply a pit in the ground, covered over by a skin-covered framework,
but with the Gerzean, tomb-building became a foreshadowing of what was
to come, with furnished underground rooms, near replicas of the dwelling
that the deceased had occupied in life. Amulets and other ceremonial
objects, many of which depict the early animal-form gods of the Gerzeans,
are also prolific in these tombs. The Gerzean form of the afterlife
would eventually grow into the Cult of Osiris and the magnificent burials
of the Dynasties.
- Previously it was believed that the transition
between Predynastic and Dynastic was the result of a brutal series of
revolutions and warfare brought about as a result of the discovery of
metallurgy and the new social structures such as cities, individual
dwellings, and writing. Yet as more and more details of this time period
are uncovered, we see that it was nothing of the sort, but rather the
slow process of technological evolution. The above-mentioned new technologies
could be Mesopotamian in origin, as they are found there earlier than
they are in Egypt, yet there is little proof of this. About the only
Mesopotamian artifacts found in Egypt proper are cylinder seals, and
these only point to a strictly commercial-political connection. A few
artifacts of Egyptian origin do bear Mesopotamian design traits, but
again, this could be the result of an eager artist copying an imported
artifact.
- It is of course their writing system
that is the Egyptian hallmark, but where did it begin, and when? Some
have said that writing was imported, but after a brief study of the
motifs found on ceramics from the Naqada periods we can discard this
as only a remote possibility. The pottery motifs evolve distinctly over
a period of time into a regular set of images that greatly resemble
the traditional hieroglyphics. Already they show the fundamental principle
of hieroglyphic writing, that of the combination of pictograms and phonograms.
A pictogram is an actual representation of the item it represents. In
such a system, the pictogram for a man is a picture of a human figure,
the pictogram for water is a picture of water. A phonogram is a picture
that stands not for its image, but for a sound or set of sounds. For
example, the picture of a water bird might mean sa, and the
word sa would not mean "bird" but
"child," or sa even might be combined with other
phonograms to create a larger word. Such systems of writing exist even
today. Japanese, with its combination of a phonetic alphabet with a
set of complex characters that can mean either a sound or an entire
word, is a perfect example. These symbols found on pottery and other
artifacts of the Amratian period might be writing, but by the Gerzean
they most definitely are a form of writing.
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- No time of the Predynastic offers as
many questions as the period of unification of southern and northern
Egypt. Exactly who conquered whom is the first. Many sources point to
the event as the victory of the south over the north, yet the resulting
social system resembles more that of the north than the south. Kurt
Sethe and Hermann Kees, among the first to draw conclusions about this
period came up with a combination of both theories: that Egypt was first
unified under the north, but for one reason or another collapsed and
the power was picked up by the southern kings, who kept the original
form of government set up by the north. Recent archaeological evidence
is beginning to discredit this, but it still seems to be among the most
logical explanations. Another theory is that the south conquered the
north, but adopted much of the northern culture into their own. This
is not unusual in the least when dealing with Egypt. The Ptolemies were
the Greek rulers of Egypt after Alexander the Great, yet they absorbed
as much of the Egyptian culture as they could, calling themselves Pharaohs
and even being buried according to Egyptian custom instead of Greek.
- Exactly who the first king of unified
Egypt was is also difficult to say, or even when the actual unification
occurred. The most powerful piece of data on this event is the Narmer
Palette, a triangular piece of black basalt depicting a king whose name
is given as Nar-Mer in the hieroglyphs. On the obverse he is
shown wearing the white crown of the south and holding a mace about
to crush the head of a northern foe, and on the reverse, the same figure
is shown wearing the red crown of the north while a bull (a symbol of
the pharaoh's power) rages below him, smashing the walls of a city and
trampling yet another foe. Another artifact, the "Scorpion"
Macehead, depicts a similar figure, only this time the name is given
by the pictogram of a scorpion. This king-figure is called in many documents
alternatively Narmer, or Aha, and if the historian Eratosthenes is to
be believed, this is the legendary king Meni, or Menes. Whether "King
Scorpion" is the same person as Narmer is a bit of contention,
but the two are widely accepted to be the same. If these two artifacts,
and others like them from the same period, do in fact depict this as
the first king of unified Egypt, then the date for the Unification can
be placed sometime between 3150 and 3110 BC.
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