Kathryn A. Bard

The Egyptian predynastic: a review of the evidence

Abstract In the 4th millennium B.C. two different Predynastic cultures, both of which practiced agriculture, evolved in Egypt: the Nagada culture in the south and the Maadi culture in the north. Settlement sites of the latter are much better preserved, but in the south, where most of the archaeological evidence is from cemeteries, there is much greater evidence for the evolution of social hierarchies and complex societies. A review of the archaeological evidence for the Predynastic suggests that the early state had its cultural origins in the south, although the processes involved in the emergence of the state in Egypt can only be hypothesized at this time.

From Farmers To Pharaohs: Mortuary Evidence For The Rise Of Complex Society In Egypt

In recent years there has been a dramatic increase in multinational, archaeological research into the origins of civilization in the Nile Valley north of Aswan. This has resulted in a more precise definition of the cultural differences between Upper and Lower Egypt in Predynastic times and of the manner in which northern Egypt came to be dominated economically and culturally by southern Egypt in the century or more preceding the beginning of the First Dynasty. In From Farmers to Pharaohs, Kathryn Bard advances this understanding with a reanalysis of material recovered from Upper Egyptian Predynastic cemeteries at Nagada by W. M. F. Petrie in 1894-1895 and at Armant by O. H. Myers in the late 1920s and early 1930s. In Chapter 1 Bard briefly surveys the full range of current theories concerning state formation in Egypt and then provides a detailed and critical review of archaeological work that has been accomplished throughout Egypt relating to the Predynastic period. This includes Bards own surveys and excavations in the Hu region of southern Egypt between 1989 and 1991. Bard stresses the unique characteristics of ancient Egyptian civilization, especially its symbolic association of major institutions of social control with a mortuary cult that had its origins in the Nagada culture of Upper Egypt. This suggests that the emphasis in the prehistoric archaeological record of Upper Egypt on cemeteries rather than on large urban centers, palaces, and temples is culturally significant rather than an accident relating to the preservation or recovery of the archaeological evidence. Bards approach accords with Michael Manns (1986) powerful theoretical formulation concerning multiple sources of power in complex societies. Bard then surveys the general archaeological literature relating to the interpretation of mortuary evidence. For the past 25 years the analysis of burials has been to archaeology what the study of kinship once was to social anthropology: a cutting edge of critical debate and measure of intellectual progress. Bard traces how interpretations of material evidence relating to funerary behavior have been systematically theorized; how alternative theories have been elaborated, tested, and modified; and how progress has been made in building an integrated theoretical framework. Bard pays attention to explanations that seek to account for both cross-cultural regularities and the culturally-specific aspects of mortuary behavior. One of the few major studies she does not consider is Aubrey Cannons (1989) examination of cyclical fashions and the impact of status emulation on funerary practices. She establishes the persistent tendency, beginning in Predynastic southern Egypt, for funerary customs to reflect social status through the elaboration of graves and grave contents. The theoretical literature suggests that the longterm persistence of this practice may be a culturally-specific eature of ancient Egyptian society. A third chapter, dealing with the chronology of the Upper Egyptian Predynastic period, is followed by the application of divisive cluster analysis (specifically the BMDP K-means clustering technique) to detect socially significant cultural patterning in Predynastic cemeteries at Armant and Nagada. At Armant a well-documented cemetery containing about 200 graves exhibits increasing mean sizes of graves and quantities of grave goods from the Nagada I to IIIa periods (3800-3050/2950 B.c.). Cluster analysis reveals a continuation of small numbers of relatively richer and large numbers of relatively poorer burial types into the Nagada IIIa period, when the poorer graves tend to disappear. The geographical division of the Armant cemetery into east and west sections also suggests some kind of moiety or descent group division within the A mant community. The absence of evidence for complex social hierarchies and for a clearly differentiated elite is in keeping with the interpretation of Armant as a small farming community. Nagada, which was one of the major centers of Predynastic Upper Egypt, is associated with a series of cemeteries containing about 3000 graves, half of which had their contents recorded. These cemeteries contained some

The Aksum Archaeological Area: A Preliminary Assessment

This invaluable compendium, published by the Istituto Universitario Orientale in Naples, arises out of research undertaken jointly by that institution and Boston University under the direction of Rodolfo Fattovich and Kathryn Bard. That it is written in English will greatly facilitate its use in Ethiopia. Aksum, in the highlands of Tigray in northern Ethiopia, was the capital of a major state during the first seven or eight centuries A.C. Its local precursors and antecedents during the last millennium B.C. have been a particular focus of the research conducted by Bard and Fattovich. The area thus contains important archaeological remains illustrative of the development and florescence of a major African civilization. Despite Aksums designation by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site, comparatively little archaeological field research has been undertaken there. Sadly, much of what has been undertaken remains incompletely or inaccessibly published. Aksum today is a town of some size which attracts growing numbers of pilgrims and tourists, as well as being the administrative center for the rapidly developing Central Zone of Tigray. The Ethiopian authorities are aware of the major problem presented by the need to ensure adeolen cultural heritage in rec nt years. It will provide a luable datum against which to measure cultural heritage struction in the future.

The Geography of Excavated Predynastic Sites and the Rise of Complex Society

Complex society evolved in Egypt in the fourth millennium B.C. as farming villages along the Nile became increasingly stratified. While sites of the culture known as the Predynastic are found throughout the Egyptian Nile valley, the greatest number of known Predynastic sites exist in Upper Egypt in three major areas (all on the west bank): those of Hierakonpolis, Nagada and Ballas, and Abydos (fig. 1). In Middle Egypt, Predynastic sites are located on the east bank around Badari, and in Lower Egypt sites exist in the Fayum region and south of Cairo. The only large Predynastic site in the Delta is on the western fringe at Merimda. With the deposition of 10 m of alluvium in the Delta during the past 6000 years,1 other major Predyastic sites there are unknown. In Nubia above Aswan numerous

A Quantitative Analysis of the Predynastic Burials in Armant Cemetery 1400-1500

Cemetery 1400–1500 at Armant, excavated by Mond and Myers in the 1930s, is the best-recorded Predynastic cemetery in Egypt. With burials dating to Nagada I, II, and III, the cemetery provides data for a crucial period of social evolution in Egypt. Quantitative methods of analysis show that both mean grave size and mean number of grave goods increase through time. Although clusters of graves show differentiation into two basic hierarchies of grave types, there is a lack of overall complexity in the Armant burials, probably indicative of a society which was not very stratified.

Evolution of a Pharaonic harbor on the Red Sea: Implications for coastal response to changes in sea level and climate

The evolution of coastal systems during the Holocene resulted from complex interactions and temporal shifts in the relative contribution of sea-level changes, climate change, and sedimentary processes. Along the Red Sea Coast, a 0.5–2 m highstand of sea level at 5 ka can be directly attributed to far-field effects resulting from the reduction in land ice following the last glacial maximum. At the ancient Egyptian harbor of Mersa/Wadi Gawasis, the site of the world9s oldest archaeological evidence of long-distance seafaring, stratigraphic and geomorphologic evidence has been identified for this highstand. Here, wadi sediment input, enhanced by a period of wetter climate of the African Humid Period (early to mid- Holocene), forced the closure of coastal embayments, despite ongoing, relatively rapid sea-level rise. A stable, shallow bay persisted at Mersa/Wadi Gawasis as a result of coincidental aridization and a highstand of sea level during the mid-Holocene. This bay served as the primary harbor for ancient Egyptian trade along the Red Sea coast. During the late Holocene, shoreline progradation was dominated by sea-level fall, driven by isostatic processes. These results demonstrate the interplay of various global (sea level), regional (climate, sea level), and local (sedimentation, bathymetry) controls on the coastal evolution of the Red Sea and how these controls dictated the response of a complex civilization. Furthermore, they highlight the crucial role played by sedimentation in governing coastal response to changing sea levels.

RADIOCARBON DATES FROM HALFIAH GIBLI (ABADIYEH), A PREDYNASTIC SETTLEMENT IN UPPER EGYPT

In 1989 and 1991, wood charcoal samples were excavated at a Predynastic settlement in Upper Egypt, Halfiah Gibli (HG). A second site, Semaineh (SH), was also investigated, but as the ceramics there were mostly from the Old Kingdom, excavations were concentrated at HG. Wood charcoal was obtained in undisturbed contexts, in association with Nagada culture potsherds and lithics, ranging in date from about 3700 BC to 3200/3100 BC. These new radiocarbon dates provide more data for the relative phases of the Nagada culture, formulated mainly from ceramic seriation.

Urbanism and the Rise of Complex Society and the Early State in Egypt

By ca. 3050 B.C. the Early Dynastic state had emerged in Egypt, controlling much of the Nile Valley from the Delta to the First Cataract at Aswan—over 1000 km upriver. This was a centrally controlled polity ruled by a (god-) king from the newly founded capital of Memphis in the north, near Saqqara. Archaeological evidence for state control consists of the names (serekhs) of First Dynasty kings on pots, seals, tags (originally attached to containers), and other artifacts found at major Early Dynastic sites in Egypt. Such evidence also suggests a state taxation system in place in the early dynasties, and large quantities of goods and materials marshalled and controlled by the state. The early state in Egypt was highly stratified, with the king at the top of the social pyramid; evidence for such social stratification comes from the highly differentiated burials of this period found throughout Egypt.

MERSA/WADI GAWASIS AND ANCIENT EGYPTIAN MARITIME TRADE IN THE RED SEA

Mersa/Wadi Gawasis was the site of an ancient Egyptian harbor on the Red Sea, which was mainly used during the Middle Kingdom (ca. 2055–1650 b.c.e.) for seafaring voyages to Punt and Bia-Punt. Excavations at the site from 2003–2011 have uncovered ceremonial structures located along a cliff above the shoreline, and eight man-made caves/galleries, which were mainly used for storage. No permanent architecture has been found at the site, suggesting that it was only used as a temporary harbor before and after voyages. Most supplies for the expeditions, including pottery, seeds of emmer wheat and barley, timber and papyrus ropes for the ships, were carried from the Nile Valley across the eastern desert by means of donkey caravans. Foreign ceramics found at the site from the Gash lowlands, Eritrea, and Yemen suggest that Punt was located in the southern Red Sea region.

Ancient Egypt: Anatomy of a Civilization

Introduction Part 1: Establishing Identity 1. Who Were the Ancient Egyptians? 2. The Intellectual Foundations of the Early State 3. The Dynamics of Culture Part 2: The Provider State 4. The Bureaucratic Mind 5. Model Communities Part 3: Intimations of our Future 6. New Kingdom Egypt: The Mature State 7. The Birth of Economic Man 8. Moving on Epilogue