During the second phase of the Naqada culture, fundamental changes took place. These developments, however, took place not at the margins of the culture but in its Amratian heartland; in essence, they can be regarded as an evolution rather than a sudden break. The Naqada 11 phase was characterized primarily by expansion, as the
Gerzean culture extended from its source at Naqada northwards towards the Delta (Minshat Abu Omar) and southwards as far as Nubia.
There was a distinct acceleration of the funerary trend first seen in the Amratian, whereby a few individuals were buried in larger, more elaborate tombs containing richer and more abundant offerings. Cemetery T at Naqada and Tomb lOO (the so-called Painted Tomb) at Hierakonpolis are good examples of this overall trend.
Gerzean cemeteries comprise a wide range of grave types, ranging from small oval or round pits, poorly provided with offerings, to burials in pottery vessels and the construction of rectangular pits subdivided by mud-brick partitions, with specific compartments for offerings. There were coffins of wood and air-dried pottery, as well as the first indications of the wrapping of the body in strips of linen. Early ‘mummification’ of this type is attested in a double tomb at Adaima, an Upper Egyptian site near Hierakonpolis, excavated since 1990 by the French Archaeological Institute at Cairo. The Naqada II burials generally remained simple, but multiple burials, containing up to five individuals, became more common. Funerary rituals appear to have become more complex, sometimes involving dismemberment of the body, a practice that was not attested in the preceding period. In Tomb T5 at Naqada, a series of long bones and five crania were arranged along the tomb walls, and at Adaima there are some examples of skulls detached from their torsos. The possibility of human sacrifice was noted by Petrie at Naqada, and two cases of throat slitting followed by decapitation have been identified at Adaima. Although sparse and scattered, this possible evidence for self-sacrifice could be an early prelude to the mass human sacrifices around the Early Dynastic royal tombs at Abydos, which represented a turning point in the emergence of the Egyptian kingship of the Dynastic Period.
Two new types of pottery make their appearance: first, ‘rough’ pottery, which has been found in tombs dating to this period but was later found in domestic contexts, and, secondly, ‘marl ware’, which was fashioned partly in a calcareous clay derived from the desert wadis rather than the Nile Valley. The marl pottery, sometimes decorated with ochre-brown paintings on a cream ground, replaces the white-painted red ware of the Naqada I phase. ’There are two types of motifs: geometrical (consisting of triangles, chevrons, spirals, check patterns, and wavy lines) and representational. ’The repertoire is limited to about ten elements, combined according to a system of symbolic representation that is still not properly understood.
The predominant motif in the representational art of the period is the boat; its omnipresence reflects the importance of the river, not only as the provider of fish and wild fowl but also as the principal channel of communication that was to be indispensable to the northward and southward expansion of the Naqada culture. It was by boat that raw materials were obtained, such as ivory, gold, ebony, incense, and skins of wild cats from the south, and copper, oils, stone, and seashells from the north and east, mostly destined for an elite whose social position was becoming increasingly distinct from the rest of the population. In these depictions, the boat represents both a mode of travel and a status symbol. It is clear, however, that from this date onwards the Nile, flowing from the north to the south, had also been transformed into a mythical river on which the first gods sailed. The links between the human and cosmic orders were already being established.
During the Naqada II phase, there was considerable development in techniques of stoneworking: various limestones, alabasters, marbles, serpentine, basalt, breccia, gneiss, diorite, and gabbro were being discovered and exploited all along the Nile Valley as well as in the desert, particularly at Wadi Hammamat. The increasing skills in the carving of stone vessels prepared the way for the great achievements of pharaonic stone architecture. The ripple-flaked knives of this period are among the most accomplished examples of the working of flint anywhere in the world.
Cosmetic palettes became fewer in number, evolving towards simple rectangular and rhomboidal shapes, but at the same time they began to be decorated with reliefs, starting a line of development towards the narrative-style decorated palettes of the Naqada III phase. The discshaped macehead of the Amratian period was replaced by the pearshaped type, two examples of which had already appeared at an earlier date in the Neolithic settlement of Merimda Beni Salama. By the Naqada II phase the macehead had become mysteriously charged as a symbol of power, and in the pharaonic period it was the weapon characteristically held by the victorious king.
Copper working intensified, no longer being limited to small objects but gradually beginning to produce artefacts that were substitutes for stone objects, such as axes, blades, bracelets, and rings. Alongside developments in copper production there was also a growth in the use of gold and silver, and the evidence at sites such as Adaima suggests that the increased attraction of metal might well account for much of the tomb robbery during the Predynastic Period.
The picture of Naqada II society that is thus revealed is a blueprint for the development of a class of artisans who were specialized in the service of the elite. This fact has two implications: first, there had to be an economy that was capable of supporting groups of non-selfsufficient craftsmen, at least during a part of the year, and, secondly, there must have been urban centres that brought together the clients, the workshops, the apprentice craftsmen, and the facilities for commercial exchange.
This process of cultural development was always tied closely to the Nile. As Michael Hoffman showed in his interpretation of the Predynastic remains at Hierakonpolis, settlement clustered near the river, which supported the cultivated land, where simple artificial irrigation techniques could take advantage of the annual flood. The entire Nile Valley was covered by a string of villages, which are often known simply because of their surviving cemeteries. We have evidence for different species of barley and wheat, flax, various fruits (such as watermelon and dates) and vegetables. As in the preceding period, cattle, goats, sheep, and pigs comprise the domestic livestock. Among the domesticates, the dog enjoyed special status, judging from its burials within the settlement of Adaima. Fish also played an important role in diet, but the hunting of large riverine and desert mammals (such as hippopotami, gazelle, and lions) gradually became more socially restricted until it became the prerogative of the dominant elite groups.
Three large centres arose in Upper Egypt: Naqada, the ‘gold town’ at the mouth of Wadi Hammamat; Hierakonpolis, further to the south; and Abydos, where the necropolis of the first pharaohs was to be located. Two large residential zones were uncovered at Naqada by Petrie and Quibell in 1895: the ‘South Town’ (in the central part of the site) and the ‘North Town’. The South Town incorporates a large rectangular mud-brick structure measuring 50 x 30 m., which may possibly be the remains of a temple or a royal residence. To the south of this large structure, a group of rectangular houses and an enclosure wall can be made out. These two elements, the rectangular house and the enclosure wall, are typical of the emerging towns of Naqada II. There may be a shortage of primary archaeological evidence of settlements at this date, yet two artefacts from funerary contexts help to compensate for this defficiency. The first is a terracotta model house from a Gerzean grave at el-Amra. An Amratian tomb from Abadiya has provided a second model (Oxford, Ashmolean) representing a crenellated wall, behind which two people are standing: the Amratian Date of the second model suggests the early date at which dwellings of this type began to be used.
World History
