Like the Near East and the Sinai, the desert regions bordering the Nile valley also seem to have been a focus of early activity (Figure 5.2). In all probability, the geographical division between the Sinai and Egypt’s desert margins, adopted here for convenience, is not one that the Egyptians themselves would have recognised. Indeed, the use of the titles imi-rS hUSst and UU-mr hUSst may suggest that for the Early Dynastic Egyptians there was only one designation for all the lands beyond their own borders: hUSst, ‘foreign hill-country’. Certainly the Egyptians’ interest in the Sinai and the desert margins stemmed from the same consideration: the rich stone and mineral resources which both regions possessed, and which the court required to supply its workshops.
‘One might expect that contact between desert and valley was always, if only sporadically, maintained’ (Kemp 1983:118), and there is a surprising amount of evidence for Early Dynastic involvement in the eastern and western deserts. Whilst the geographical limit for rock-cut inscriptions in the western desert appears to be a distance of just 12 miles from the Nile valley, inscriptions in the eastern desert are found ‘up to 65 miles from the river, well into the heart of the Red Sea hills’ (Hoffman 1980:243). This indicates a greater intensity of Egyptian activity in the eastern desert, probably accompanied by a greater degree of interaction
Figure 5.2 Activity in Egypt’s desert margins. The map shows the principal sites in the Egyptian deserts where evidence has been found of Early Dynastic activity.
With the indigenous inhabitants of the region. Unfortunately, we know very little about the ancient populations of the desert margins. Scatters of pottery and isolated temporary encampments suggest that the deserts supported groups of semi-nomadic pastoralists, in whose lives and livelihoods cattle played an important part. Their material cultures, as far as they are attested archaeologically, are generally simple and show ‘broad overall similarities both to each other and to those of the Nile valley’ (Kemp 1983:116). None the less, it is likely that each group had its own history and identity and that, if more were known about their material cultures, a picture of considerable diversity would emerge (Kemp 1983:116-17).
The eastern desert
The hills and mountains separating the Nile valley from the Red Sea receive significantly more rainfall than the western desert, especially further south towards Nubia. This gives rise to a number of wells, and enables some of the numerous wadis to support vegetation—even irregular cultivation in the upper reaches of some of the larger wadis. Thus, the eastern desert has, from earliest times, supported a population of nomadic and semi-nomadic pastoralists, with whom the Egyptians—who visited the area frequently on mining and quarrying expeditions—must have come into regular contact.
Records of early Egyptian activity in the eastern desert are found in the form of rock-cut inscriptions. These usually give just the name of the king in whose reign the expedition was mounted. The earliest dated inscription is at Site 18 in the Wadi Qash, a tributary of the Wadi Hammamat almost due east of Qus, half-way between the Nile valley and the Red Sea coast. The serekh of Narmer is accompanied by another, tantalisingly empty serekh (Winkler 1938:10, pl. XI.1; Emery 1961:47, fig. 6). A rock-cut inscription in the Wadi Abbad, east of Elkab, shows the serekh of Djet preceded by the k3 sign (Clere 1938). The inscription is incised on a rock at the junction of the Wadi Miyah and the Wadi Chagab, some 25 kilometres along the Wadi Abbad (Clere 1938:85, fig. 7) and five kilometres beyond Bir Abbad (Porter and Moss 1951:321). The Wadi Abbad was one of the principal routes from the Nile valley to the Red Sea, in later times linking Edfu and Berenice (Clere 1938:92). A third inscription is situated at the mouth of the Wadi Abu Kua (Site 5) within the Wadi Hammamat system, due east of Qift (Winkler 1938: pl. XI.5; Porter and Moss 1951:328). The meaning of the text is difficult to interpret, but the inscription may include the name of the Second Dynasty king, Nebra. A more extensive inscription in a small wadi north of the Wadi Fawakhir provides a small piece of information about the composition of Egyptian expeditions to the eastern desert. Dated by its orthography to the Early Dynastic period, the inscription depicts a divine bark—of Horus or Sokar—and the accompanying text mentions an overseer of craftsmen. Hence, the expedition which cut this particular inscription was probably engaged in quarrying activity, supervised by a craftsman with experience in stone-cutting (Porter and Moss 1951:329).
The Wadi Hammamat
The Wadi Hammamat system of the eastern desert was important for two reasons. First, throughout most of Egyptian history it was the main source of siltstone (Lucas 1962:41920, who calls the rock ‘greywacke’; Aston 1994:28-32). This was the stone used for cosmetic palettes in the Predynastic period, including the great commemorative palettes created for early Egyptian rulers in celebration of their kingship. Small-scale expeditions to procure supplies of the stone must have been mounted from Upper Egypt as early as the Badarian period, since palettes are a characteristic component of the Badarian funerary repertoire (Brunton and Caton-Thompson 1928: pl. XXI; Spencer 1993:25). As economic and political power became increasingly concentrated in the hands of a few lineages towards the end of the Predynastic period, missions to the Wadi Hammamat probably came under closer royal control, eventually becoming state-sponsored expeditions in the Early Dynastic period.
Second, the Wadi Hammamat was important as the most direct route between the Nile valley and the Red Sea. From late Predynastic times, this route ran from Qift or Qus to Quseir (Winkler 1938; Baines and Malek 1980:111). There is still some argument about the likelihood of maritime contacts via the Red Sea between Egypt and other cultures, particularly the early Mesopotamians of Sumer and Susa (Rice 1990). Nevertheless, the Red Sea coast itself was a valuable source of prestige objects for the developing elites of Predynastic Upper Egypt. In particular, Red Sea shells seems to have been imbued with a special symbolic and/or religious importance, as well as being a valued trade commodity (for example, Brunton and Caton-Thompson 1928:41). Hence, representations of the Pteroceras (Lambis) shell were carved on the sides of the Coptos colossi, the gigantic sculptures of a fertility god dated to the late Predynastic period (Williams 1988; Payne 1993:13, pl. IV). Red Sea shells, probably exported from Egypt, have been found in elite contexts elsewhere in the Near East (Moorey, personal communication; cf. Rizkana and Seeher 1989:117, 125). With the dual attraction of mineral resources and access to the Red Sea, it is not surprising that Egypt’s early kings took a keen interest in the Wadi Hammamat, and the royal names carved on rocks are direct evidence for this.
Mines and quarries
STONE
The eastern desert is particularly rich in stone and mineral resources. As we have seen, the focus for stone-quarrying expeditions was undoubtedly the Wadi Hammamat and its associated wadis. None the less, other regions yielded valuable types of stone for various purposes. The travertine quarries at Hatnub in Middle Egypt seem to have been worked in the Early Dynastic period. Some of the incised stone vessels from the Step Pyramid complex bore the name of the site, Hwt-nbw, probably indicating the provenance of the material from which they were carved. Also in Middle Egypt, flint deposits were worked to provide the Egyptians with weapons and tools. Large-scale flint workings dating to the Early Dynastic period have been located at Nazlet Awlad esh-Sheikh, on the east bank of the Nile, some 75 kilometres south of the Fayum (Kaiser 1961b; Baines and Malek 1980:31).
COPPER
The area of Pre-Cambrian formations to the west of Gebel Zeit on the Red Sea coast was exploited for its copper reserves from early times (Abdel Tawab et al. 1990). The vicinity of el-Urf/Mongul (south) has produced evidence of mining activity from the beginning of the Early Dynastic period to the early Old Kingdom, including miners’ camps and other scattered dwellings. Some vessels could be as early as the end of the Predynastic period or the very beginning of the First Dynasty (Kohler, personal communication), but most of the pottery suggests a First or Second Dynasty date, although a Third Dynasty date is possible. It is significant that some of the pottery from both el-Urf/Mongul (south) and the Wadi Dara (see below) is of marl clay, and must therefore have been brought from Upper Egypt by the mining expeditions (Abdel Tawab et al. 1990:364).
The copper mines of the Wadi Dara were also worked most intensively during the Early Dynastic and Old Kingdom periods. A French survey of Dara West has revealed several Early Dynastic sites (Abdel Tawab et al. 1990:363), of which two have been excavated in detail, a habitation site and a miners’ camp (Castel et al. 1992; Grimal 1993:482-8, 1996:570-2). A thin layer of occupation debris was found on the floor of the habitation site (site 5E), suggesting that the building had been inhabited for only a brief period. The pottery dates the occupation to the Third Dynasty. This is also the case at the nearby miners’ camp (site 5A) where finds attest various activities, including cooking, storage of provisions and tools, tool repair and enrichment and storage of the copper ore (malachite). Numerous fragments of malachite were found throughout the camp, but the absence of any slag indicates that smelting took place elsewhere, perhaps on the neighbouring hillside. Another miners’ camp in the Wadi Dara (site 3B), consisting of some thirty dry-stone rooms, is more difficult to date but the later strata seem to belong to the Fourth Dynasty. However, earlier activity at the site is indicated by the fact that the rooms are built on earlier mining galleries. Hearths and concentrations of slag on the adjacent terrace indicate the location where the ore was smelted. The evidence from the copper mines indicates that the greatest intensity of Egyptian activity occurred during the Third Dynasty. This complements the evidence from the Wadi Maghara, Sinai, which attests to turquoise-mining expeditions sponsored by at least three kings of the Third Dynasty. Clearly, the Third Dynasty was a time of great Egyptian interest in the desert regions peripheral to the Nile valley and, more importantly, in the mineral resources of these inhospitable areas. The advances in organisation and centralised administration which must have accompanied the beginning of large-scale pyramid-building seem to have benefited other activities as well. Perhaps, for the first time, long-distance expeditions could be mounted by the royal court to exploit the resources of Egypt’s desert borders in a systematic way.
GOLD
The comparative rarity of gold in Early Dynastic graves has led some to suggest that there was little, if any, systematic exploitation of the eastern desert gold reserves at this period (Klemm and Klemm 1994:193), although grave-robbing could be an alternative explanation. Rather than regular gold-mining expeditions sent from the Nile valley, sporadic finds of gold by the nomadic populations of the eastern desert could have been traded with Egyptians on an ad hoc basis. A survey of the gold-bearing regions of the eastern desert has revealed only limited evidence for gold mining in the Predynastic and Early Dynastic periods (Klemm and Klemm 1994:195, fig. 2). The scattered nature of the sites and the total lack of artefacts suggests that the mines may have been used by the local nomadic populations rather than by Egyptians.
OTHER
Whilst the Egyptians may not have engaged in gold-mining activity in the Early Dynastic period, there is no doubt that they mounted expeditions to the eastern desert in search of other commodities. A single, isolated Early Dynastic hut was discovered in the Wadi Umm Sidrah, near the Roman imperial porphyry mines at Gebel ed-Dukhan (G. W.Murray 1939). Many artefacts were recovered from the hut, including pottery, flint tools, ashes and bone fragments. Five earthenware pot-stands—apparently made from a locally produced fabric—showed signs of careful repair in antiquity, an indication of the value attached to pottery at a site some 160 kilometres from the Nile valley. A small, bagshaped vessel has been dated to the First or Second Dynasty (G. W.Murray 1939:38), providing a date for the hut and contents as a whole. The purpose behind such a dwelling is not clear, but is further evidence of the interest shown in Egypt’s desert margins in the Early Dynastic period.
The western desert
Early Dynastic Egyptian contact with the western desert seems to have been on two levels. There is evidence for limited mixing of semi-nomadic desert-dwellers and Egyptians, at desert-edge sites in Upper Egypt. Rock-cut inscriptions also attest sporadic expeditions to the western desert, mounted by late Predynastic and Early Dynastic kings.
A desert-edge site to the west of Armant, investigated only summarily, yielded evidence of contact between the inhabitants of the Nile valley and groups of cattle-herding semi-nomads (Kemp 1983:118). The relationship was possibly a symbiotic one, based upon the exchange of cattle. The site included a cemetery of 76 graves, which seems to indicate that the associated settlement was more than a mere temporary encampment. The pottery from the graves comprised both Egyptian vessels, dated to the Early Dynastic period, and non-Egyptian ripple-burnished ware. Some of the nonEgyptian vessels were decorated with incised patterns of chevrons below the rim. Twenty burials were of oxen, showing the great importance attached to cattle by these people. There were several small camps in the vicinity, indicated by ‘scatters of flint tools and sherds with various incised or impressed patterns’ (Kemp 1983: 118).
More direct Egyptian involvement in the western desert is illustrated by a number of rock-cut inscriptions on the escarpment of the high desert in the vicinity of Armant. Two separate inscriptions at site 34, on the edge of the limestone plateau, bear an early royal name which has not yet been read convincingly (Winkler 1938: pl. XI.2-3; Wilkinson 1995). The epigraphy of the inscription clearly indicates that the king in question must belong to the very end of the Predynastic period or ‘Dynasty 0’. A third inscription, only 12 kilometres away, features the serekh of the Second Dynasty king, Nebra (Winkler 1938:10, pl. XI.4; Emery 1961:93, fig. 56), indicating that expeditions to the western desert were maintained during the Early Dynastic period. An ongoing survey of the desert roads in the Theban area has discovered a wealth of late Predynastic and Early Dynastic inscriptions; they include the name of a Third Dynasty official, and a large rock-cut scene from the period of state formation (Darnell and Darnell 1997:26). The latter seems to record a military victory, perhaps one of the key events leading to the political unification of Egypt.
In contrast to the eastern desert, the western desert seems to have had few, if any, resources deemed worthy of exploitation by the ancient Egyptians. Its strategic importance lay in the oases. These fertile pockets of land, which had been settled from Palaeolithic times (Baines and Malek 1980:187; Hoffman 1980) and which were very much part of the Egyptian realm despite their isolation from the Nile valley, guarded Egypt’s frontier with the Libyan peoples to the west (Baines and Malek 1980:19). References to the Uhnw from the Early Dynastic period (Holscher 1955:12-13), together with the evidence of the so-called ‘Libyan Palette’, imply hostile relations between Egypt and her western neighbour throughout the late Predynastic to Early Dynastic transition. In such a political climate, the maintenance of Egyptian control of the oases would clearly have been strategically important to Egypt’s rulers. Access to the oases was by caravan, leaving the Nile valley at an appropriate point on the west bank. In the New Kingdom, and probably in earlier times too, the most important route through the western desert to the Kharga and Dakhla Oases left the Nile valley at Armant (Baines and Malek 1980:43). It is possible, therefore, that the early rulers who left their names on the limestone escarpment behind Armant mounted expeditions of one sort or another to the western oases.
The oases
Whilst there is very little material to indicate Early Dynastic Egyptian activity in the oases, evidence from the Old Kingdom may suggest at least limited Egyptian involvement in earlier periods.
Kharga
The southernmost of the western desert oases is the Kharga oasis, which probably lay on the route (called ‘the oasis road’) from Egypt to Upper Nubia taken by Harkhuf in the Sixth Dynasty. Evidence for Egyptian contact with the Kharga oasis early in the Fourth Dynasty is provided by a complete ‘Maidum’ bowl, of red-polished ware with a reflexed rim, which was found upturned beside the track at the top of the Matana pass, in the south-east of the Kharga depression (Caton-Thompson 1952:41, pl. 123.4). The Matana track joins the Bulaq track in the western desert between the oasis and the Nile valley, and reaches the latter in the vicinity of Armant. This ties in with the evidence from the western desert near Armant for Early Dynastic activity in the area. The isolated bowl ‘is unlikely to be the unique relic of its kind and period’ (Caton-Thompson 1952:49) in the Kharga oasis and its associated passes. Further surveys may therefore be expected to reveal more evidence for early Egyptian contact with the Kharga oasis.
Dakhla
Situated to the north-west of Kharga, the Dakhla oasis was under Egyptian administration from the early Sixth Dynasty at the latest. The town of Balat at the heart of the Dakhla oasis seems to have served as the administrative centre for all the oases. A Canadian expedition found limited evidence for the presence of Egyptians in the Early Dynastic period (Mills 1980:254). A small cemetery of some 60 graves in the far west of the oasis (32/390-L2) contained a semi-contracted burial of an elderly male (32/390-L2-1) with three intact pottery vessels (a jar and two bowls) (Hope 1980:288-9, pl. XVII. b, c; Mills 1980:258). On the basis of parallels from Egypt proper, these have been dated to the Early Dynastic period, although the identification has been described as ‘rather tenuous’ (Giddy 1987:166). Even less certain is the attribution of a number of vessels and sherds from a nearby cemetery to the Third Dynasty. Late Old Kingdom parallels are known for all the forms (Giddy 1987:166-7) and a Sixth Dynasty date is perhaps more likely given the abundant evidence for Egyptian activity in the Dakhla oasis at this period.
World History
