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Volume 14 issue 4 February 2104

ANCIENT EGYPT explores the WORLD WIDE WEB ...

REVISIONS TO PRE-DYNASTIC PERIOD DATING

In recent months, new research has been published on the earliest periods of Egyptian history and as a result the dates of the Pre-Dynastic period (previously considered 4500-3100 BC) have been revised. In view of these changes, and as the result of readers’ requests, NETFISHING is undergoing a ‘re-boot’ and will embark upon ‘a fresh look’ at Egyptian history.

The earliest period of Egyptian history laid the foundations for the remarkable civilisation 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 B.C.) 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 excavated settlement sites that provide the names of the different eras which make up what we now call the Pre-Dynastic Period.

Conventionally, these different eras would have been described as:

Badarian which dates from around 4500 to 4000 BC

Naqada I (or Amratian) occupied from around 4000 to 3500 BC

Naqada II (or Gerzean) which was dated from around 3500 to 3100 BC.

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

New research undertaken by a team led by Dr. Michael Dee, from the University of Oxford, has shown that the dates given above most probably cover too long a period and that the entire Pre-Dynastic Period should actually be shortened to cover c.3800 to 3111 instead.

Refer: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-23947820

http://www.sci-news.com/archaeology/science-timeline-ancient-egypt-first-dynasty-01357.html

http://royalsociety.org/news/2013/early-egyptian-timeline/

http://c14.arch.ox.ac.uk/embed.php?File=egypt.html

An outline of the general historical development of the Pre-Dynastic period can be found at:

www.touregypt.net/featurestories/predynastic.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prehistoric_Egypt

http://www.egyptvoyager.com/predynastic%20_1.htm

http://archaeology-easterndesert.com/html/predynastic.html

http://www.cemml.colostate.edu/cultural/09476/egypt02-02enl.html

What we know of each period is largely determined by the remains left in the cemeteries at 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 Pre-Dynastic Period are the slate palettes that were carved from greywacke and were used as a smooth surface upon which to grind eye makeup. 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 become intricately carved and used as votive offerings in the temples. Refer:

http://xoomer.virgilio.it/francescoraf/hesyra/palettes.htm

Naqada II culture is discussed at:

www.digitalegypt.ucl.ac.uk//naqada/index.html

and www.digitalegypt.ucl.ac.uk//naqadan/background.html

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

The remains of the ‘southern capital’ city of Hierakonpolis are certainly the most important of all the Pre-Dynastic sites to 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 Egyptian Museum in Cairo. 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; this can be found at:

http://www.hierakonpolis-online.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. 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 is shown on the Narmer Palette, and thus Egyptologists often equate the mythical king Menes with the historical attested King Narmer. Refer:

www.touregypt.net/featurestories/narmer.htm

Victor Blunden

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