Neolithic Egypt (up to 8000-3000 BCE) - Ancient History: Egypt

WMF Petrie, a well known Egyptologist, developed Sequence Dating among his other systematic methods for archaeology. Sequence dating uses pottery and ceramics found in archaeological layers to date the relative age of a settlement as compared to others in the region. Throughout the Predynastic period, handles and decorations on pottery evolved to become more ornamental, and so it is possible do deduce the relative age of a culture based on how decorative its pottery was.

The main results of the beginning of agriculture were the crops of wheat, barley, and herbs. This phenomenon of agriculture replaced the prior theme of hunting and gathering. This allowed the people to supplement their diets and spend more time of the development of culture and civilization rather than spending all their time hunting and gathering.

A hieroglyph is an ancient form of writing in which pictures represent words, syllables, or sounds. Hieroglyphs emerged during the Neolithic Era and have served as a means for archaeologists to learn about ancient Egypt. These pictures can be found on artifacts, on rocks, and on the walls of pyramids.

The ancient Egyptian civilization first emerged along the banks of the Nile River approximately eight thousand years ago. The first settled agricultural communities appeared around 6,000 BCE. The Egyptian people depended on the Nile River for their survival.

Libya is located to the west of Egypt, in the north of the Saharan Desert, on the North African shores of the Mediterranean. Libya was an important rival to Egypt throughout Egyptian history, but especially during the latter years. Libya actually conquered Egypt during the Third Intermediate Period and ruled as the twenty-second and twenty-third dynasties.

Senet was a board game that was played in Egypt beginning in the predynastic period. It is one of the earliest known games in human history and was played throughout Egyptian history.

The Red Crown was an important piece of Egyptian iconography. It first appeared in the predynastic era to denote the ruler of Lower Egypt. The Red Crown was worn by ancient Egyptians throughout the dynastic era to denote dominion over Lower Egypt. A white crown was worn by the rulers of Upper Egypt. Those pharaohs who ruled over both Upper and Lower Egypt tended to wear a red and white crown, so as to emphasize their ultimate authority.

It took 20 years to build and took over 2 million large cube-shaped pieces of rock (limestone). The last remaining of the "Seven Wonders of the Ancient World," the Great Pyramid was meant to be the final resting place of Khufu. Not much is known about Khufu, expect that he was the 2nd pharaoh of the 4th dynasty.

During the Naqada II phase (during the predynastic era) of Egyptian cultural development, artistic complexity and variety regressed significantly. This is primarily the result of the growing homogeneity of Egyptian culture at the time and the related decline in artistic and cultural diversity.

The first full sentence written in hieroglyphics dates back to the Second Dynasty of the Early Dynastic Era. This period gave Egypt a strong sense of identity which included among other things the introduction of complex irrigation systems and centralized power in the form of a king. While hieroglyphics existed before the Early Dynastic Period, they are considered photo-hieroglyphics.

Over the course of its existence, Ancient Egypt grew to encompass not only the entire Nile Valley and Delta, but also nearly the entire north-east of the African continent, finally stopping only at the edge of the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile River Valley was the definitive and central location of the Empire – oftentimes, it is referred to as the veritable heart of the Egyptian civilization. The Nile Valley was crucial because of its unique concentration of many valuable natural resources, including animals, fish, stone, gold, minerals, and fertile soil – all of which were absolutely necessary to the survival of the Egyptian people. In some ways, the Nile River Valley is comparable to the Fertile Crescent of Mesopotamia, for it was in the Nile Valley in which North-East Africa’s first stable living settlements and sustainable agricultural practices initially emerged.

Most major Ancient Egyptian structures—from pyramids and temples to courthouses and palaces—were built in close proximity to the Nile River. While at first glance, this structural clustering might seem arbitrary or random, this phenomenon was not at all accidental. The Ancient Egyptians wisely turned the Nile’s immense length and steady current to their advantage by using the River as their primary means of transporting building materials. Not only was this method much faster than any of the other contemporary options, but it also allowed for the relatively easy transport of especially heavy materials, including the limestone, granite, and sandstone used to construct pyramids, temples, and sculptures.

The archaeological site at Merimde Beni Salama is important because it provides evidence used to date the formation of agricultural settlements in ancient Egypt. The ruins at Merimde Beni Salama date to approximately 5,000 BCE. Merimde Beni Salama is the earliest known agricultural settlement in ancient Egypt, so it tells us that the ancient Egyptians began practicing agriculture at least as early as 5,000 BCE.

The Merimde culture is a Neolithic society that flourished in Lower (northern) Egypt approximately 5,000 BCE. The Merimde culture are one of the earliest groups of people in ancient Egypt who have left some archaeological record behind and thus are very important to informing our understanding of predynastic Egypt.

Merimde Beni Salama is an archaeological site in Egypt. It is one of the earliest known agricultural settlements in Egypt. Pottery found at Merimde Beni Salama appears to be of Near Eastern origin and indicates that predynastic Egyptians traded with the Levant. Some Egyptologists and archaeologists disagree, however, and claim that the pottery is evidence that the inhabitants of Merimde Beni Salama emigrated from the Levant.

Many predynastic communities arose in ancient Egypt around the cult worship of one or more Egyptian deities. The association between a society and a particular deity was important for the construction of a communal identity. The city-state of Nekhen (also called Hierakonpolis) most likely developed around the cult worship of Horus.

Many predynastic Egyptian societies developed around the cult worship of a particular deity. This communal worship helped promote a group mentality within these nascent cultures. The Naqada city-state was one of the most important societies that would eventually lead to a unified Upper Egyptian state. Most Egyptologists believe that the Naqada society developed around the cult worship of Seth.

The Ancient Egyptian numerical system first developed sometime around 3100 BCE and was in a continual state of evolution thereafter, until it fell out of use around 400 CE. It was hieroglyphic in nature, with each number represented and depicted in pictorial form, and relied upon a base ten system, in which symbols were designated in increments of ten. (For example, the symbol for the number one was a single stroke, number ten was represented by a cattle hobble, and one hundred was shown as a coil of rope.) The Ancient Egyptians had no concept of zero; in fact, they would not come to understand this numerical reality for many centuries. This knowledge was finally transmitted to Ancient Egypt sometime in the mid-eighteenth century BCE, through their frequent trade and travel contacts with Middle Eastern and Asian civilizations.

A mastaba is a special type of tomb, in use for centuries throughout Ancient Egyptian history by pharaohs, royal family members, and aristocrats alike. Mastabas were not just simple tombs; rather, they were constructed with a very particular goal in mind: to serve as a house for the deceased person’s spirit. Mastabas had two structural components: an above-ground superstructure (usually shaped like a bench) and a massive underground substructure where the deceased would live. Accordingly, the underground sections of a mastaba would be filled with all the various goods and possessions (such as food, drink, clothing, and furniture) that any individual would need to survive in the afterlife. Later on, once pyramids became more popular, several mastabas would be built in groups, to form a royal court, around a pharaoh’s pyramid, so that his family and friends could surround him during the afterlife.

The Palette of Narmer or the Great Hierakonpolis Palette represents an archaeologically excavated artifact with iconographic depictions of the early pharaoh Narmer and several gods/divine beings.

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