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Tomas Talamantes English and History 6/7 March 1, 2013 Egypt Research EGYPTS PREDYNASTIC PERIOD

I want to learn about life before the great Egyptian empire. I want to learn about the people and their lifestyles. I want to learn about their traditions such as religion, agriculture, and arts and crafts. The early ancient Egyptian prehistoric people of 5500 -3100BC periods were hunters and gathers and later evolved into farmers and warriors, all before the development of communities of the civilized Egyptian empire. Survival instinct forced them to become gatherers and hunters and later farmers. In Egypts predynastic period there were five cultures: the barbarian culture, Nagadan, Naqada I, II and III. The Barbarian culture lived in Upper Egypt from 5000 to 4500BC. This culture mastered the art of agriculture and the use of artificial irrigation and no longer needed to hunt for their food, wrote Jenny Hill. Their domesticated animals were included with their jewelry and personal items at the time of their burials. The reign of the barbarian culture was followed by the Naqadan culture that took over Upper Egypt around 4400BC. The Naqada I was at the same time as the barbarian culture but eventually replaced it. The Naqada the first culture contributed great growth in art by making pottery and by drawing the detailed characteristics of the male and female human body. Naqada I culture buried their dead with food, weapons, amulets, ornaments and decorated vases and plates. Naqada II began around 3500BC and absolutely mastered art and agriculture. There were no more hunters and gatherers or villages. Instead there were farms and towns. Burying was very different. They started using gravestones and more traditions developed from the rich and poor cultures. There was also a big increase in architecture for praying in the Naqada II culture as demonstrated by building a palace called Nekhen for ritual practices. Nekhen also became the name of capital of Egypt. Naqada III was a short period that lasted from 3200BC to 3000BC. This period marks the difference between upper and lower Egypt because in upper Egypt

13 kings ruled Nekhen while in lower Egypt there were only 7 kings that ruled. Sadly we dont know who they were or what they did. Even though the predynastic period was a long time ago it doesnt mean that the people were not smart. It turns out that they were very smart for their time. In NagadaI graves there were little statutes to keep them company in the afterlife. This custom was used in the later Egyptian empire and is still used today in Egypt. Each village in Naqada I had their own animal or goddess to honor. This started the beginning of the Nome that separated Egypt into sections or religions. The Nagada II people began using metals like copper to create weapons as far back as 3500BC when there still existed the hunters and gatherer culture.. This report was a monster. When I first decided to research the topic: Egypts Predynastic period, I thought of the city-states in early Mesopotamia. But my research uncovered that Egypt got to a slow start by going all the way back to hunting and gathering cultures. At first I did not know what I was doing but as I kept researching it became clearer. But in the process I realized that at first youll always be bored at the beginning, but if you stick with it the learning will be worth it.

BIBLIOGRAPHY Dunn, Jimmy. Egypt: History - Predynastic Period.1996. http://www.touregypt.net/ebph5.htm Hill, Jenny. Ancient: Egypt Online 2010 http://ancientegyptonline.co.uk/index.html

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