Contacts

Ancient Egypt Magazine

Volume 6 issue 1 August/September 2005

NETFISHING
In the past NETFISHING has looked at various different themes and topics in discussing what the World Wide Web has to say about ancient Egypt. This issue marks the start of a new series looking at Egyptian history in a more chronological manner – starting with the Pre-Dynastic Period (4500-3100 BC).

ANCIENT EGYPT explores the WORLD WIDE WEB ...

THE PRE-DYNASTIC PERIOD – ON THE NET Many people tend to overlook the earliest periods of Egyptian civilization due to their fascination with either the Pyramids of the Old Kingdom or with the stunning artwork and religious developments of the New Kingdom. Even so we should not overlook the earliest period of Egyptian history, which laid the foundations for the remarkable civilization which was to follow.

The Kings of the Pharaonic age formed the Dynasties we know so well, and so anything prior to the reign of these Pharaohs (whose rule is generally said to begin around 3100 BC) is referred to as the Pre-Dynastic Period.

Human settlement in the Nile Valley can be traced back to around 5000 BC, when, as the climate of Africa became dryer, hunter-gathers followed their animal prey and moved into the river valley. Men formed more settled communities as farming developed, and it is these settlement sites that provided the names of the different eras that make up what we now call the Pre-Dynastic Period.

The earliest Period is referred to as the Badarian, which dates from around 4500-4000 BC; the next period is referred to as Naqada I, or Amratian, as both of these sites were occupied from c. 4000-3500 BC. Likewise the Naqada II (or Gerzean) Period dates to around 3500-3100 BC.

The exact date when Egypt was unified under a single king cannot be determined with accuracy and so some authorities refer to a Dynasty ‘0’, which is dated to the hundred years from 3100-3000 BC – by which time the unification had been achieved and Egypt was governed by one single ruler, or ‘pharaoh’, as we were to later call them.

An outline of the general historical development of this period can be found at several web-sites, such as: www.touregypt.net/featurestories/predynastic.htm  or http://showcase.netins.net/web/ankh/predynastic.html whilst more detailed discussions can be found at: www.touregypt.net/ebph5.htm or www.egyptvoyager.com/predynastic%20_1.htm  or www.asian-center.net/ancienthistory/ch3.html 

What we know of each period is largely determined by the remains left in the cemeteries of each site and so a discussions of the burial customs of the Pre-Dynastic Period can be found at: www.digitalegypt.ucl.ac.uk/burialcustoms/predynastic.html 

whilst examples of the distinctive pottery of the period can be found at: www.digitalegypt.ucl.ac.uk//naqadan/pottypes.html 

Some of the most distinctive artefacts of the period are the slate palettes, which were carved from greywacke stone and were used as a smooth surface to grind eye makeup upon. These show a distinctive development, in that they were rhomboid in shape in the Naqada I Period and became animal-shaped in the Naqada II Period. As we move from the end of the Pre-Dynastic period (Dynasty ‘0’) into the First Dynasty, many palettes were intricately carved and used as votive offerings in the temples. Examples of a large number of these differing ‘slate palettes’ can be studied at: http://xoomer.virgilio.it/francescoraf/hesyra/palettes.htm 

Other items found in the tombs were expertly knapped flint knives, an excellent example of which can be seen at: http://lithiccastinglab.com/gallery-pages/2000octobergerzean.htm 

Female statuettes (servant or concubine figures?) were sometimes also discovered in the Pre-Dynastic tombs and an overview of the artistic merits of these statuettes can be found at: http://artworld.uea.ac.uk/teaching_modules/egypt/the_human_body/3d_predynastic_period/welcome.html

A full discussion of the Gerzean (Naqada II) culture can be found at: www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/cultural/oldworld/africa/gerzean_culture.htm whilst the site of Naqada itself can be studied at: www.digitalegypt.ucl.ac.uk/naqada 

Further information about the Naqada culture is available from the UCL site at: www.digitalegypt.ucl.ac.uk//naqadan/background.html

The most famous tomb of the period is undoubtedly Tomb 100 at Hierakonpolis itself. Information about this, now lost, tomb can be found at: www.digitalegypt.ucl.ac.uk/hierakonpolis/tomb100

The remains of the ‘Southern Capital’ city of Hierakonpolis are certainly the most important of all the Pre-Dynastic sites that have been studied. The excavations there have revealed many important finds, notably the Narmer palette and the famous gold hawk cult-statue, both now in the Cairo Museum. An overview of the important of the ‘City of the Hawk’, Hierakonpolis, can be found at: www.touregypt.net/featurestories/hierakonpolis.htm

whilst the web-site of the Hierakonpolis expedition is one that should not be missed, and this can be found at: www.hierakonpolis.org

It is apparent that the kings of Hierakonpolis made concerted efforts to conquer the Northern Kingdom of the Delta, and in this they were eventually successful. A king Scorpion (refer: www.touregypt.net/featurestories/scorpionking.htm) was certainly active in this conquest but the final victory is accredited to a mythical king called Menes (refer: www.touregypt.net/featurestories/menes1.htm).

The earliest archaeological evidence for one king ruling both of the Two Lands, and wearing both the red and white crowns, is to be found on the Narmer Palette, however, and thus Egyptologists often equate the mythical king Menes with the historically attested King Narmer (refer: www.touregypt.net/featurestories/narmer.htm) and link them together as one and the same person.

With the conquest of the Northern Kingdom of the Delta by the Kings of Hierakonpolis Egypt was finally unified and the Dynastic Period of Egyptian history could begin.

Back to Ancient Egypt Magazine - Volume 6 Issue 1 contents

Return to Home 

e- mail to: [email protected]

with questions or comments about Ancient Egypt Magazine.

or for sales, subscriptions, back numbers and advertising