Predynastic Egypt

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• History of Egypt
• History of Ancient Egypt

Neolithic

3200 BC: Negada III or Protodynastic

Negada III - Semain or Protodynastic period (c. 3200-3100/3000 BC).

King Scorpio II - the possible ruler of Nehen and the unifier of Egypt

Main article: Nehen (Hieraconpol)

The tip of the Scorpio II mace found in Nehen

Libyan pallet with the motive for paying taxes from the territories of the future Libya

The Libyan pallet, also known as the Tehenu pallet, is the surviving lower part of a stone cosmetic pallet with carved decoration and hieroglyphic writing. It dates from the Negad III period, or Protodynastic period of Egypt (c. 3200-3000 BC). She was found in Abydos.

Libyan pallet. Negada III, c. 3200-3000 BC Slate, 19 x 22 cm. From Abydos. Egyptian Museum, Cairo.

The pallet is dedicated to the payment of taxes by the people of the territory that later became known as Libya. These lands were already famous at that time for high quality olive oil.

The palette is decorated with intricate carvings and is believed to have been used to grind and mix cosmetics or pigments. Paletka is named after the Libyan people, who were a group of ancient North African tribes that had ties to ancient Egypt.

On one side is a scene of animals walking around. Below is an orchard with olive trees and the hieroglyphic inscription thnw or tjehenw (usually transcribed as tehenu), most likely the toponym of the Western Nile Delta or, according to most scholars, what was later associated with Libya.

On the back of the pallet, we see the square outlines of the seven fortresses. Above each is a symbol of a god or goddess such as a hawk, lioness, and scorpion; they are all symbols of power and kingship, and each holds a hoe while performing the foundation ceremony of a city or fortress.

A pallet with two dogs at the Choir Temple in Nehen

A pallet with two dogs was found in Nehen (Hieraconpol) e by British archaeologists James Quibell and Frederick W. Green in the so-called Main Vault of the Choir Temple during excavations in 1897-1898. For more details, see Nehen (Hieraconpol).

A pallet with two dogs is part of the collection of the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford

Hathor cult in Iun-ta-necherta (Dendera)

Main article: Kena

The main local deity in Dendera iskoni was the goddess Hathor, whose name (Ht-Hr) means "the dwelling of the [god] Choir."

The cult of Hathor, the "mistress of Dendera," dates back to ancient times, to the time of the "servants of the Choir" (according to the Egyptian written tradition), that is, to the era preceding the unification of Egypt. For more on the Hathor cult, see Ken.

The Custom of Eating Your Enemies

The "Pyramid Texts" in the well-known "cannibal hymn" contains a valuable indication of the custom of eating their enemies, resulting in the winner allegedly acquiring the qualities of a slain enemy desired for him. This is, without a doubt, religious and magical cannibalism. It can be seen from the text that such a custom was practiced during the separate existence of Upper and Lower ^[1] of ^[2]

The "Cannibal Hymn" is a famous magical funeral text designed to help the Spiritual Essence of the deceased pharaoh overcome all possible obstacles to his final deification and "Vossiania" in the Other World - a fragment from the "Texts of the Pyramids" (ch. 273-274), carved on the eastern pediment (ch. 273-276) of the front room of the Pyramid of Unas (or Unis, pharaoh of the V dynasty) in Sakkar.

Hieroglyphic text of the "Cannibal Hymn" from the Pyramid of Unas

"273 (§393a -403b) The sky is cloudy, the stars are extinguishing, the celestial space is shaking, the bones of the Horizons are shaking, gnmw are silent when they see Unis [cf. Another version of the translation: 'The sky is drawn, the stars have faded ,/The celestial arch is shaking, the bones of Acker are shaking -/And everything froze in silence, -/They saw Unis ,/the rising ba...' quote. ^[3]

bA appears as a god feeding on his fathers, feeding on his mothers. Unis is the lord of teaching. His mother does not know his name. Honoring Unis in heaven. His strength in Achet. Like Atum, his father, who gave birth to him. Although he (Atum) gave birth to him, he (Unis) is stronger than him. Unis' kAw forces around him. His Hmwst [in the 'Texts of the Pyramids' - the Life Force personified in the image of the Goddess and the magical defense associated with Ka - approx. V.] under his feet. His gods are on his head. His Urei is on his hair. Unis's guide snake on his forehead, the one that sees the bA, Urey, belching the flames. Unis's power protects him. Unis is the bull of heaven in his heart, feeding on the form of any god: those who eat their insides, those who returned from the island of fire with their bodies full of magic. The Unis is equipped, connecting its Axw. Unis appears as this Veliky, Lord 'in the place of the hand'. He sits, his back (directed) to Geb. This is Unis - the one who judges with 'The one whose name is hidden' on this day of the murder of the elders (gods). Unis is the lord of the victims, tying a rope, making his own food. Unis is the one who eats people, the one who feeds on gods, the lord of messengers who send messages. This is' Grabbing (by) hair, being in kHAw ', the one who catches it with an arch for Unis. This is the snake 'Raising the head', the one who guards them for him, the one who restrains them for him. 'Being on the Willows', the one who binds them for him. Honsu [(xnzw) 'The Traveler'; subsequently the moon god, son of Amun and Mut] the killer of the gods, the one who coils their necks for Unis. He pulls out what's in their bodies for him. This is an errand, the one he sends for deterrence. This is Ssmw [Shezma, god of the press for squeezing butter], the one who kills them for Unis, the one who cooks food from them in his ovens for (cooking) dinner.

274 (§403c -414c) Unis is the one who eats their magic, the one who swallows their Axw. Their big ones are for his breakfast. Their average is for his dinner. Their little ones are for his night meal. Their old people and old women - to him for (fragrant) every day. Great ones from the northern sky, placing fire for him to the boilers that are under them, with the strong hands of their elders (as fuel?). The inhabitants of the sky serve as unis. Stoves are decorated for him with the legs of their wives. He went around two full skies. It is served by two banks, Unis is the'Great Power', (Unis) the most powerful. Unis is the holiest depiction of the Veliky. The one he finds in his path, he eats it raw. The defense of Unis is ahead of all the positions that Ahet has. Unis is the oldest god. Thousands serve him. Hundreds donate to him. Orion, the father of the gods, gave him a letter as' Great Power '. Unis repeated his appearance in the sky. He is crowned by the White Crown as' Lord Achet '. He counted the vertebrae of the spine. He took possession of the hearts [(HAtjw) 'anterior' - anatomical hearts, as opposed to the hearts of jbw] gods. He ate the Red Crown. He swallowed the Green (Goddess Ouajet). Unis feeds on the lungs of the sages. He's pleased as' feeding on their hearts [(HAtjw) 'front'] and magic '. Unis is disgusted when he licks the vomit masses in the Red Crown. Unis is pleased when their magic is in his body. Unis's privileges will not be taken away from him. He swallowed the sjA of every god. Eternal repetition is the length of Unis's life. Eternal uniformity is his limit, in this privilege of his' If he wants - he does if he doesn't want - he doesn't ', which is within Achet forever. Here's their bA in the body of Unis, their Axw with Unis, his food from the gods made from their bones. Here's their bA with Unis, their shadows (taken away) from those to whom they belong. Unis is this one, the one who appears, appears, who is hidden, hidden. He who does evil has no power to destroy the place of the heart (tomb) of Unis among those living in this land for ever and ever.

275 (§415a -416c) Unis came to you, O Falcons. Your yards are closed from Unis. His clothes on his back, made of jan baboon skin. Unis opens the door. Unis brought Achet to the borders. He threw his clothes on the ground there. Unis becomes the Veliky, located in Crocodilopol.

276 (§417a -b) What you do is against you. Your action is against you. O snake-zkzk, located in his cave, opponent ^[4].

Zooanthropomorphic creatures as mythological ancestors of tribal communities

On the monuments of fine art of pre-dynastic and early dynastic Egypt there are fantastic images that combine the features of an animal and a person or different animals. Numerous ethnological materials indicate that mythological ancestors of tribal communities were thought in such a guise. The connection of collectives with animals is mentioned in many myths in which totemic animals easily turn into humans and vice versa. The archaic complex of the first, demiurge, cultural hero with zooanthropomorphic nature was inherited in the form of remnants of totemism in the pantheons of cultures of the classical East. A prime example of this phenomenon is Egypt.

On ceremonial palettes, we see including the so-called sickles, fantastic animals with the body and head of a lion (lioness) or panther and a long neck in the form of a snake, as well as winged griffins with the body of a lion and the head of a falcon.

3600 BC: Negada II or Gerzean culture

Negada II - Gerzean culture (c. 3600-3200 BC).

3300 BC: Probable borrowing of writing from Mesopotamia

It is generally accepted that Egyptian hieroglyphs "appeared about a century after the Sumerian script and were probably invented under its influence," and that "it is very likely that the very idea of ​ ​ transmitting words of the language using writing was brought to Egypt from Sumerian Mesopotamia." In the initial stages, these two writing systems were very similar: they relied heavily on pictographic forms, and then a parallel system developed to denote phonetic sounds.

According to standard reconstructions of the development of writing, Sumerian protoclinography appeared before Egyptian hieroglyphs, and there is every reason to believe that the former influenced the latter.

However, there is no direct evidence that Mesopotamian writing influenced Egyptian, and "the origin of hieroglyphs in ancient Egypt has not been definitively established."

Writing in Egypt was first recorded in Abju (Abydos), where it was used for economic accounting. The first inscriptions are recorded on ceramic vessels, seals and small ivory labels that were attached to commercial containers. Dating - 3400-3200 but BC. e.

The images on some labels or tokens from Abju, Egypt date from about 3400-3200 BC.

Characteristically, Egyptian writing did appear "suddenly" at the time without any predecessors, while Mesopotamia, by contrast, already had a long evolutionary history of using signs in tokens, dating back to about 8000 BC, followed by protoclinopy. Pittman suggests that the clay tablets from Abju are virtually identical to the clay tablets from Uruk, Mesopotamia.

Cylindrical seals from Mesopotamia and Elam. Lapis lazuli from Afghanistan

In Egypt, cylindrical seals suddenly appear without any local predecessors around the time of Necad II c-d (3500-3300 BC). Their design is similar to that of seals from Mesopotamia, where they were invented at the beginning of the 4th millennium BC. e. For more details see Nehen (Hieraconpol).

Lapis lazuli was imported into Egypt in large quantities and was already used in many tombs of the Negad II period. Lapis lazuli was probably mined in the territory of modern northern Afghanistan, since other sources are not known. It had to be transported through the Iranian Highlands to Mesopotamia as part of an established trading network, and from there the Mesopotamians sold it to Egypt.

Imports in ceramic vessels from Mesopotamia and wine from the Levant

During the Nekad II period, jugs with spouts in the Mesopotamian style begin to appear in Egypt.

The evolution of the styles of Egyptian prehistoric ceramics from Necada I and Necada II and Necada III, with a vessel in the Mesopotamian style of Necada II with a straight spout, about 3500 BC. e.

In Egypt, various vases and containers made of Uruk ceramics were found in the contexts of Negada, which confirms the import of finished products from Mesopotamia to Egypt, although the contents of these vessels have not yet been established. Scientific analysis of ancient wine jars in Abju (Abydos) showed that during this period there was an active trade in wine with the Levant and Mesopotamia.

3400 BC: The heyday of Nehen (Hieraconpol) - the capital of Upper Egypt with a population of about 7 thousand people

Main article: Nehen (Hieraconpol)

The appearance of ceremonial palettes

From the second half of the IV millennium BC e., during the period of Negad II - Negad III (proto and early dynastic time), ceremonial palettes began to appear. They exceeded the size of the previously existing toilet palettes, were decorated with multi-figure compositions, becoming cult-memorific objects.

4000 BC: Negada I or Amrat Culture

Gold mining in Negada probably stimulates the formation of a proto-state

Main article: Kena

During archaeological excavations in Negada in 1893-1894, Petri discovered the ancient city of Nbwt, also called Ombos, during the Ptolemaic dynasty. Nbwt means "gold" or "gold [city]," as it was the center of the developing gold trade from Egypt's eastern desert . Gold mining could also stimulate the development of the first organized proto-state structures in Egypt.

The town was located on the Wadi-Hammamat caravan route leading from the Nile Valley to the Red Sea coast.

The necropolis, which was also used in the 1st dynasty, is located about 28 kilometers northwest of modern Luxor.

Wadi Hammamat. Reconstruction of Jean-Claude Golvin

Burials, according to Kaiser, can be divided into three very precise cultural phases: Negada I, II and III.

Map of the location of cultural monuments of Negada I

Negada I is an Amratian culture (c. 4000-3600 BC). Hoe farming, cattle breeding, hunting.

Cosmetic palettes for grinding green paint for ritual coloring of the eyelids

Ceremonial palettes descended from cosmetic ones, on which green paint ("malachite greens") was ground for ritual staining of the eyelids. The earliest specimens of cosmetic palettes come from the monuments of the cultures of Badari and Nagad I in Southern Egypt and the Buto-Maadi cultural complex in Northern Egypt and date back to the first half of the 4th millennium BC. ^[5].

The practice of painting the eyelids green is associated with the identification of the human eye and the sun (both seeing and shining was equivalent to life) and the mutual transfer of their properties. The sun as the most powerful source of light, as the heavenly eye for mythological thinking was the most adequate image of the creator god, which in the written period became the basis of solar theology.

Cosmetic palettes, as well as later ceremonial ones, were made from grauwacca, giving them the shape of geometric figures, animals, as well as birds, the symmetrical heads of which extended beyond the field of palettes.

Cosmetic palettes were widely used in pre-dynastic Egypt. They were flat, often made of stone or other materials. In the center, they usually had a shallow depression or hole, where cosmetics were rubbed with a pestle or spatula.

The designs and decorations on the palettes were varied, displaying intricate carvings and motifs that reflected the artistic styles of the time. Cosmetic palettes had cultural and symbolic significance in ancient Egyptian society and were often buried as tombstones with the deceased.

4500 BC: First settlement in the future city of Nehen

Main article: Nehen (Hieraconpol)

In the 5 millennium BC, the Egyptians built houses in burnt bricks and reeds, and erected tombs in which furniture was stored for the afterlife of the deceased. At the same time, the first attempts to preserve bodies after death are recorded.

4750: Ritual head from Merimde in the Western Nile Delta

Head from Merimde. Terracotta with traces of paint. Excavated by D. Poltz of the German Archaeological Institute in Cairo (DAIK) in 1982. Egyptian Museum, Cairo.

The clay head was found in one of the later layers of the settlement in Merimda Beni Salama, a village in the Western Nile Delta - the oldest settlement in Egypt (5500-4000 BC). The head is one of the earliest known images of a human head in Egypt.

The perfectly oval face has features in the form of depressions of various shapes and sizes, representing the eyes, nostrils and mouth. Only the nose is slightly embossed. It has been suggested that small holes scattered around the head, chin and cheeks once contained bundles of real hair that gave the head a masculine appearance.

There are traces of paint on the head, and there is a deep hole in the neck, into which a rod was probably stuck. If the head was attached to the rod in this way, it is possible that it served as the tip of the scepter used in magico-religious ceremonies.

This interpretation is based solely on anthropological parallels with modern rituals. In fact, there are very few such objects from such ancient times, and parallels cannot be found in prehistoric Egypt.

5000 BC

The start of the settlement of the Nile Delta with the beginning of its advance towards the sea

Geoarchaeological studies of the first two decades of the 21st century showed that people appeared in the Nile Delta with the beginning of its advance towards the sea about 7,000 years ago, and in the depths of the delta not earlier than 6500-6000 years ago.

Studies of animal and plant fossils found in the excavation showed that early settlers were most likely engaged in animal husbandry and only about 300 years later switched to farming. In earlier layers, archaeologists found a large number of remains of animal manure and wool, which is associated with the development of cattle breeding and the beginning of grazing of herd animals. In addition, the inhabitants of the region probably continued to hunt primitive bulls.

In the layers corresponding to the beginning of agriculture, cereal pollen, flax seeds and traces of extensive paleofires were found, and, judging by the analysis of the finds, agriculture was brought to the Nile Delta from the outside.

Badari culture

The heyday of Badari culture occurred in 4400-4000 BC, and its appearance can probably be attributed to 5000 BC.

Badari woman figure. Carving on the bone of a hippo, approx. 4000 BC e, British Museum.

Around the beginning of the 5th millennium BC, the ancestors of the Egyptians came from the west to Egypt, where tribes already lived, who brought settled irrigation agriculture from the Middle East, but did not know irrigation. The entire Nile Valley at this time is a crossroads of migrations.

Badaria Culture, Louvre

5300 BC: Population concentration in the Nile Valley, grain cultivation

In the 6 millennium BC, the Egyptians were already growing grain and using containers to store it.

Mesolith

5500 L BC: The onset of desertification in the central regions of the Sahara. Population migration to the north, west and east

About 7,500-7,000 years ago, after a short cooling of Mesocco, which almost arranged a repetition of the Ice Age, the rate of sea level rise slowed down to 1-2 mm per year, and desertification of the central regions began in the Sahara, which greatly contributed to the disintegration of the Afrasian language community. People were forced to migrate towards the outskirts of the Sahara:

• to the north - to the Atlas Mountains region,
• to the south - to the regions of the modern Sahel and Lake Chad, and
• to the east - into the Nile Valley, which, thanks to abundant sediment (silt and clay) from the Ethiopian Highlands, became more and more fertile and favorable for life.

6,000 BC: Dramatic rise in Mediterranean Sea levels forms fertile zone in Nile Valley

After the end of the ice age, the level of the world ocean and with it the level of the Mediterranean Sea rose sharply. In VII-VI thousand BC, this process stabilized at about 16 meters below modern sea level. After that, the water rose very slowly. This caused the elevation difference between the source and mouth of the Nile to decrease and the river's flow to slow. This, in turn, allowed various fractions in the water to settle more actively along the banks in the form of silt. The source material of these valuable elements comes from the Ethiopian highlands and is washed into the Blue Nile by rains.

This process explains why the nonlethal population appeared so late in the Nile Valley. Just before that, living conditions on the site of the modern western desert of Egypt were more comfortable for life. Therefore, at an earlier time, only temporary sites of hunter-gatherers were discovered on the banks of the Nile.

7500 L BC: Beginning of population migration from the Middle East to the Nile Valley

In the VIII-V millennium BC, tribes from Western Asia migrated to the Nile Valley through the Sinai and the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, a variety of anthropological types mixed here, forming a proto-Egyptian population.

8,000 L BC: Sea transgression sinks northern part of modern Egypt

At the beginning of the Holocene, about 11,700 years ago, the level of the Mediterranean Sea was at about 50-60 m below modern. However, the rate of its rise (10-15 mm per year) during the melting of glaciers was extremely high, and the coastline was unstable, and about 10 thousand years ago the sea transgression led to the flooding of the northern part of modern Egypt. On the site of the current delta, a vast estuary and shallow sea bays with swampy shores have formed.

People lived in the then green Sahara, which in the Neolithic subpluvial era was a fertile wet plain.

Paleolith

35 thousand hp: Remains in Nazlet Khater

The remains of a young man, 35 thousand years old, were discovered near the village of Nazlet Khater in Sohag province. The condition of the spine indicates that he tolerated severity. Stone tools were laid in the burial with the deceased.

55 thousand hp: The oldest human remains on the territory of Egypt in El Tarams

As of 2023, the oldest human remains found in Egypt date back 55 thousand years. The find was made in the village of El Taramsa in the Ken region.

Chalk

Main article: The history of the Earth before the appearance of hominids

94 million hp

Continents 94 million hp

95 million hp: Tameriraptor

Tameriraptor is a dangerous predator about 10 meters in length, had an unusual bone elevation on the nose and lived about 95 million years ago in the territory of modern Egypt among mangroves and savannas.

Notes