fashioned out of schist, and funerary items were pro-
duced. Small slates were rising in the Nile Valley, and
large and elaborate grave sites were developing. The HIER-
AKONPOLISnecropolis heralded future royal burials.
The Naqada II, or Gerzean A, Period signals a turn-
ing point in Predynastic Egypt. One of the aspects of this
cultural event was contact with other nations beyond
Egypt’s borders. Trade was conducted with the SINAI
region and with southern Palestine. Cultural aspects also
included the rise of the nome families, the use of stone
figures, and the centralization of power.
Naqada II or Gerzean sites have been discovered at
Hierakonpolis, Naga el-Deir, el-Ahaiwah, THINIS, Naqada,
KARNAK (in Luxor), Qift, DEIR EL-GABRAWI, KOPTOS,
ZAWIYET EL-AMWAT, Sawada, Naziet el-Sheikh, Maiyama,
GEBEL EL-SIDMANT, Kom Medinet Ghurob, ABUSIR, and
gerze.
LOWER EGYPTFaiyum A (4400–3900 B.C.E.) was a cultural sequence
that emerged on the northernand northeastern shores of
an ancient lake in the Faiyum district, possibly seasonal
in habitation. The site was occupied by agriculturalists,
but it is evident that they depended upon fishing and
hunting and may have moved with the changes of the
yearly migrations of large mammals. Fish were caught
with harpoons and beveled points, but the people of this
sequence did not use fishhooks.
Mat or reed huts were erected on the shelteredsides
of mounds beside fertile grounds. There were under-
ground granaries, removed from the houses to higher
ground, no doubt to protect the stored materials from
flooding. Some evidence has been gathered at these sites
to indicate that the people used sheep, goats, and possi-
bly domesticated cattle. The granaries also showed
remains of emmer wheat and a form of barley.
The stone tools used by the people of Faiyum A were
large, with notches and denticulates. Flints were set into
wooden handles, and arrowheads were in use. Baskets
were woven for the granaries and for the daily needs, and
a variety of rough linen was manufactured. Pottery in the
Faiyum A sites was made out of coarse clay, normally in
the formof flat dishes and bag-shaped vessels. Some were
plain and some had red slip.
The people of this era appear to have lived in micro-
bands, single and extended family groups, with chieftains
who provided them with leadership. The sequence indi-
cates the beginning of communities in the north. Mer-
imda (4300–3700 B.C.E.), a site on the western edge of
the Delta, covered a very vast territory with layers of cul-
tural debris that give indications of up to 600 years of
habitation. The people of this cultural sequence lived in
pole-framed huts, with windbreaks, and some used semi-
subterranean residences, building the walls high enough
to stand above ground. Small, the habitations were laid
out in rows, possibly part of a circular pattern. Granaries
were composed of clay jars or baskets, buried up to the
neck in the ground. The dead of the Merimda sequence
were probably buried on the sites, but little evidence of
grave goods has been recovered.
El-OMARI(3700–3400 B.C.E.) is a site between mod-
ern Cairo and HALWAN. The pottery from this sequence
was red or black, unadorned, with some vases and some
lipped vessels discovered. Flake and blade tools were
made, as well as millstones. Oval shelters were con-
structed, with poles and woven mats, and the people of
the El-Omari sites probably had granaries.
MA’ADI (3400–3000 B.C.E.), a site located to the
northwest of the El-Omari sequence location, contained a
large area that was once occupied by the people of this
sequence. They constructed oval huts and windbreaks,
with wooden posts placed in the ground to support red or
wattle walls, sometimes covered with mud. Storage jars
and grindstones were discovered beside the houses.
There were also two rectangular buildings there, with
subterranean chambers, stairs, hearths, and roof poles.
Three cemeteries were in use during this sequence,
as at Wadi Digla, although the remains of some unborn
children were found in the settlement. Animals were also
buried there. The Ma’adi sequence people were more
sedentary in their lifestyle, probably involved in agricul-
ture and in some herding activities. A copper ax head and
the remains of copper ore (the oldest dated find of this
nature in Egypt) were also discovered. There is some evi-
dence of Naqada II influences from Upper Egypt, and
there are some imported objects from the Palestinian cul-
ture on the Mediterranean, probably the result of trade.
UPPER EGYPT
Badarian (4500–4000 B.C.E.) was one of the cultural
groups living in the Nile region in the areas of el-Ham-
mamiya, el-Matmar, el-Mostagedda, and at the foot of the
cliffs at el-Badari. Some Badarian artifacts were also dis-
covered at ERMENT,HIERANKOPOLIS, and in the WADI HAM-
MAMAT. A semisedentary people, the Badarians lived in
tents made of skins, or in huts of reeds hung on poles.
They cultivated wheat and barley and collected fruits and
herbs, using the castor bean for oil. The people of this
sequence wove cloth and used animal skins as furs and as
leather. The bones of cattle, sheep, and goats were found
on the sites, and domesticated and wild animals were
buried in the necropolis areas.
Weapons and tools included flint arrowheads, throw-
ing sticks, push planes, and sickle stones. These were
found in the gravesites, discovered on the eastern side of
the Nile between el-Matmar and el-Etmantieh, located on
the edge of the desert. The graves were oval or rectangu-
lar and were roofed. Food offerings were placed in the
graves, and the corpses were covered with hides or reed
matting. Rectangular stone palettes were part of the grave
offerings, along with ivory and stone objects. The manu-
factured pottery of the Badarians demonstrates sophisti-118 Egypt