The Predynastic Period
The term “Predynastc Period” is used for
all the ages of which we have settlements or cemeteries prior to the First
Dynasty. It is during this period, which ended at about 3200 B.C., that metals
were discovered and used. The first to be used were gold, silver and copper,
all three of which occur naturally in the country, gold and silver in the
metallic state, and copper as an ore.
The Egyptians had then also discovered
that the solar year consisted of 365 days approximately and it seems likely
that the calendar was introduced in
4241 B.C.
The inhabitants lived in reed, wattle and
daub huts nearer the Nile river than those of the previous period owing to the
fact that rainfall had diminished and the swamps near the river had almost
wholly disappeared as a results of the alluvial deposits of Nile
clay for thousands of years.
The Predynastic Egyptians were herdsmen, keeping goats and cattle, and agricultures, growing emmer wheat,
millet and barley. They wore both linen and skin garments, and adorned
themselves with beads of gold, faience and hard precious or semi-precious
stones. Elaborate ivory combs were worn in the hair, and the eyes were outlined
in green paint, which was ground on stone palettes cut and polished in the
forms of fish and other animals. They were also great hunters, especially of hippopotami and elephants, which were valued
for their ivory.
It is surprising to what an extent trade had developed at this early
period; thus the lapis-lazuli stone and coniferous wood must have come from Asia . There is evidence that the Qift-Quseir route to the
Red Sea was also known.
The Predynastic Egyptians buried their
dead in a crouched position, suggesting natural sleep, and with them were
placed their possessions and food, so that their spirit which was thought to
live in the tomb should not lack the necessaries of life. Of their religious
conceptions little is known, but it can be inferred that many of the
animal-headed gods of later times were derived from the gods of the various
Predynastic tribes.
By
about 5500 BC, small tribes living in the Nile valley
had developed into a series of cultures demonstrating firm control of
agriculture and animal husbandry, and identifiable by their
pottery and personal items, such as combs, bracelets, and beads. The largest of
these early cultures in Upper Egypt , the Badari, was
known for its high quality ceramics, stone tools,
and its use of copper.
In Northern Egypt , the Badari was followed by Amratian
and Gerzian cultures which showed a number of technological
improvements. In Gerzian times, early evidence exists of contact with Canaan and the Byblos
In
southern Egypt , the Naqada culture,
similar to the Badari, began to expand along the Nile
by about 4000 BC. As early as the Naqada I Period, predynastic
Egyptians imported obsidian from Ethiopia, used to shape blades and other
objects from flakes.
Over
a period of about 1,000 years, the Naqada culture developed from a few
small farming communities into a powerful civilization whose leaders were in
complete control of the people and resources of the Nile
valley. Establishing a power center at Hierakonpolis,
and later at Abydos, Naqada III leaders expanded their control of Egypt northwards along the Nile.
They also traded with Nubia
to the south, the oases of the western desert
to the west, and the cultures of the eastern Mediterranean to the east.
The
Naqada culture manufactured a diverse array of material goods, reflective of
the increasing power and wealth of the elite, which included painted pottery,
high quality decorative stone vases, cosmetic palettes, and jewelry made of
gold, lapis lazuli, and ivory. They also developed a ceramic glaze
known as faience. During the last predynastic phase, the
Naqada culture began using written symbols which would eventually evolve into a
full system of hieroglyphs for writing the ancient
Egyptian language.
Towards the end of this period, Egypt was divided into two kingdoms, Upper and Lower Egypt . Upper Egypt
extended from the Fayum in the north to Asswan in the south while Lower Egypt
consisted of Memphis Lower Egypt .
In very early times the capital of Upper Egypt was Ombos
(Kom Ombo) where the chief deity was the god Seth; its crown, the white
crown and its symbol, the lotus
plant. The capital of Lower Egypt was Behdet (Damanhour); its cheif god Horus; its crown the red crown and its symbol, the papyrus plant.
At a later period Nekhen or Hieraconpolis (near Edfu) became the capital of Upper
Egypt while Buto (near Dessuk) became
the capital of Lower Egypt . The
vulture-goddess (Nekhbet)
and the serpent-goddess (Wadjet)
became the respective deities of the two capitals.
Hierakonpolis has been
producing much evidence of its being an important center. It was a major
urbanized center of the Naqada culture and a residence of powerful Upper
Egyptian chiefs. The two-sided Narmer palette, for example, is
interpreted as being a thanks-offering for the successful definitive victory of
the southern over the northern kingdoms.
The unification of Egypt
The unification of
Egypt
•
One: spread of a uniform material
culture, as evidenced by the diffusion of products characteristic of the Naqada
culture.
•
Two: the establishment of unified
political control.
With the
Unification of Upper and Lower Egypt the Dynastic Period begins, as the whole land of Egypt
was for the first time under the control of one ruler who became the king of
Upper and Lower Egypt .
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