Predynastic Egypt? |
Did you mean | Travel | Economics | Finance | Marketing | Business | Culture | Geography | History | Life | Mathematics | Science | Society | Technology | New site added |
| Add a link on the top of this Predynastic Egypt page Express submission by secure payment ! |
| Dynasties of Pharaohs in Ancient Egypt |
| Predynastic Egypt |
| Protodynastic Period |
| Early Dynastic Period |
| 1st 2nd |
| Old Kingdom |
| 3rd 4th 5th 6th |
| First Intermediate Period |
| 7th 8th 9th 10th |
| 11th (Thebes only) |
| Middle Kingdom |
| 11th (All Egypt) |
| 12th 13th 14th |
| Second Intermediate Period |
| 15th 16th 17th |
| New Kingdom |
| 18th 19th 20th |
| Third Intermediate Period |
| 21st 22nd 23rd 24th 25th |
| Late Period |
| 26th 27th 28th |
| 29th 30th 31st |
| Græco-Roman Period |
| Ptolemaic Roman Empire |
The Predynastic Period of Egypt (prior to 3100 BC) is the period that culminates in the rise of the Old Kingdom and the first of the thirty dynasties based on royal residences, by which Egyptologists divide the history of pharaonic civilization using a schedule laid out first by Manetho's Aegyptaica. The structure of the nomes, into which Egypt was divided, predates the First Dynasty, and there are inscriptions of pre-dynastic kings such as Narmer. Early excavations of pre-dynastic sites were pursued in the 19th century at Naqada, Abydos, Coptos, and Hierakonpolis. While many authorities begin this prehistoric period with the Naqada culture, others place its beginnings in the Lower Paleolithic.
Have to see |
Contents |
|
Late Neolithic
Anthropological and archaeological evidence both indicate a graina href="Grinding.html" title="Grinding">grinding Neolithic culture farming along the Nile in the 10th millennium BC using the world's earliest known type of sickle blades. But another culture of hunters, fishers and gathering peoples using stone tools replaced them.
Late Lower Paleolithic
Evidence indicates human habitation in the southwestern corner of Egypt, near the Sudan border, before 8000 BC.
Climate changes and/or overgrazing around 8000 BC began to desiccate the pastoral lands of Egypt, eventually forming the Sahara (c. 2500 BC), and early tribes naturally migrated to the Nile river where they developed a settled agricultural economy and more centralized society.
There is evidence of pastoralism and cultivation of cereals in the East Sahara in the 7th millennium BC.
Domesticated animals had already been imported from Asia between 7500 BC and 4000 BC (see Sahara: History, Cattle period). Interestingly, the domestication of the pig (see 1) in the Sahara and ancient Egypt has been cited as a likely primary contributor to the desertification of the Sahara (see Sahara Desert (ecoregion)).
The earliest known artwork of ships in ancient Egypt dates to 6000 BCE (reference: 'Britannica subscribers only').
6th millennium BC
By 6000 BC predynastic Egyptians in the southwestern corner of Egypt were herding cattle and constructing large buildings.
Subsistence in organized and permanent settlements in ancient Egypt by the middle of the 6th millennium BC centered predominantly on cereal and animal agriculture: cattle, goats, pigs and sheep 2. Metal objects replaced prior ones of stone 3. Tanning animal skins, pottery and weaving are commonplace in this era also 4. There are indications of seasonal or only temporary occupation of the Al Fayyum in the 6th millennium BC, with food activities centering on fishing, hunting and food-gathering 5. Stone arrowheads, knives and scrapers are common 6.
Burial items in this era include pottery, jewelry, farming and hunting equipment, and assorted foods including dried meat and fruit 7. The dead are buried facing due west 8.
Baskets of exceedingly high quality date to circa 5000 BC 9.
5th millennium BC
Items dating to this era of the Al Fayyum (5200 BCa href="4000_BC_243d.html" title="4000 BC">4000 BC) include: axes of basalt, dolerite and limestone 10; a diorite mace head; dolerite vase; a wooden sickle 11 and sickle blades 12; arrowheads 13; stone palettes and grain rubbers; silos 14; dishes, cups, bowls and pots 15; as well as beads of amazonite (feldspar) 16.
The Badarian way of life centered mostly on agriculture, fishing and animal husbandry (see Badarian). Foreign artifacts indicate distant contacts as far away as Syria 17. Furniture, tableware, decorated pots and vases, combs and figurines all appear around this time 18. Social stratification has been inferred from the burying of more prosperous members of the community in a different part of the cemetery (see Badarian).
Around 4500 BC the Naqada culture begins, with geometric, human- and animal-shaped designs adorning pottery, both carved and painted 19. Shapes of vessels become specialized depending on function 20. Models of rectangular houses (included in grave goods) also appear in this era 21.
A finely woven linen fragment in the Al Fayyum dates to 4400 BC 22.
By 4000 BC we have evidence of pre-dynastic alchemists having invented the use of mortar (masonry) (see Alchemy in Ancient Egypt) via one of the oldest known of chemical reactions (see calcium oxide).
Domestication of the donkey around 4000 BC is cred to Egypt (see Domestication).
4th millennium BC
By 4000 BC human, animal, and other designs on pottery become more realistic 23. Tombuilding appears in the Gerzean culture, including underground rooms with furniture and amulets 24. Gerzean practices would later evolve into the Osiris cult of ancient Egypt 25. Symbols on Gerzean pottery resemble traditional hieroglyph writing 26.
By the beginning of the 4th millennium BC, ancient Egyptians in Maadi were importing numerous items of pottery from south Naqada and Canaan 27. The economy of Maadi seems to have centered on metallurgy and foreign trade 28. Many vessels made of black basalt also appear at this time 29. There is evidence of the use of wooden posts in Maadi, maybe for buildings and/or fences. Also found are fire places and pits 30.
The earliest known buildings of stone to appear in ancient Egypt date to this era in Maadi, including one subterranean building that was constructed by covering walls of stone with Nile mud, another building thats entrance seems to have been fashioned by carving the local bedrock, and other building designs which also reveal distant southern Canaanite contact 31.
Lapis lazuli was being traded from its only known source in the ancient world – Badakshan, in what is now northeastern Afghanistan – as far as Mesopotamia and Egypt by the second half of the 4th millennium BC. There is evidence that ancient Egyptian explorers may have originally cleared and protected some branches of the Silk Road. Between 1979 and 1985, charcoal samples found in the tombs of Nekhen, which were dated to the Naqada I and II periods, were identified as cedar from Lebanon 32.
Timeline
Predynastic
- (All dates are approximate)
- 9500 BC - (Neolithic) Sickle blades, world's earliest known (see Civilization)
- 8000 BC - early tribes migrate to the Nile, developing a settled agricultural economy and more centralized society
- 7th millennium BC - domesticated animals imported from Asia between 7500 and 4000 BC (see Sahara: History, Cattle period)
- 7th millennium BC - Pastoralism and cultivation of cereals in East Sahara
- 6000 BC - artwork of ships (see above, Late Lower Paleolithic)
- 5th millennium BC - foreign artifacts in the Badarian culture indicate contact with distant Syria 33
- 5th millennium BC - Furniture, tableware, models of rectangular houses, pots, vases, figurines, combs 34
- 4500 BC - Geometric designs adorning Naqada pottery 35
- 4400 BC - finely woven linen fragment in the Al Fayyum 36
- 4000 BC - Gerzean pottery hieroglyph writing, world's earliest known form 37
- 4000 BC - Harps, world's earliest known
- 4000 BC - Flutes (see Music of Egypt)
- 4000 BC - early form of Medicine, 38
- 4000 BC - Donkey domesticated
- 4000 BC - Iron works (see Iron Age)
- 4000 BC - Mortar (masonry), world's earliest known
- 4000 BC - Alchemy (see Alchemy in Ancient Egypt)
- 4000 BC - Cosmetics, world's earliest known (antimony)
- 4000a href="3200_BC_ed55.html" title="3200 BC">3200 BC - Cedar imported from Lebanon, 39
- 3800 BC - possible maritime travels to England (see Sweet Track)
- 3500 BC - possible Silk Road expansion (see Silk Road)
- 3500 BC - Lapis lazuli imported from Badakshan and/or Mesopotamia (see Silk Road)
- 3500 BC - Double clarinets, Lyres (see Music of Egypt)
- 3500 BC - Faience, world's earliest known
Dynastic
See main article and timeline: Ancient Egypt.
- 3050 BC (and perhaps before) - Shipbuilding in Abydos, 40
External links
- Encyclopædia Britannica: "ship," from Encyclopædia Britannica Premium Service.
- Francesco Raffaele, "Late predynastic and early dynastic Egypt"
 |