{{Short description|Archaeological stage in prehistoric Egypt}} {{redirect|Gerzeh|the village in Iran|Gerzeh, Iran}} {{Other uses|Naqada (disambiguation)}} {{Infobox archaeological culture |name = Naqada II<br>(3500—3325 BC) |map = {{multiple image|perrow=1|total_width=270|caption_align=center | align = center | border=none | direction =horizontal | image1 = WLA brooklynmuseum Terracotta female figure.jpg | caption1=Female statuette, El Ma’marîya. Naqada IIA, 3500-3400 BC. Brooklyn Museum.<ref name="Brooklyn">{{cite web |title=Female Figure |url=https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/objects/4225 |website=Brooklyn Museum |language=en}}</ref><ref name="Oxford University Press">{{cite book |last1=Insoll |first1=Timothy |title=The Oxford Handbook of Prehistoric Figurines |date=2017 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-967561-6 |page=64 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TdKdDgAAQBAJ&pg=PA64 |language=en}}</ref> | image2= | caption2= }} {{ Location map+|Egypt|relief=yes|float=center|width=270|caption= |places= {{Location map~|Egypt|relief=yes|lat=25.6|long=33.4|position=left |mark=Orange zone.png |marksize=80}} {{Location map~|Egypt|relief=yes|lat=29.45|long=31.2|position=left |label_size=75 |label=el-Girzeh}} {{Location map~|Egypt|relief=yes|lat=25.9|long=32.716667|position=right |label_size=75 |label=Naqada}} {{Location map~|Egypt|relief=yes|lat=26.185|long=31.918889|position=left |label_size=75 |label=Abydos}} {{Location map~|Egypt|relief=yes|lat=25.483333|long=32.483333|position=left |label_size=75 |label=Gebelein}} {{Location map~|Egypt|relief=yes|lat=25.097222|long=32.779444|position=left |label_size=75 |label=Hierakonpolis}} {{Location map~|Egypt|relief=yes|lat=30.857222|long=32.019444|position=left |label_size=75 |label=Minshat Abu Omar}} {{Location map~|Egypt|relief=yes|lat=25.483333|long=32.483333|position=left |label_size=75 |label=Gebelein}} }} |mapcaption = Naqada II main sites, with central area ({{colorbull|#FF8C00|size=100|round}}) |map_type = |map_alt = |latitude = |longitude = |map_size = |mapalt = |altnames = |horizon = |region = |period = |dates = {{circa|3,500 BC}} — {{circa|3,325 BC}}<ref name="Kemp43"/><ref name="SH64">{{citation |last1=Hendrickx |first1=Stan |contribution=The relative chronology of the Naqada culture: Problems and possibilities |editor-last=Spencer |editor-first=Jeffrey |title=Aspects of Early Egypt |location=London |publisher=British Museum Press |year=1996 |page=64 |url=https://www.academia.edu/526195 |language=en}}</ref> |typesite = |majorsites = Naqada, Abydos, Gebelein, Hierakonpolis, el-Girzeh |extra = |precededby = Naqada I (Amratian) |followedby = Naqada III (Semainian) }} '''Naqada II''' refers to the second Pre-dynastic archaeological stage centered around the Naqada region of Upper Egypt. It was formerly also called '''Gerzeh culture''', after discoveries at Gerzeh (also Girza or Jirzah), a small prehistoric Egyptian cemetery located along the west bank of the Nile but much farther north, where Flinders Petrie first characterized this period in the 19th century.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Kemp |first1=Barry John |author-link=Barry Kemp (Egyptologist) |title=Ancient Egypt: anatomy of a civilization |date=2018 |publisher=Routledge |location=New-York (NY) |isbn=978-0415827263 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TNFfDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT42 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=TNFfDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT42 42] |edition=3rd |quote=An older scheme ran from the Badarian, through the Amratian to the Gerzean and then, via a somewhat ambiguous transition, to the First Dynasty. '''Subsequently Amratian and Gerzean were generally replaced by the terms Nagada I and Nagada II''', which still left the transitional period undefined. A redivision was proposed some years ago which recognized '''three Nagada phases: I, II and III''' (III overlapping with the First Dynasty), further subdivided by the use of capital letters (e.g. IIC), and this has become the standard terminology (with the retention of Badarian).}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.fallingrain.com/world/EG/08/Jirzah.html|title=Geographical information on Jirzah, Egypt|access-date=2008-03-22|author=Falling Rain Genomics, Inc}}</ref> Gerzeh is situated only several miles due east of the oasis of Faiyum, but was only peripheral to the Naqada culture.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.digitalegypt.ucl.ac.uk/maps/meydum-tarkhan.html|title=Map of the area between Meydum and Tarkhan|access-date=2008-03-22|work=Digital Egypt for Universities|author=University College London}}</ref> Depending on the sources, the Naqada II period is dated from {{circa|3,500 BC}} to {{circa|3,325 BC}},<ref name="Kemp43">{{cite book |last1=Kemp |first1=Barry John |author-link=Barry Kemp (Egyptologist) |title=Ancient Egypt: anatomy of a civilization |date=2018 |publisher=Routledge |location=New-York (NY) |isbn=978-0415827263 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TNFfDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT42 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=TNFfDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT42 42, Fig.2.6] |edition=3rd}}</ref> from {{circa|3,650 BC}} to {{circa|3,300 BC}},<ref>{{cite book |last1=Hendrickx |first1=Stan |title=Ancient Egyptian Chronology |chapter=Predynastic—Early Dynastic Chronology |date=2006 |publisher=Brill |isbn=978 90 04 11385 5 |page=92, Table II. 1.7. Absolute chronology |url=https://ia802907.us.archive.org/32/items/AncientEgyptianChronology_201303/Ancient%20Egyptian%20chronology.pdf}}</ref><ref name="SH64"/> or from 3,500 to 3,200 BC.<ref>{{cite book |editor-last=Shaw |editor-first=Ian |title=The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt |year=2000 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=0-19-815034-2 |page=[https://archive.org/details/oxfordhisto00shaw/page/480/mode/2up 481] |url=https://archive.org/details/oxfordhisto00shaw/page/480/mode/2up }}</ref> Naqada II had many types of potteries, which were categorized chronologically by Petrie from SD ("Sequence Date") 38 to 62.<ref name="Naqada chronology">{{cite web |title=Naqada chronology |url=https://www.ucl.ac.uk/museums-static/digitalegypt/naqadan/chronology.html |website=www.ucl.ac.uk |publisher=University College, London}}</ref><ref name="TN"/> It is coeval with the Uruk period in Mesopotamia.
Naqada II is the second of three phases of the prehistoric Naqada cultures, and was preceded by Naqada I (also known as the "Amratian culture"), and followed by Naqada III (also known as the "protodynastic" or "Semainian culture").
The end of the period, namely Naqada IID, is thought to correspond to the origins of Dynastic Egypt, a process which was further strengthened during the periods of Naqada IIIa and Dynasty 0.<ref name="AJJ165">{{cite journal |last1=Josephson |first1=Jack A. |last2=Dreyer |first2=Günter |title=Naqada IId: The Birth of an Empire Kingship, Writing, Organized Religion |journal=Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt |date=January 2015 |volume=51 |issue=1 |pages=165–166 |doi=10.5913/JARCE.51.2015.A007 |url=https://www.academia.edu/19179915/Naqada_IId_Birth_of_an_Empire |quote=We believe that the foundations of dynastic Egypt were laid in the Naqada IId period (ca. 3350–3150 BC), strengthened during the ensuing Naqada IIIa period, a process that culminated with the formation of Dynasty 0 (ca. 3150–3000 BC), the onset of the Archaic period.}}</ref> Naqada IID saw the inception of kingship, writing, and organized religion, which would become the basis of the classical Egyptian civilization.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Josephson |first1=Jack A. |last2=Dreyer |first2=Günter |title=Naqada IId: The Birth of an Empire Kingship, Writing, Organized Religion |journal=Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt |date=January 2015 |volume=51 |issue=1 |pages=165–166 |doi=10.5913/JARCE.51.2015.A007 |url=https://www.academia.edu/19179915/Naqada_IId_Birth_of_an_Empire |quote=These artistic accomplishments were coeval with the development of kingship, writing, and organized religion (which we deine as the emergence of defined gods).}}</ref>
==Historical context== thumb|Calibrated carbon-14 dates for Naqada periods broadly confirm the traditional dating scheme.{{sfn|Dee|Wengrow|Shortland|Stevenson|2014|p=322}} Sources differ on dating, some saying use of the culture distinguishes itself from the Amratian and begins circa 3500 BC lasting through circa 3200 BC.<ref>{{cite book |editor-last=Shaw |editor-first=Ian |title=The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt |year=2000 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=0-19-815034-2 |page=[https://archive.org/details/oxfordhisto00shaw/page/479 479] |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/oxfordhisto00shaw/page/479 }}</ref> Accordingly, some authorities place the onset of the Gerzeh coincident with the Amratian or Badari cultures, i.e. c.3800 BC to 3650 BC, even though some Badarian artifacts, in fact, may date earlier. The Naqada sites were first divided by the British Egyptologist Flinders Petrie in 1894, into Amratian (after the cemetery near el-Amrah) and "Gerzean" (after the cemetery near Gerzeh) sub-periods.
The Naqada II culture lasted through a period of time when the desertification of the Sahara had nearly reached its state seen during the late twentieth century.
The primary distinguishing feature between the earlier Amratian and the Gerzeh is the extra decorative effort exhibited in the pottery of the period. Artwork on Gerzeh ceramics features stylised animals and environment to a greater degree than the earlier Amratian artwork. Further, images of ostriches on the pottery artwork possibly indicate an inclination these early peoples may have felt to explore the Sahara desert.
===Economy: the "City of Gold'=== thumb|Gold mining sites ({{colorbull|size=100|#FFFF00|round}}) in Pre- and Early Dynastic Egypt.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Klemm |first1=Dietrich |last2=Klemm |first2=Rosemarie |last3=Murr |first3=Andreas |title=Gold of the Pharaohs – 6000 years of gold mining in Egypt and Nubia |journal=Journal of African Earth Sciences |date=January 2001 |volume=33 |issue=3-4 |pages=643–659, Fig.9 |doi=10.1016/S0899-5362(01)00094-X}}</ref> "Naqada" (''Nubt'') literally means "City of Gold", reflecting the exceptional wealth of the eastern desert region in gold, and the strategic position of Naqada and its facing town of Koptos for the commerce of that gold.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Trigger |first1=Bruce G. |title=Ancient Egypt: A Social History |date=1983 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-28427-1 |page=39 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OiiUcYOHX74C&pg=PA39 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="OUP Oxford">{{cite book |title=The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt |date=23 October 2003 |publisher=OUP Oxford |isbn=978-0-19-160462-1 |url=https://archive.org/details/TheOxfordHistoryOfAncient/page/n75/mode/2up |language=en |page=58}}</ref>
The exploitation of precious metals from the Eastern Desert, and the development of floodplain agriculture creating surpluses which could generate demand for a variety of crafts, made the region especially advanced in term of economic specialization and diversification, much more advanced than the regions of contemporary Lower Egypt.<ref name="OUP Oxford"/>
thumb|left|upright=0.5|Flint knife with gold handle, Naqada II, {{circa}}3500 BC. Cairo Museum.<ref>{{cite book |last1=El-Shahawy |first1=Abeer |last2=al-Miṣrī |first2=Matḥaf |title=The Egyptian Museum in Cairo |date=2005 |publisher=American Univ in Cairo Press |isbn=978-977-17-2183-3 |page=15, Fig.4 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cAyjwKyoHiEC&pg=PA15 |language=en}}</ref> Gold production is documented through the creation of gold artifacts, going as far back as about 3500 BCE.<ref name="GO">{{cite journal |last1=Klemm |first1=Dietrich |last2=Klemm |first2=Rosemarie |last3=Murr |first3=Andreas |title=Gold of the Pharaohs – 6000 years of gold mining in Egypt and Nubia |journal=Journal of African Earth Sciences |date=January 2001 |volume=33 |issue=3-4 |pages=643–659 |doi=10.1016/S0899-5362(01)00094-X}}</ref> Gold was obtained mainly from the older and younger granites of the Eastern Desert, through open pits and moderate underground digging.<ref name="GO"/>
Imports from Mesopotamia appear to have been quite intensive during the late Gerzean period (late Naqada II), and correspond to the Protoliterate b and c cultures of Mesopotamia (Uruk period).<ref name="BGT36-37">{{cite book |last1=Trigger |first1=Bruce G. |title=Ancient Egypt: A Social History |date=1983 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-28427-1 |pages=36–37 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OiiUcYOHX74C&pg=PA36 |language=en}}</ref> Mesopotamians may have been attracted by the fact that Naqada was at the center of the developing trade of gold from the Eastern Desert of Egypt.<ref name="BGT36-37"/><ref>{{cite book |title=The atlas of world archaeology |date=2003 |publisher=London : Batsford |isbn=978-0-7134-8889-0 |page=141 |url=https://archive.org/details/atlasofworldarch0000unse/page/141/mode/1up |quote=Some tombs contain objects of Mesopotamian origin, such as cylinder seals. These may have been acquired in exchange for gold from southern Egypt, an early indication of outside contact.}}</ref> This may have stimulated the direct involvement of Mesopotamian adventurers and traders, who, accompanied by artists and various skilled personnel, may have introduced Mesopotamian styles and practices.<ref name="BGT40"/> The fact that Mesopotamian influence, and possibly influence from Susa, mainly appears in Upper Egypt, and is almost non-existent in Lower Egypt, suggests an independent series of direct contacts, probably through the Red Sea at a point facing Wadi Hammamat, using some of the large ships visible on Mesopotamian seals.<ref name="BGT36-37"/>
The exploitation of gold may also have stimulated the development of the first organized proto-state structures in Egypt.<ref name="BGT40">{{cite book |last1=Trigger |first1=Bruce G. |title=Ancient Egypt: A Social History |date=1983 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-28427-1 |page=40 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OiiUcYOHX74C&pg=PA36 |language=en}}</ref>
===Northern and southern expansion=== The people of Naqada II and Naqada III seem to have expanded northward into Lower Egypt, replacing the Maadian culture.<ref name="IS59">{{cite book |title=The Oxford history of ancient Egypt |date=2003 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford; New York |isbn=9780192804587 |page=59 |url=https://archive.org/details/TheOxfordHistoryOfAncient/page/n75/mode/2up |language=English|editor-last1=Shaw |editor-first1=Ian}}</ref> Maadi was first conquered during Naqada II c-d.<ref name="IS59"/> The cultures of Lower Egypt were replaced by Upper Egypt and Naqada culture by the end of Naqada II circa 3200 BCE.<ref name="IS59"/> The Maadian culture of Buto, Tell Ibrahim Awad, Tell el-Rub'a, and Tell el-Farkha were vacated, giving way to the Naqada III culture.<ref name="IS59"/>
From its core in Upper Egypt, the Naqada II expanded northward to the eastern edge of the Nile Delta, and southward to the Nubian A-Group culture.<ref name="IS44">{{cite book |title=The Oxford history of ancient Egypt |date=2003 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford; New York |isbn=9780192804587 |pages=44–45 |url=https://archive.org/details/TheOxfordHistoryOfAncient/page/n75/mode/2up |language=English|editor-last1=Shaw |editor-first1=Ian}}</ref>
==Funerary practices== {{see also|Gebelein predynastic mummies}} Most of the artifacts known from the period were discovered in tombs. Two main types of tombs are known: small shallow tombs, dug into the sand, in which the body is in the fetal position, and large rectangular tombs, dug deep into the ground and roofed, in which the bodies were dispersed in pieces.
===Common pit graves=== {{multiple image|perrow=2|total_width=350|caption_align=center | align = right | direction =horizontal | image1 = Tomb 1, El Ma’marîya, similar to Tomb 2, El Ma’marîya (per Henry de Morgan, 1909).jpg | caption1 = A shallow grave, Tomb 1, El Ma’marîya | image2 = Egyptian Burial (35808408273).jpg | caption2 = A shallow grave: tomb from Gebelein, Naqada IID-IIIB. 3400 BC (Cal. C14 dating 3341-3017BC). British Museum.<ref name="Tomb">{{cite web |title=Tomb |url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/Y_EA32751 |publisher=British Museum}}</ref> | footer= }} Until late in the Predynastic period, many tombs consisted in shallow graves, directly opened in the sand, sometimes covered by a mound of earth, such as Tomb 2, El Ma’marîya or the Gebelein predynastic mummies. The dry conditions often preserved the body to this day. The body were often put in a foetal position, as late as the Old Kingdom period, when body were mummified in the extended position.<ref name="Tomb"/> The bodies found in Gebelein (ca. 3400 BC) also had some of the oldest known tattoos in the world, using designs consistent with those of D-ware potteries, with animals such as the Barbary sheep or the bull, or throw-sticks and "SSSS" symbols.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Friedman |first1=Renée |last2=Antoine |first2=Daniel |last3=Talamo |first3=Sahra |last4=Reimer |first4=Paula J. |last5=Taylor |first5=John H. |last6=Wills |first6=Barbara |last7=Mannino |first7=Marcello A. |title=Natural mummies from Predynastic Egypt reveal the world's earliest figural tattoos |journal=Journal of Archaeological Science |date=1 April 2018 |volume=92 |pages=118–122 |doi=10.1016/j.jas.2018.02.002 |url=https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2018.02.002 |issn=0305-4403|url-access=subscription }}</ref>
The tombs usually included some utensils, including vessels for provisions for the afterlife, jewelry or slate palettes.<ref name="UCL Burials"/>
===Elite tombs=== {{multiple image|perrow=2|total_width=300|caption_align=center | align = left | direction =horizontal | image1 = Tomb 271, Naqada.jpg | image2 = Tomb 271, artifacts. Naqada IIB (color).jpg | footer=Tomb 271, a large rectangular grave, with artifacts (Naqada IIB).<ref>{{cite book |last1=Petrie |first1=W. M. Flinders (William Matthew Flinders) |last2=Quibell |first2=James Edward |title=Naqada and Ballas. 1895 |date=1896 |publisher=London, B. Quaritch |pages=33–35 |url=https://archive.org/details/cu31924028748261/page/n34/mode/1up?q=%22271%22}}</ref> }} The other type of tombs in Naqada were wealthy graves, such as Tomb T5, Tomb T4 from the elite Cemetery T at Naqada, or Tomb 271, all dated to the Naqada IIA-IIC period.<ref name="UCL Burials"/><ref name="AshNot"/><ref name="Naqada Tomb T 5">{{cite web |title=Naqada Tomb T 5 |url=https://www.ucl.ac.uk/museums-static/digitalegypt/naqada/t5/index.html |website=www.ucl.ac.uk |publisher=University College London}}</ref><ref name="WP19"/> Contrary to the usual Egyptian graves placed in caves or hollows, these tomb belonged to a different category: they were deep and rectangular, formed from a vertical pit and were roofed.<ref name="WP19"/> These wealthy graves were roofed over with beams and brushwood, a system not seen in standard Egyptian tombs.<ref name="WP19"/> These tombs were quite large and well furbished, and were built for the elite of the period.<ref name="UCL Burials"/> The artifacts in the tomb were precious and well-manufactured, including pottery, jewelry, status symbols, cosmetic palettes.<ref name="UCL Burials">{{cite web |title=Predynastic Burial customs |url=https://www.ucl.ac.uk/museums-static/digitalegypt//burialcustoms/predynastic.html |website=www.ucl.ac.uk |publisher=University College London}}</ref> These tombs usually contained detached skulls and bodies, often arranged in heaps. In some tombs, there is evidence of one man accompanied in death by several females, suggesting a sacrifice of concubines or servants attending the deceased.<ref name="AshNot"/> Such practice is characteristic of later royal burials at Abydos.<ref name="AshNot"/> These tomb were usually furbished with large jars, some of them filled with organic materials, including possibly beer and scented fats, probably offerings. Finely-polished stone vases, made of diorite and brescia, were positioned among the skulls. The pottery of these high-level tomb consisted exclusively of Fancy-form (F-ware), Wavy-handled (W-ware) and multiple Rough-ware vessels.<ref name="AshNot">[https://www.flickr.com/photos/156915032@N07/54813906097/in/dateposted-public/ Ashmolean Museum notice]</ref><ref name="WP19"/> Many of the bodies discovered in these tombs were mutilated or decapitated, suggesting either ritual practices or even ritual cannibalism.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Friedman |first1=Renee |title=SACRED OR MUNDANE: SCALPING AND DECAPITATION AT PREDYNASTIC HIERAKONPOLIS |journal=Egypt at its origins 2. Proceedings of the International conference “Origin of the State. Predynastic and Early Dynastic Egypt” |date=1 January 2008 |pages=309–310 |url=https://www.academia.edu/4228535/SACRED_OR_MUNDANE_SCALPING_AND_DECAPITATION_AT_PREDYNASTIC_HIERAKONPOLIS}}</ref>
Artificial mummification was already practiced from around 3500 BC in Hierakonpolis, where traces of resin and linen wrappings were discovered.<ref name="Tomb"/>
==Transitional bearded tusk statuettes (End Naqada I- Early Naqada II)== {{multiple image|perrow=2|total_width=300|caption_align=center | align = right | direction =horizontal | image1 = Tusk figurine of a man Late Naqada I Early Naqada II 3900-3500 BCE.jpg | image2 = Hippopotamus Tusk with Carved Head Naqada I-II.jpg| | footer=Hippopotamus tusks with carved head, 3900–3500 BCE, Naqada I–II. Metropolitan Museum of Art and Brooklyn Museum.<ref name="Hippopotamus Tusk with Carved Head">{{cite web |title=Hippopotamus Tusk with Carved Head |url=https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/objects/3358 |website=Brooklyn Museum}}</ref> }} Many figurines are known which have pointed beards, with often some traces of hair, and sometimes tall hats.<ref name="SH"/> They are carved on hippopotamus tusks or ivory tags.<ref name="SH">{{cite book |last1=Hendrickx |first1=Stan |last2=Adams |first2=Barbara |last3=Friedman |first3=R. F. |title=Egypt at Its Origins: Studies in Memory of Barbara Adams: Proceedings of the International Conference "Origin of the State, Predynastic and Early Dynastic Egypt", Krakow, 28 August – 1 September 2002 |date=2004 |publisher=Peeters Publishers |isbn=978-90-429-1469-8 |page=892 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Z169xREnHQwC&pg=PA892 |language=en}}</ref> Datation is uncertain, but the earliest ones are securely dated from the end of Naqada I, and they continue into Naqada II, but none of these anthropomorphic tusks are attested in the Late Pre-Dynastic, i.e. Naqada III.<ref name="HS894"/>
Anthropomorphic tusks are only found in Upper Egypt, most of the time in tombs and rarely in settlements, and most of them before Naqada IID.<ref name="Hend518">{{cite book |last1=Hendrickx |first1=Stan |last2=Eyckerman |first2=Merel |title=EGYPT AT ITS ORIGINS 3 Proceedings of the Third International Conference “Origin of the State. Predynastic and Early Dynastic Egypt”, London, 27th July – 1st August 2008 |publisher=ORIENTALIA LOVANIENSIA ANALECTA, UITGEVERIJ PEETERS en DEPARTEMENT OOSTERSE STUDIES |chapter=Tusks and tags: between the hippopotamus and the Naqada plant |date=2011 |page=518 |url=https://www.academia.edu/855406/Hendrickx_S_and_Eyckerman_M_Tusks_and_tags_Between_the_hippopotamus_and_the_Naqada_plant_in_Friedman_R_F_and_Fiske_P_N_eds_Egypt_at_its_Origins_3_Proceedings_of_the_International_Conference_Origin_of_the_State_Predynastic_and_Early_Dynastic_Egypt_London_27th_July_1st_August_2008_OLA_205_Leuven_497_570}}</ref> In 1895, Flinders Petrie excavated several anthropomorphic tusks in Naqada, which he always found in pairs, one solid and one hollow to half of its length, in total eight pairs of anthropomorphic tusks found in eight different graves from the Naqada cemetery, including the tomb of a woman.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Petrie |first1=W. M. Flinders (William Matthew Flinders) |last2=Quibell |first2=James Edward |title=Naqada and Ballas. 1895 |date=1896 |publisher=London, B. Quaritch |page=19 |url=https://archive.org/details/cu31924028748261/page/n32/mode/1up}} The tomb of the woman is tomb 1419, described page 28.</ref> Petrie also obtained several other anthropomorphic tusks on the antiquity market in Egypt.<ref>{{cite web |title=Naqadan Art, human figures |url=https://www.ucl.ac.uk/museums-static/digitalegypt/naqadan/sculpture2.html |website=www.ucl.ac.uk}}</ref> Petrie initially dated these bearded statuettes to SD 33-45 (mid-Naqada I to Naqada IIB) on stylistic grounds,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Petrie |first1=W. M. Flinders |title=Prehistoric Egypt, Illustrated By Over 1, 000 Objects In University College, London |date=1920 |page=9 |url=https://archive.org/details/prehistoric-egypt-illustrated-by-over-1-000-objects-in-university-college-london/page/8/mode/2up}}</ref> and later to SD 38, the earliest stage of Naqada II.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Petrie |first1=William Matthew Flinders (1853-1942) |title=The making of Egypt |date=1939 |page=Plate XI |url=https://archive.org/details/Petrie1939/page/n22/mode/1up}}</ref> A wider date range between Naqada I and Naqada IID has been suggested by Hendrickx (2016).<ref>{{cite book |last1=Polz |first1=Daniel |last2=Seidlmayer |first2=Stephan Johannes |last3=Hendrickx |first3=Stan |title=Gedenkschrift für Werner Kaiser |date=2016 |publisher=Zabern |location=Mainz |isbn=978-3-11-041802-6 |url=https://www.academia.edu/26839908/Hendrickx_S_Piquette_K_E_Eyckerman_M_Madrigal_K_and_Graves_Brown_C_The_origin_and_early_significance_of_the_White_Crown_MDAIK_70_71_2014_2015_227_238 |chapter=The origin and early significance of the White Crown |page=233}}</ref>
%2C_and_type_35_(from_Naqada_tombs_108%2C_226%2C_1497%2C_1789).jpg){kind=link}
The figures seem to be wearing clothing, and may represent people dressed in long cloaks.<ref name="SH"/> Bearded men also appear in many other pre-dynastic artifacts, such as the Gebel el-Arak Knife.<ref name="HS894">{{cite book |last1=Hendrickx |first1=Stan |last2=Adams |first2=Barbara |last3=Friedman |first3=R. F. |title=Egypt at Its Origins: Studies in Memory of Barbara Adams : Proceedings of the International Conference "Origin of the State, Predynastic and Early Dynastic Egypt", Krakow, 28 August – 1st September 2002 |date=2004 |publisher=Peeters Publishers |isbn=978-90-429-1469-8 |pages=893–894 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Z169xREnHQwC&pg=PA894 |language=en}}</ref> The headgear of the Mesopotamian-style "Lord of Animals" on the Gebel el-Arak knife may also be comparable to the torus-shaped headgear visible on many of the Naqada I figurines.<ref name="HS894"/>
Tusks with human heads are of two types, depending on their sizes: smaller ones, made from the canine teeth of the hippopotamus, and larger ones, made from the lower incisors.<ref name="Hend510"/> Most have a knob-like headdress, which is often pierced.<ref name="Hend510">{{cite book |last1=Hendrickx |first1=Stan |last2=Eyckerman |first2=Merel |title=EGYPT AT ITS ORIGINS 3 Proceedings of the Third International Conference “Origin of the State. Predynastic and Early Dynastic Egypt”, London, 27th July – 1st August 2008 |publisher=ORIENTALIA LOVANIENSIA ANALECTA, UITGEVERIJ PEETERS en DEPARTEMENT OOSTERSE STUDIES |chapter=Tusks and tags: between the hippopotamus and the Naqada plant |date=2011 |pages=510, 499 |url=https://www.academia.edu/855406/Hendrickx_S_and_Eyckerman_M_Tusks_and_tags_Between_the_hippopotamus_and_the_Naqada_plant_in_Friedman_R_F_and_Fiske_P_N_eds_Egypt_at_its_Origins_3_Proceedings_of_the_International_Conference_Origin_of_the_State_Predynastic_and_Early_Dynastic_Egypt_London_27th_July_1st_August_2008_OLA_205_Leuven_497_570}}</ref> The authenticity of these bearded tusk statuettes is generally considered beyond doubt.<ref name="Hend510"/> Some of the statuettes originally obtained by Petrie, and now in the Musées de Bruxelles,<ref>{{cite web |title=The Global Egyptian Museum |url=https://www.globalegyptianmuseum.org/record.aspx?id=335 |website=www.globalegyptianmuseum.org |publisher=Musée de Bruxelles |pages= (with modern photographs) [https://www.globalegyptianmuseum.org/record.aspx?id=335 E.2331A], [https://www.globalegyptianmuseum.org/record.aspx?id=336&lan=F E.2331A], [https://www.globalegyptianmuseum.org/record.aspx?id=334 E.2329]}}</ref> were analyzed forensically, and their authenticity confirmed.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Hendrickx |first1=Stan |last2=Eyckerman |first2=Merel |title=EGYPT AT ITS ORIGINS 3 Proceedings of the Third International Conference “Origin of the State. Predynastic and Early Dynastic Egypt”, London, 27th July – 1st August 2008 |publisher=ORIENTALIA LOVANIENSIA ANALECTA, UITGEVERIJ PEETERS en DEPARTEMENT OOSTERSE STUDIES |chapter=Tusks and tags: between the hippopotamus and the Naqada plant |date=2011 |page=499 |url=https://www.academia.edu/855406/Hendrickx_S_and_Eyckerman_M_Tusks_and_tags_Between_the_hippopotamus_and_the_Naqada_plant_in_Friedman_R_F_and_Fiske_P_N_eds_Egypt_at_its_Origins_3_Proceedings_of_the_International_Conference_Origin_of_the_State_Predynastic_and_Early_Dynastic_Egypt_London_27th_July_1st_August_2008_OLA_205_Leuven_497_570| quote=Although the authenticity of each of these objects should be investigated in detail, close examination of three examples in the Royal Museums for Art and History (RMAH) at Brussels did not yield any evidence of forgery. No traces of modern tools could be observed, and both the patina and the wear traces seem genuine.}}</ref> Two other datable pieces excavated from Badari by Guy Brunton (tomb 3165 and tomb 3828),<ref>{{cite book |last1=Brunton |first1=Guy and Caton-Thompson |title=Badarian Civilization And Predynastic Remains Near Badari |date=1928 |pages=45 (tomb 3165), 51 (tomb 3828) |url=https://archive.org/details/badarian-civilization-and-predynastic-remains-near-badari/page/44/mode/2up}}</ref> include one similar tusk surmounted by a bearded face in relief,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Hendrickx |first1=Stan |title=Egypt at Its Origins: Studies in Memory of Barbara Adams : Proceedings of the International Conference "Origin of the State, Predynastic and Early Dynastic Egypt," Krakow, 28 August - 1st September 2002 |date=2004 |publisher=Peeters Publishers |isbn=978-90-429-1469-8 |pages=892-893, figure 1-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Z169xREnHQwC&pg=PA892 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Brunton |first1=Guy |title=The Badarian Civilization |date=1928 |publisher=University College |location=London |pages=45–46 (tomb description), Plate XLVII fig.6 (photography) |url=https://etana.org/sites/default/files/coretexts/15271.pdf}}</ref> which is securely attributed to SD 37-38 (Naqada IC-IIA).<ref name="Hend510"/><ref>{{cite book |last1=Sharp |first1=Iryna |title=Egyptian Predynastic Anthropomorphic Objects: A Study of Their Function and Significance in Predynastic Burial Customs |date=22 February 2018 |publisher=Archaeopress Publishing |isbn=978178491778 4 |pages=Grave 3165 p.92 Fig.2; Grave 3828 p.77 |url=https://www.academia.edu/35990582/Egyptian_Predynastic_Anthropomorphic_Objects_A_Study_of_Their_Function_and_Significance_in_Predynastic_Burial_Customs}}</ref>
Men with beards never appear other than in sculptural works, neither in the victory and hunting scenes on White Cross-lined pottery nor in the Decorated potteries with males accompanying women raising their arms.<ref name="academia.edu">{{cite book |last1=Hendrickx |first1=Stan |last2=Eyckerman |first2=Merel |last3=Meyer |first3=Marleen De |title=Aegyptus est imago caeli. Studies presented to Krzysztof M. Ciałowicz on his 60th birthday |date=2014 |publisher=Institute of Archaeology, Jagiellonian University in Kraków |location=Krakow |isbn=978-83-934218-8-6 |url=https://www.academia.edu/13446958/Hendrickx_S_De_Meyer_M_and_Eyckerman_M_On_the_origin_of_the_royal_false_beard_and_its_bovine_symbolism_in_Jucha_M_D%C4%99bowska_Ludwin_J_and_Ko%C5%82odziejczyk_P_eds_Aegyptus_est_imago_caeli_Studies_presented_to_Krzysztof_M_Cia%C5%82owicz_on_his_60th_birthday_Krakow_2014_129_143 |chapter=On the origin of the royal false beard and its bovine symbolism}}</ref>
<gallery widths="130" heights="175"> File:Prehistoric Egypt statuettes.jpg|Bearded tusk statuettes, Naqada II. University College, London.<ref>{{cite web |title=Naqadan Art, human figures (modern color photographs) |url=https://www.ucl.ac.uk/museums-static/digitalegypt/naqadan/sculpture2.html |website=www.ucl.ac.uk |publisher=University College, London}}</ref> File:Male figurine, hippopotamus ivory tusk, Egypt 3650–3300 BCE, Naqada II. Metropolitan Museum of Art.jpg|Male figurine, hippopotamus ivory tusk, Egypt 3650–3300 BCE, Naqada II. Metropolitan Museum of Art.<ref>{{cite web |title=Male figurine |url=https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/547223 |publisher=Metropolitan Museum of Art |orig-date=c. 3650–3300 B.C.}}</ref> File:Ivory bearded figurines, large and small. Naqada. Royal Museums of Art and History, Brussels.jpg|Ivory bearded figurines, large and small. Naqada. Royal Museums of Art and History, Brussels.<ref name="Brux">{{cite web |title=The Global Egyptian Museum |url=https://www.globalegyptianmuseum.org/record.aspx?id=335 |website=www.globalegyptianmuseum.org |publisher=Musée de Bruxelles |pages= (with modern photographs) [https://www.globalegyptianmuseum.org/record.aspx?id=335 E.2331A], [https://www.globalegyptianmuseum.org/record.aspx?id=336 E.2331B], [https://www.globalegyptianmuseum.org/record.aspx?id=334 E.2329]}}</ref> File:Hippopotamus Tusk with Carved Head Naqada I-II (detail).jpg|Hippopotamus tusk with carved head of a bearded man with torus-like headgear, Late Naqada I – Early Naqada II, 3800–3400 BC. Brooklyn Museum.<ref name="Hippopotamus Tusk with Carved Head"/><ref name="HS894"/> File:Tusk carved in the form of a bearded man, 3900-3500 BCE, Upper Egypt (full length).jpg|Tusk carved in the form of a bearded man, 3900-3500 BC. Museo Egizio, Turin.<ref name="collezioni.museoegizio.it">{{cite web |title=Collection online - Tusk carved in the form of a bearded man |url=https://collezioni.museoegizio.it/en-GB/material/S_1068/ |website=collezioni.museoegizio.it |language=en}}</ref> </gallery>
==Naqada IIA and IIB (c.3500 BC)== [[File:Abadiya Grave B102 assemblage. Naqada IIA. Ashmolean Museum.jpg|thumb|A Naqada IIA burial assemblage (SD 33-41), with stone palettes, ivory tags and tusks, female statuette, and stone vessels (Grave B102, Abadiya). Ashmolean Museum]] [[File:Naqada Tomb T4, Naqada IIB.jpg|thumb|A Naqada IIB burial assemblage, with anthropomorphic tusks and tags, animal palettes, stoneware and pottery (Tomb T4, Naqada). This is a grave formed from a vertical pit.<ref name="WP19"/> Ashmolean Museum]] The period of Naqada IIA and Naqada IIB see the appearance of early forms of artifacts that would become characteristic of the later Naqada period: ivory tusks and tags with designs of bearded men start to appear, as well as simple designs of cosmetic palettes in the shape of rhomboids or animals.<ref name=ivory>{{cite web |title=Ivory comb with human figure |url=https://www.ashmolean.org/collections-online#/item/ash-object-489188 |website=www.ashmolean.org |publisher=Ashmolean Museum |language=en}}</ref>
In the area of pottery, black-topped red pottery continued to be produced, while white cross-lined pottery ("C-ware") started to disappear, before vanishing completely and being replaced by decorative "D" ware from the Naqada IIC period.<ref name="PUP">{{cite book |last1=Graff |first1=Gwenola |chapter=The Iconography on Decorated Ware |title=Préhistoires de l'écriture |date=24 March 2022 |publisher=Presses universitaires de Provence |isbn=979-10-320-0369-5 |page=[https://www.academia.edu/29918112/The_Iconography_on_Decorated_Ware 48] ff |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8UBeEQAAQBAJ&pg=PA48 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="EH76">{{cite book |last1=Hornung |first1=Erik |last2=Krauss |first2=Rolf |last3=Warburton |first3=David A. |title=Ancient Egyptian Chronology |date=30 December 2006 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-90-474-0400-2 |page=76 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Gux5DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA76 |language=en}}</ref> Rough pottery (type "R") also started to appear during this period.<ref name="EH76"/>
Known Naqada IIA and IIB cemeteries occupy a rather limited geographical area and are essentially located in the area around Naqada, including the cemeteries of Matmar, Salmany, Naqada and Armant.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Hornung |first1=Erik |last2=Krauss |first2=Rolf |last3=Warburton |first3=David A. |title=Ancient Egyptian Chronology |date=30 December 2006 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-90-474-0400-2 |pages=76–77 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Gux5DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA76 |language=en}}</ref>
Trading relations between Upper Egypt and south-western Asia may have started during this time, centered around the mineral wealth of the eastern desert, particularly gold.<ref name="Trigger39"/> Traders may have arrived through the Red Sea or through the Nile Delta, which they seem to have bypassed for lack of local precious resources.<ref name="Trigger39"/> Such trade may have stimulated urban and state development in Upper Egypt.<ref name="Trigger39">{{cite book |last1=Trigger |first1=Bruce G. |title=Ancient Egypt: A Social History |date=1983 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-28427-1 |pages=39–40 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OiiUcYOHX74C&pg=PA39 |language=en}}</ref>
===Vessels=== {{see also|Gebelein predynastic mummies}} Naqada II continued to use large quantities of Black-top redware, especially present in the burials of Naqada IIA and IIB, such as Abadiya grave B101 or B102. Globally, the Naqada IIA and IIB are characterized by the fact that White Cross-Lined ware (Polished red body with white painting, "C-ware") gradually disappears, while Rough ware (a new type of pottery with vegetal particles which burn upon firing and create an uneven surface, "R-ware") emerges, and Polished Red ware (red polished pottery, "P-wares") become more diverse.{{sfn|Dee|Wengrow|Shortland|Stevenson|2014|p=320}}
One of the originalities of the period is that figures in relief started to be incorporated into Black-top redware. A remarkable fragment from this period appears to have the motif of the Red Crown, of which it is considered as the first known depiction.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Hollis |first1=Susan Tower |title=Five Egyptian Goddesses: Their Possible Beginnings, Actions, and Relationships in the Third Millennium BCE |date=3 October 2019 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |isbn=978-1-78093-794-6 |page=29 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=V2KmDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT29 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Chaos en beheersing: Documenten uit aeneolitisch Egypte |date=14 October 2024 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-90-04-67093-8 |page=305 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=01YpEQAAQBAJ&pg=PA305 |language=en|quote= Fragment of a "blacktopped" pot, red polished pottery with black rim, a representation of the "Red Crown" of Lower Egypt was modelled in the clay, before it was baked. Amratian (S.D. 35-39), from Naqada, tomb 1610. Oxford Ashmolean Museum 1895.795}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Black top shard 1895.795|url=https://www.ashmolean.org/collections-online#/item/ash-object-488271 |website=www.ashmolean.org |publisher=Ashmolean Museum |language=en}}</ref> The symbol of the Red Crown has been known historically as the regnal symbol of Lower Egypt, but it seems that it originated in Upper Egypt, where it was the crown worn by the rulers of Naqada.<ref name="Wil">{{cite book |last1=Wilkinson |first1=Toby A. H. |title=Early Dynastic Egypt |date=11 September 2002 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-134-66420-7 |page=163 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lGGFAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA163 |language=en |quote=Although the red crown is associated in historic times with Lower Egypt, it is generally assumed that it originated as the distinctive headpiece of the Predynastic rulers of Naqada. The colour red was traditionally associated with Seth, the local god of Naqada. The shape of the crown is quite distinctive, but again its symbolic meaning is unknown.}}</ref>
Other wares were used in lesser quantities, such as Rough ware (type "R") a new type of pottery with vegetal particles which burn upon firing and create an uneven surface, or Polished Red ware.
Some beautiful and precious stone vessels were also manufactured, such as the red and white limestone vessels of Naqada Tomb T4 (Naqada IIB).<ref name=naqada>{{cite web |title=Ashmolean Museum |url=https://www.ashmolean.org/collections-online#/search/simple-search/IIB/%257B%257D/5/16/_score/desc/catalogue |website=www.ashmolean.org |language=en}}</ref>
<gallery widths="130" heights="200" perrow="4"> File:Vessels, Abadiya grave B101. Naqada IIA. Ashmolean Museum.jpg|Vessels in a Naqada IIA burial (Abadiya grave B101) File:Black topped red ware vessel with moulded relief decoration representing a mother holding a baby monkey. Naqada, grave 1449.jpg|Vessel with individual raising arms. 3650 BC, Naqada IIA.{{sfn|Patch|Eaton-Krauss|2011|p=108, fig.32}}<ref>{{cite web |title=Naqada IIA beaker |url=https://www.ashmolean.org/collections-online#/item/ash-object-487950 |website=www.ashmolean.org |publisher=Ashmolean Museum |language=en |quote=Predynastic Period, Naqada IIA (Egypt) (c. 3800 - 3450 BCE)}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Garfinkel |first1=Yosef |title=Dancing or Fighting? A Recently Discovered Predynastic Scene from Abydos, Egypt |journal=Cambridge Archaeological Journal |date=October 2001 |volume=11 |issue=2 |page=247, Figure 10.3, 249 |doi=10.1017/S0959774301000130 |quote=From the Naqada I phase, contemporary with the three scenes presented above, two other pottery vessels bear anthropomorphic figures with upraised arms. The first was found in Grave 1449 at Naqada (Crowfoot Payne 1993, 34, no. 105). This is a tall beaker with burnished red slip on the body, burnished black slip near the rim (Black-topped ware), and an applied human figure (Fig. 10:3). Only the upper part of the human body has been depicted, with breasts that clearly indicate a female figure. She is represented with upraised arms.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Baumgartel |first1=Elise Jenny (1892-1975) |title=Baumgartel, Elise J. - The cultures of prehistoric Egypt 1 (1947) |date=1947 |page=Plate 3 |url=https://archive.org/details/baumgartel_1_1947/page/n69/mode/1up}}</ref> File:Vase Fragment Decorated with a Red Crown.jpg|Vase fragment decorated with a Red Crown, regnal symbol of Naqada, and later Lower Egypt. Naqada IIA.<ref>{{cite web |title=Naqada IIA jar fragment |url=https://www.ashmolean.org/collections-online#/item/ash-object-488271 |website=www.ashmolean.org |publisher=Ashmolean Museum |language=en}}</ref><ref name="Wil"/> File:Content of Naqada Tomb T4. Red and white limestone jar.jpg|A multicolor stone vessel: red and white limestone jar. Naqada Tomb T4. Naqada IIB.<ref name=naqada/> </gallery>
===Ivory and stone anthropomorphic figures=== [[File:Naqada period ivories.jpg|thumb|Naqada period ivories.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Petrie |first1=W. M. Flinders (William Matthew Flinders) |last2=Mace |first2=Arthur C. [from old catalog |title=Diospolis Parva, the cemeteries of Abadiyeh and Hu, 1898-9 |date=1901 |publisher=London and Boston, Mass. |page=Plate III |url=https://archive.org/details/diospolisparvac01macegoog/page/n85/mode/1up}}</ref>]] Many anthropomorphic ivory tags showing bearded individuals have also been were found in Naqada graves dated to the Naqada IC-IIA period, with only a few specimens in Naqada IIB, and essentially none after. These have been found in the same graves as anthropomorphic tusk and simple animal ivory tags, indicating contemporaneity between these objects (for example Tomb 271, Naqada).<ref name="Nowak898">{{cite book |last1=Nowak |first1=Edyta Maria |title=Egypt at Its Origins: Studies in Memory of Barbara Adams : Proceedings of the International Conference "Origin of the State, Predynastic and Early Dynastic Egypt," Krakow, 28 August - 1st September 2002 |date=2004 |publisher=Peeters Publishers |chapter=Egyptian Predynastic Ivories Decorated With Anthropomorphic Motifs |isbn=978-90-429-1469-8 |page=898 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Z169xREnHQwC&pg=PA898 |language=en}}</ref>
<gallery widths="120" heights="175" perrow="5"> File:Ivory comb with human portrait. Naqada IIA. Naqada grave 268. Ashmolean Museum.jpg|Ivory comb with human portrait. Naqada IIA. Naqada, Tomb 268. Ashmolean Museum.<ref name=ivory/> File:Comb with Human Image, Early Naqada II. 35.1267 Brooklyn Museum.jpg|Comb with human image, Early Naqada II, 3500-3400 BC, Brooklyn Museum File:Ivory tusks, left one hollow, right one plain with bearded face design. Naqada Tomb T4.jpg|Ivory tusks, left one hollow, right one plain with bearded face design. Naqada Tomb T4. Naqada IIB.<ref>{{cite web |title=Anthropomorphic tusk |url=https://www.ashmolean.org/collections-online#/item/ash-object-489789 |website=www.ashmolean.org |publisher=Ashmolean Museum |language=en}}</ref> File:Gebelein. Statuette. Lyon, Musée des Confluences, 90000172.jpg|Stone statuette, Gebelein excavations (1909). Musée des Confluences.<ref name="Daniel229"/> Naqada II.<ref name="RA">{{cite journal |last1=Angevin |first1=Raphaël |last2=Vanhulle |first2=Dorian |last3=Hendrickx |first3=Stan |last4=Madrigal |first4=Karine |title=De l’outil au symbole : sur une lame de silex retouchée en bateau provenant de Gebelein (Haute Égypte, Nagada IIC-D, Lyon, musée des Confluences : Inv. T. 1224) |journal=Archéo-Nil |date=2020 |volume=30 |issue=1 |doi=10.3406/arnil.2020.1344 |url=https://www.persee.fr/doc/arnil_1161-0492_2020_num_30_1_1344 |p=76}}</ref> File:Gebelein. Statuette. Lyon, Musée des Confluences, 90000172 (head detail).jpg|Head detail with possible incipient White Crown. Gebelein excavations (1909).<ref name="Daniel229"/> Naqada II.<ref name="RA"/> File:Gebelein. Statuette. Lyon, Musée des Confluences, 90000171.jpg|Brescia statuette. Gebelein excavations (1909), Musée des Confluences.<ref name="Daniel229"/> Naqada II.<ref name="RA"/> File:Tag in human shape, Naqada. Naqada IIB. Ashmolean Museum.jpg|Tag in human shape, Tomb 271, Naqada. Naqada IIB, circa 3500 BC. Ashmolean Museum.{{sfn|Patch|Eaton-Krauss|2011|p=134, Cat.113}}<ref>{{cite web |title=Statuette AN1895.132 |url=https://www.ashmolean.org/collections-online#/item/ash-object-489784 |website=www.ashmolean.org |publisher=Ashmolean Museum |language=en}}</ref> File:Tag with human form. Matmar 2682. Naqada IIB. EA63413.jpg|Tag with human form. Matmar 2682. Naqada IIB. EA63413 File:Peg figurine (one of four), grave 271. Naqada IIB. Ashmolean Museum.jpg|Ivory peg figurine, Tomb 271. Naqada IIB. Ashmolean Museum.<ref>{{cite book |title=Dawn of Egyptian Art |publisher=The Metropolitan Museum of Art |page=103 |url=https://www.metmuseum.org/met-publications/dawn-of-egyptian-art |language=en}}</ref> </gallery>
===Clay figurines=== [[File:Dancing female figure, Naqada IIa, from el-Ma´mariya. 07.447.505 Brooklyn Museum.jpg|thumb|upright=1.5|Female statuette, Tomb 2, El Ma’marîya. Naqada IIA, 3500-3400 BC. Brooklyn Museum.<ref name="Brooklyn"/> Also called the "Bird Lady".<ref name="Oxford University Press"/> The legs are not articulated and the face is beaklike.]] Various steatopygous female statuettes in dancing postures start to appear during Naqada IIA.<ref name="Brooklyn"/> Especially remarkable are the dancing Venuses holding their arms rounded above their heads in a seemingly dancing pause, or a pose of praise.<ref name="Brooklyn"/> Such statuettes may be wearing a fine skirt, signified by the joint legs design and the whitish coloration.<ref name="Brooklyn"/> Although these so-called "Bird Lady" are very slender and elegant bodies, the heads do not have realistic human proportions, and are rather bird-like, for uncertain reasons.<ref name="Brooklyn"/> The most famous of these statuettes, now in the Brooklyn Museum, was excavated by Henry de Morgan in 1909, from Tomb 2 at El Ma’marîya, a small oval tomb 1.3m deep, with the corpse in the traditional foetal position.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Henry de Morgan |title=Revue de l'Ecole d'anthropologie de Paris 1909: Vol 19 |date=1909 |pages=266–270 |url=https://archive.org/details/revue-anthropologie_1909_19/page/266/mode/1up |language=French |chapter=L'Egypte Primitive}}</ref>
These female figures may be simply dancing.<ref name="Gar249">{{cite journal |last1=Garfinkel |first1=Yosef |title=Dancing or Fighting? A Recently Discovered Predynastic Scene from Abydos, Egypt |journal=Cambridge Archaeological Journal |date=October 2001 |volume=11 |issue=2 |pages=249–251 |doi=10.1017/S0959774301000130}}</ref> Alternatively the raised arms may imitate the horns of a cow, and the figures may be depictions of a deity, such as Hathor.<ref name="Brooklyn"/><ref name="Gar249"/> This posture of raising arms over the head was already known from the Naqada I period, as it appears for some of the figures on Cross-lined pottery (C-ware), although they seem to be male, and seem to be in the act of dancing or celebrating a victory.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Garfinkel |first1=Yosef |title=Dancing or Fighting? A Recently Discovered Predynastic Scene from Abydos, Egypt |journal=Cambridge Archaeological Journal |date=October 2001 |volume=11 |issue=2 |pages=241–254 |doi=10.1017/S0959774301000130 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/231891553_Dancing_or_Fighting_A_Recently_Discovered_Predynastic_Scene_from_Abydos_Egypt}}</ref> Naqada II male statuettes (3650-3450 BC) with raised arms are also known.<ref>{{cite book |title=Dawn of Egyptian Art |publisher=The Metropolitan Museum of Art |pages=128–129, cat.107 |url=https://www.metmuseum.org/met-publications/dawn-of-egyptian-art |language=en}}</ref>
Although statuettes essentially disappear from the archaeological record for Naqada IIC and IID,<ref name="books.google.com">{{cite book |last1=Insoll |first1=Timothy |title=The Oxford Handbook of Prehistoric Figurines |date=2017 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-967561-6 |page=65 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TdKdDgAAQBAJ&pg=PA65 |language=en}}</ref> the theme of the woman with raised arms had a great longevity, and can be seen extensively in Naqada IIC Decorated pottery, or in the wall painting of Tomb 100 at Hierakonpolis.<ref name="Gar249"/>
Various clay statuettes of male figures are also known. They generally wear a large penile sheath to affirm their gender, and can be bird-like too, or more realistic, often with short curly hair.<ref name="MET130"/>
{{clear}} <gallery widths="115" heights="175"> File:Black polished vessel in the form of a female figure. Grave B102, Abadiya. Naqada IIA (3800-3450 BCE). Ashmolean Museum.jpg|Black polished vessel in the form of a female figure. Grave B102, Abadiya. Naqada IIA (3650-3550 BCE). Ashmolean Museum.{{sfn|Patch|Eaton-Krauss|2011|p=106, fig.31}} File:Clay female figurines, Abadiya grave B101. Naqada IIA. Ashmolean Museum.jpg|Clay female figurines, Grave B101, Abadiya. Naqada IIA. Ashmolean Museum.<ref>{{cite web |title=Statuette AN1896-1908.E.981 |url=https://www.ashmolean.org/collections-online#/item/ash-object-487672 |website=www.ashmolean.org |publisher=Ashmolean Museum |language=en}}</ref> File:Female figurine, grave 271. Naqada IIB. Ashmolean Museum.jpg|Female figurine, Tomb 271. Naqada IIB. Ashmolean Museum File:Naqada II figurine, 3500-3300 BCE.jpg|Bird-like male figurine with penis sheath.<ref>{{cite book |title=Dawn of Egyptian Art |publisher=The Metropolitan Museum of Art |pages=127–128, Cat.106 |url=https://www.metmuseum.org/met-publications/dawn-of-egyptian-art |language=en}}</ref> File:Male statuette with curly hair and penile sheath, Tomb a94, El-Amrah.jpg|Male statuette with curly hair and penile sheath, Tomb a94, El-Amrah. Dated SD41 (Naqada IIB).<ref>{{cite book |last1=Sharp |first1=Iryna |title=Egyptian Predynastic Anthropomorphic Objects: A Study of Their Function and Significance in Predynastic Burial Customs |date=1 January 2018 |page=63 |url=https://www.academia.edu/35990582/Egyptian_Predynastic_Anthropomorphic_Objects_A_Study_of_Their_Function_and_Significance_in_Predynastic_Burial_Customs}}</ref> File:Male figurine with short hair. El-Amra, grave a56. Ashmolean Museum. Naqada IC, circa 3650 BCE.jpg|Male figurine with short hair and penile sheath. El-Amra, grave a56, SD46 (early Naqada IIC). Ashmolean Museum.<ref name="MET130">{{cite book |title=Dawn of Egyptian Art |publisher=The Metropolitan Museum of Art |pages=130–131 |url=https://www.metmuseum.org/met-publications/dawn-of-egyptian-art |language=en}}</ref> </gallery>
===Animal figures=== {{main|Cosmetic palette}} Cosmetic palettes are archaeological artifacts, originally used in predynastic Egypt to grind and apply ingredients for facial or body cosmetics. The decorative palettes of the late 4th millennium BCE appear to have lost this function and became commemorative, ornamental, and possibly ceremonial. They were made almost exclusively out of siltstone with a few exceptions. The siltstone originated from quarries in the Wadi Hammamat. Many of the palettes were found at Hierakonpolis, a centre of power in pre-dynastic Upper Egypt. After the unification of the country, the palettes ceased to be included in tomb assemblages.
During the Naqada IIA and IIB periods, fish-shaped palettes appear while rhomboidal palettes tend to disappear, compared to the previous Naqada I period.{{sfn|Dee|Wengrow|Shortland|Stevenson|2014|p=320}}
Many simple animal ivory tags appears in Naqada IIA graves, together with anthropomorphic ivory tags showing bearded individuals, with only a few specimens in Naqada IIB. There is a clear contemporaneity between these objects.<ref name="Nowak898"/>
<gallery widths="130" heights="200" perrow="6"> File:Palette with antelope heads and a turtle MET DP244970.jpg|Palette with antelope heads and a turtle, 3650-3500 BC, Naqada II File:Siltstone palette in the shape of a turtle, and rhombus-shaped schist palette. Abadiya Grave B102. Naqada IIA. Ashmolean Museum.jpg|Siltstone palette in the shape of a turtle, and rhombus-shaped schist palette. Abadiya Grave B102. Naqada IIA. Ashmolean Museum File:Palettes, Naqada grave T4, Naqada IIB.jpg|Simple animal-shaped cosmetic palettes. Tomb T4, Naqada, dated Naqada IIB File:Ivory objects from the Naqada Culture.jpg|Naqada IIA ivory objects File:Bone finger ring with two opposite rampant lions (Naqada grave 1480).jpg|Bone finger ring with two opposite rampant lions (Naqada grave 1480, Naqada IIA).<ref>{{cite web |title=Rampant lions |url=https://www.ashmolean.org/collections-online#/item/ash-object-489706 |website=www.ashmolean.org |publisher=Ashmolean Museum |language=en}}</ref> </gallery>
==Naqada IIC (c.3400 BC)== ===Territorial expansion=== [[File:Distribution of Naqada D-ware.png|thumb|upright|Concentration of Naqada Decorated ware ("D-ware") and distribution:<ref>{{cite book |last1=Graff |first1=Gwenola |chapter=The Iconography on Decorated Ware |title=Préhistoires de l'écriture |date=24 March 2022 |publisher=Presses universitaires de Provence |isbn=979-10-320-0369-5 |page=[https://www.academia.edu/29918112/The_Iconography_on_Decorated_Ware 50, Fig.2] |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8UBeEQAAQBAJ&pg=PA50 |language=en}}</ref><br> Low: {{colorbull|#F0E68C|size=200|round}}<br> Medium: {{colorbull|#FFA07A|size=200|round}}<br> High: {{colorbull|#FF8C00|size=200|round}}.]] Naqada IIC is marked by a significant geographical expansion from the core area around Naqada. Naqada IIC cemeteries are known from the central areas of Naqada IIA and IIB (Matmar, Salmany, Naqada and Armant), but also from Badari, Hammamiya, Naqa ed-Deir and the Hierakonpolis Fort Cemetery, and north into the Fayum (Gerza, Haraga, and Abusir el-Meleq, all traditional areas of the Maadi-Buto culture), and possibly as far as the large cemetery at Minshat Abu Omar in the eastern Nile delta, fully occupied in Naqada IID.<ref name="Ancient Egyptian Chronology">{{cite book |last1=Hornung |first1=Erik |last2=Krauss |first2=Rolf |last3=Warburton |first3=David A. |title=Ancient Egyptian Chronology |date=30 December 2006 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-90-474-0400-2 |page=78 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Gux5DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA78 |language=en}}</ref> In Nubia, A-Group cemeteries were also strongly influence by Egyptian style.<ref name="Ancient Egyptian Chronology"/>
Contacts with the Near East were at their most significant during the Naqada II (ca. 3600–3350 BCE) and III (ca. 3350–2950 BCE) periods, corresponding to the Late Uruk (ca. 3500–3100 BCE) and Jemdet Nasr (ca. 3100–2900 BCE) periods in Mesopotamia, and to the Susa I-Susa II and Proto-Elamite (ca. 3100–2700 BCE) periods in Elam.<ref name="MK424">{{cite book |last1=Hartwig |first1=Melinda K. |title=A Companion to Ancient Egyptian Art |date=17 November 2014 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |isbn=978-1-4443-3350-3 |page=424 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=z0NwDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA424 |language=en}}</ref> Trade between Egypt and the Levant took place during the late Predynastic (ca. 3500–2950 BCE) and Early Dynastic (ca. 2950–2593 BCE) periods, as vessels with content were exchanged in both directions, and Egypt imported lapis lazuli from Central Asia and spouted jug designs and actual cylinder seals from Mesopotamia and Elam as early as Naqada II.<ref name="MK424"/> Intense contacts then essentially vanished and would only resume much later during the Egyptian New Kingdom (ca. 1570–1069 BCE), during the international upheaval of the Late Bronze Age.<ref name="MK424"/>
===Artistic rupture=== Artistic styles and techniques became radically different from Naqada IIC, representing an "iconographic rupture" with previous systems.<ref name="TI74">{{cite book |last1=Insoll |first1=Timothy |title=The Oxford Handbook of Prehistoric Figurines |date=2017 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-967561-6 |page=78 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TdKdDgAAQBAJ&pg=PA78 |language=en}}</ref> The eclecticism of the previous periods, with artefacts such as tusks, tags, or zoomorphic models disappeared, as well as some styles such as C-ware.<ref name="TI74"/> Regional particularisms vanished in favor of standardized artistic traditions across Egypt.<ref name="TI74"/> New technologies were adopted, such as the introduction of marl clay for pottery, which used desert deposits rather than Nile alluvial sources.<ref name="TI74"/> New and original iconographies were introduced, as seen in D-ware.<ref name="TI74"/> Compared to the very restricted domain of Naqada I-IIB assemblages, these new productions also had a much wider geographical scope, from the second cataract of the Nile in the south northwards to the Nile Delta and even the Chalcolithic Levant.<ref name="TI74"/> Foreign features were adopted from the Levant (such as wavy ledge handles) and possibly from Mesopotamia following the Uruk expansion (such as lapis lazuli and cylinder seals).<ref name="TI74"/> Ritual and social practices also changed, with for example statuettes essentially disappearing from the archaeological record for Naqada IIC and IID, being replaced by other forms of artistic expression.<ref name="TI74"/><ref name="books.google.com"/>
===Pottery=== [[File:Naqada pottery types according to Petrie.jpg|thumb|Naqada pottery types, as developed by Flinders Petrie]] Naqada II pottery mainly uses two types of clay. First, a grey clay from the alluvium of the Nile, which is rich in ferrous oxide and becomes red to brown upon firing in an oxidizing environment.<ref name="TN">{{cite book |title=Terres du Nil - L'Art des Potiers avant Pharaon |date=2024 |publisher=Musée d'Archéologie Nationale |location=Saint-Germain-en-Laye |url=https://musee-archeologienationale.fr/musees-napoleonien-africain/sites/archeonat/files/documents/MAN_TDN_livret_FR_FINALWEB.pdf}}</ref> Second, a clay of limestone origin or marly (a mix limestone and clay), obtained from regular rivers and wadis, which is yellowish to white due to its high content in calcium, and becomes creamy upon firing.<ref name="TN"/>
Naqada II practiced to various extents all the types of pottery known from the Naqada period, but in addition was characterized by the development of new pottery types with wavy handles, coarse utilitarian wares, and decorated vessels (called "D-type" for "decorated") consisting in brown paint over a cream surface.<ref>{{cite book |editor-last=Shaw |editor-first=Ian |title=The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt |year=2000 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=0-19-815034-2 |page=[https://archive.org/details/oxfordhisto00shaw/page/43/mode/2up 43] |url=https://archive.org/details/oxfordhisto00shaw/page/43 }}</ref> Naqada II had many types of potteries, which were categorized chronologically by Petrie from SD ("Sequence Date") 38 to 62 (SD 38-45 covers Naqada IIA and IIB, and SD 45-62 covers Naqada IIC-IID):<ref name="Naqada chronology"/><ref name="TN"/> * Rough ware (type "R", all Naqada II): a new type of pottery with vegetal particles which burn upon firing and create an uneven surface. * Black Top ware (type "B", all Naqada II): Polished red body with black top * White Cross-Lined ware (type "C", Naqada IIA, IIB): Polished red body with white painting * Fancy Forms ware (type "F", all Naqada II): Pottery with fancy shapes or animal-shaped * Decorated ware (type "D", all Naqada II): a new type of pottery with beige to pink surface and ochre to brown paintings * Black Incised ware (Nubian-style: type "N", Naqada IIA, IIC, IID): a new type of black pottery with incised geometrical white lines * Polished Red ware (type "P", Naqada IIB, IIC, IID): red polished pottery * Late ware (type "L", Naqada IIC, IID): a new type of pottery in creamy marly clay * Wavy-handled ware (type "W", Naqada IIC, IID): new type of vessels with wavy handles
During Naqada IIC and IID Rough ware ("R-ware") dominates, while "D-ware" and "W-ware" appear and Black Top ware ("B-ware") almost disappears.{{sfn|Dee|Wengrow|Shortland|Stevenson|2014|p=320}}
===High-level Tomb T5, Naqada=== {{multiple image|perrow=2|total_width=350|caption_align=center | align = right | direction =horizontal | image1 = Naqada tomb T5.jpg | image2 = Tomb T5 assemblage, Naqada, Naqada IIC period.jpg | footer=Tomb T5 assemblage, Naqada elite Cemetery T, Naqada IIC period }} One of the most important burials at Naqada was Tomb T5, an undisturbed wealthy grave belonging to the elite Cemetery T at Naqada, dated to Naqada IIC, circa 3400 BC, Sequence Date 50.<ref name="UCL Burials"/><ref name="AshNot"/><ref name="Naqada Tomb T 5"/><ref name="WP19">{{cite book |last1=Petrie |first1=W. M. Flinders (William Matthew Flinders) |last2=Quibell |first2=James Edward |title=Naqada and Ballas. 1895 |date=1896 |publisher=London, B. Quaritch |pages=18–20, 32 |url=https://archive.org/details/cu31924028748261/page/n32/mode/1up}}</ref> Contrary to the usual Egyptian graves placed in caves or hollows, this tomb belonged to a different category: large, deep, graves formed from a rectangular vertical pit.<ref name="WP19"/> Tomb T4 in Naqada is another such grave.<ref name="WP19"/> As in all wealthy graves, it was roofed over with beams and brushwood, a system not seen in standard Egyptian tombs.<ref name="WP19"/>
The tomb contained six detached skulls, with a heap of bones in middle and bones along the sides. There were one man and a least four females, suggesting a sacrifice of concubines or servants attending the deceased.<ref name="AshNot"/> Such practice is characteristic of later royal burials at Abydos.<ref name="AshNot"/>
The tomb was also furbished with large jars, some of them filled with organic materials, including possibly beer and scented fats, probably offerings. Finely-polished stone vases, made of diorite and brescia, were positioned among the skulls. The pottery of this high-level tomb consisted exclusively of Fancy-form (F-ware), Wavy-handled (W-ware) and multiple Rough-ware vessels.<ref name="AshNot"/><ref name="WP19"/>
===Stone vessels=== Luxurious stone vessels, hollowed out and shaped from blocks of semi-precious stones, were also crafted, and were often models for pottery types.<ref name="WCH">{{cite book |last1=Hayes |first1=William C. |title=The Scepter of Egypt: A Background for the Study of the Egyptian Antiquities in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Vol. 1, From the Earliest Times to the End of the Middle Kingdom |date=1978 |publisher=Metropolitan Museum of Art |pages=15–18, 22–24 |url=https://archive.org/details/TheScepterofEgyptVol1FromtheEarliestTimestotheEndoftheMiddleKingdom/page/n33/mode/2up?q=%22stone%22 |language=English}}</ref> The technique was probably known from the time of the Badarian culture and northern Egypt seems to have played an important role in their production.<ref name="WCH"/> Stone allowed for more precision than pottery, and was the material of choice to obtain the most beautiful and the finest results.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Hayes |first1=William C. |title=The Scepter of Egypt: A Background for the Study of the Egyptian Antiquities in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Vol. 1, From the Earliest Times to the End of the Middle Kingdom |date=1978 |publisher=Metropolitan Museum of Art |pages=15–18, 22–24 |url=https://archive.org/details/TheScepterofEgyptVol1FromtheEarliestTimestotheEndoftheMiddleKingdom/page/n33/mode/2up?q=%22stone%22 |language=English |quote=Stone vases of unsurpassed beauty and technical excellence were turned out in large numbers by the talented northerners (fig. 15). In these we find a great variety of shapes, sizes, and materials}}</ref> Stone vessels started to evolve towards shapes inspired by the shapes of Decorated wares.<ref name="ReferenceA">{{cite book |last1=Hornung |first1=Erik |last2=Krauss |first2=Rolf |last3=Warburton |first3=David A. |title=Ancient Egyptian Chronology |date=30 December 2006 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-90-474-0400-2 |page=79 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Gux5DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA79 |language=en}}</ref> Excellent stonework, with a remarkable ability to handle colors and textures, would become one of the principal characteristics of Classical Egyptian culture, and was probably developed over centuries of excellence and specialization.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Rice |first1=Michael |title=Egypt's Legacy: The Archetypes of Western Civilization: 3000 to 30 BC |date=March 2004 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-134-49256-5 |pages=7–8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WnOBAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA7 |language=en}}</ref>
<gallery widths="200" heights="200" perrow="4"> File:Serpentinite vessel, Naqada II, 3500-3100 BCE. Louvre Museum, E 10887 (F).jpg|Serpentinite vessel, Naqada II, 3500–3100 BCE. Louvre Museum, E 10887 (F) File:Breccia vessel, Naqada II, 3500-3100 BCE, Louvre Museum E 10887 (G).jpg|Breccia vessel, Naqada II, 3500–3100 BCE, Louvre Museum E 10887 (G) File:Granite vessel, Naqada II, 3500-3100 BCE, Louvre Museum E 23220.jpg|Large vessel in granite, Naqada II, 3500–3100 BCE. Louvre Museum, E 23220 </gallery>
===Mesopotamian-style pottery=== [[File:Jars excavated in Naqada. Predynastic Period, Naqada IIC (Egypt) (c. 3450 - 3325 BCE) Ashmolean Museum AN1895.396.jpg|thumb|Fancy (type "F") vessels, with Mesopotamian-style straight-spouted jar (Naqada IIC, right) dated c. 3450–3325 BC.<ref>{{cite web |title=Ashmolean Museum |url=https://www.ashmolean.org/collections-online#/item/ash-object-488914 |website=www.ashmolean.org |language=en}}</ref><ref name="ET166"/> Ashmolean Museum]] Red-slipped spouted pottery items dating to around 3500 BCE and after (Naqada II C/D), which were probably used for pouring water, beer or wine, suggest that Egypt was in contact with and being influenced by Mesopotamia around that time.<ref name="ET166">{{cite book |last1=Teeter |first1=Emily |title=Before the pyramids : the origins of Egyptian civilization |page=166 |url=https://www.academia.edu/1823765 |date=2011 |publisher=Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago |location=Chicago, Ill. |isbn=978-1-885923-82-0}}</ref> This type of pottery was manufactured in Egypt, with Egyptian clay, but its shape, particularly the spout, is certainly Mesopotamian in origin.<ref name="ET166"/> Such vessels were new and rare in pre-Dynastic Egypt, but had been commonly manufactured in the Mesopotamian cities of Nippur and Uruk for centuries.<ref name="ET166"/> This indicated that Egyptians were familiar with Mesopotamian types of pottery.<ref name="ET166"/> The discovery of these vessels initially encouraged the development of the dynastic race theory, according to which Mesopotamians would have established the first Pharaonic line, but is now considered by many scholars to be simply indicative of cultural influence and borrowings circa 3500 BCE, although there is an established gene flow from Mesopotamia and West Asia into Egypt .<ref name="ET166"/>
Spouted jars of Mesopotamian design start to appear in Egypt in the Naqada II period.<ref name="MKH"/> Various Uruk pottery vases and containers have been found in Egypt in Naqada contexts, confirming that Mesopotamian finished goods were imported into Egypt, although the past contents of the jars have not been determined yet.<ref name="CP">{{cite book |last1=Rowlands |first1=Michael J. |title=Centre and Periphery in the Ancient World |date=1987 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=9780521251037 |page=37 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YDs9AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA37 |language=en}}</ref> Scientific analysis of ancient wine jars in Abydos has shown there was some high-volume wine trade with the Levant and Mesopotamia during this period.<ref name="CS">{{cite book |last1=Scarre |first1=Chris |last2=Fagan |first2=Brian M. |title=Ancient Civilizations |date=2016 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=9781317296089 |page=106 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xAy4CwAAQBAJ&pg=PA10 |language=en}}</ref>
===Decorated pottery ("D-Ware")=== Decorated "D" ware was essentially produced between 3,650 and 3,400 BC, during the Naqada IIC and IID periods.<ref name="PUP"/> It succeeded White cross-lined pottery ("C-ware"), which was current from 3,900 to 3,650 BC, from Naqada IA to Naqada IIA and Naqada IIB, before vanishing.<ref name="PUP"/> This pottery used a different type of clay, not brownish Nilothic clay, but a white clay of limestone origin or marly (a mix limestone and clay), obtained from regular rivers and wadis or desert sources, which is yellowish to white due to its high content in calcium, and becomes creamy upon firing.<ref name="TN"/> The new painting technique was different, since D-ware used brown painting over cream-bodied pottery, while the older C-ware used white or cream white painting over a red background. In addition to the different types of ceramic base and the different colors used for painting, the types of drawings and well as their style also differ widely between C-ware and D-ware.<ref name="PUP"/> Overall, the layout of drawings of the Naqada II D-ware was much more regular and constrained than that of C-ware, a possible consequence of increased hierarchy and control in society during the Naqada II period.<ref name="PUP"/> These vessels were found in graves, but were also used in daily life.<ref name="PUP"/>
Pictures of ceremonial reed boats appear on some of these vessels, showing male and female figures standing aboard, the boat being equipped with oars and two cabins.<ref>{{cite web |title= Metmuseum|url=https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/545755 |website=www.metmuseum.org}}</ref> The regular presence of ships in these paintings suggests intense activity along the Nile river. Some masculine figures also wear a tall feathered or foliage headdress.<ref name="PUP"/> Timber was necessarily for the construction of large boats capable of trading along the Nile, and such timber could only be found in the Levant, which may have been an added motivation for expansion towards the north.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Oxford history of ancient Egypt |date=2003 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford; New York |isbn=978-0-19-280458-7 |page=58 |edition=New |url=https://archive.org/details/TheOxfordHistoryOfAncient/page/n75/mode/2up |language=English}}</ref>
Although men with beards are ubiquitous in sculptures, they never appear in these paintings.<ref name="academia.edu"/>
<gallery widths="200" heights="200" perrow="4"> File:Ägyptisches Museum Berlin 057.jpg|Paintings with symbols on Naqada II pottery. 3500–3200 BC. File:Painted jar, Naqada grave 173. Ashmolean Museum, AN 1895.606.jpg|Painted jar, Naqada grave 173. Ashmolean Museum, AN 1895.606. File:Naqada boats with human figures, circa 3500–3300 BCE.jpg|Boat with human figures, Naqada II, 3500–3300 BC, Egypt File:Deep bowl depicting people, animals, and plants MET DP249926 (detail).jpg|Bowl depicting people, animals, and plants. Naqada IIC-D, ca. 3450–3325 BC.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Prezioso |first1=Emanuele |title=From the Prehistory of Upper Mesopotamia to the Bronze and Iron Age societies of the Levant: proceedings of the 5th "Broadening Horizons" Conference (Udine 5-8 june 2017) |date=2020 |publisher=EUT, Edizioni Università di Trieste |location=Trieste |isbn=9788855110464 |chapter=Cognitive Archaeology and the “Ancient Mind”: Mesopotamian Motifs in the Formation of Egyptian Elites in the IV Millennium |page=136, Fig.11 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/326446699_Cognitive_Archaeology_and_the_Ancient_Mind_Mesopotamian_Motifs_in_the_Formation_of_Egyptian_Elites_in_the_IV_Millennium}}</ref> File:Naqada II, boat couple.jpg|Man and woman on a boat, Naqada II File:Male feathered figure. Jar Naqada IIC, El-Amra b225. British Museum, EA35502.jpg|Male feathered figure. Jar Naqada IIC, El-Amra b225. British Museum, EA35502 File:Clay model boat. Naqada grave 566. Ashmolean Museum, AN 1895.609.jpg|Clay model boat with depictions of oarsmen. Naqada grave 566. Naqada Naqada IId1 (ca. 3400 BC). Ashmolean Museum, AN 1895.609.<ref>{{cite web |title=Metropolitan Museum of Art, p. 10 |url=https://libmma.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/api/collection/p16028coll12/id/14243/download}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Dawn of Egyptian Art |publisher=The Metropolitan Museum of Art |page=65, cat.66 |url=https://www.metmuseum.org/met-publications/dawn-of-egyptian-art |language=en}}</ref> File:Naqada II boat and crew.jpg|Boat and crew, Naqada II.<ref>{{cite web |title=Boat and crew |url=https://recherche.smb.museum/detail/606294/boot-mit-besatzung |website=recherche.smb.museum |publisher=Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Ägyptisches Museum und Papyrussammlung}}</ref> </gallery>
===Gold objects=== {{multiple image|perrow=2|total_width=500|caption_align=center | align = right | direction =horizontal | image1 = Flint knife with a fish-tail shaped blade and gold handle, Naqada II, Cairo Museum.jpg | image2 = Three women and a fan, next to the a river. Flint knife gold handle, Naqada II, circa 3500 BCE. Cairo Museum.jpg | footer=Flint knife gold handle, Naqada IID/IIIA.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Ejsmond |first1=Wojciech |title=Burial of a Local Ruler at Gebelein? An Interpretation of a Group of Predynastic Artefacts Purchased by J.E. Quibell in 1900 |journal="GÖTTINGER MISZELLEN. Beiträge zur ägyptologischen Diskussion" vol. 244 (2015)., pp. 39-50. |url=https://www.academia.edu/9115552/Burial_of_a_Local_Ruler_at_Gebelein_An_Interpretation_of_a_Group_of_Predynastic_Artefacts_Purchased_by_J_E_Quibell_in_1900}}</ref> On the pommel, three women and a fan, next to a river. Gebelein, Cairo Museum, JE 34210.<ref name="Cairo15">{{cite book |last1=El-Shahawy |first1=Abeer |last2=al-Miṣrī |first2=Matḥaf |title=The Egyptian Museum in Cairo |date=2005 |publisher=American Univ in Cairo Press |isbn=978-977-17-2183-3 |pages=15–17, Fig.4 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cAyjwKyoHiEC&pg=PA15 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Angevin |first1=Raphaël |last2=Vanhulle |first2=Dorian |last3=Hendrickx |first3=Stan |last4=Madrigal |first4=Karine |title=De l’outil au symbole : sur une lame de silex retouchée en bateau provenant de Gebelein (Haute Égypte, Nagada IIC-D, Lyon, musée des Confluences : Inv. T. 1224) |journal=Archéo-Nil |date=2020 |volume=30 |issue=1 |page=76 |doi=10.3406/arnil.2020.1344 |url=https://www.persee.fr/doc/arnil_1161-0492_2020_num_30_1_1344|hdl=2013/ULB-DIPOT:oai:dipot.ulb.ac.be:2013/316214 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> }} Several gold objects are known from this period, sometimes decorated with motifs also found in decorated pottery.<ref name="Cairo15"/> A flint knife with handle covered in gold has a one side a depiction of three women next to a river, one of them holding a fan, and on the reverse the depiction of a boat with two cabins.<ref name="Cairo15"/>
During Naqada II, flint remained the main material for making tools such as knives, chisels, punches or scrappers, but such decorated knives were not in daily use, and probably had a religious function.<ref name="Cairo15"/> The flint blade is a ''pseshkf'', a blade shaped in the form of a fish tail, which became typical of knives used in the ceremony of the "Opening of the Mouth" in Classical times, where touching the mouth of a dead person with such a blade was supposed to make the jaw move.<ref name="Cairo15"/> Gold remained a scarce and precious material, and was probably only used among the elite.<ref name="Cairo15"/>
===Oldest known Egyptian painted tomb and textiles=== thumb|right|x100px|An ancient Nekhen tomb painting in plaster with barques, staffs, goddesses, and animals – possibly the earliest example of an Egyptian tomb mural Discoveries at Nekhen (Hierakonpolis) include Tomb 100, the oldest known tomb with a mural painted on its plaster walls. The sepulchre is thought to date to the Naqada IIC phase (c. 3400–3300 BCE), and may belong to an early king of Hierakonpolis.<ref name="BJK">{{cite book |last1=Kemp |first1=Barry John |title=Ancient Egypt: anatomy of a civilization |quote=Early in the developmental sequence of kingship is tomb 100 (the ‘Decorated Tomb’), probably the tomb of an early king of Hierakonpolis of the Nagada IIC phase (c. 3400–3300 BC).|date=2018 |publisher=Routledge |location=New-York (NY) |isbn=978-0415827263 |page=32/44, Fig.2.18 |edition=3rd}}</ref>
It is presumed that the mural shows religious scenes and images. It includes figures featured in Egyptian culture for three thousand years—a funerary procession of barques, presumably a goddess standing between two upright lionesses, a wheel of various horned quadrupeds, several examples of a staff that became associated with the deity of the earliest cattle culture and one being held up by a heavy-breasted goddess. Animals depicted include onagers or zebras, ibexes, ostriches, lionesses, impalas, gazelles, and cattle.
Several of the images in the mural resemble images seen in the Gebel el-Arak Knife: a figure between two lions, warriors, or boats,<ref name="IS">{{cite book |last1=Shaw |first1=Ian|author-link=Ian Shaw (Egyptologist) |title=Ancient Egyptian Warfare: Tactics, Weaponry and Ideology of the Pharaohs |date=2019 |publisher=Open Road Media |isbn=978-1-5040-6059-2 |page=22 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0q_CDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT22 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Kemp |first1=Barry J. |title=Ancient Egypt: Anatomy of a Civilisation |date=2007 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-134-56389-0 |page=94 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FpqBAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA94 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Bestock |first1=Laurel |title=Violence and Power in Ancient Egypt: Image and Ideology before the New Kingdom |date=2017 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-134-85626-8 |page=94 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sFQ7DwAAQBAJ&pg=PT94 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="MKH424">{{cite book |last1=Hartwig |first1=Melinda K. |title=A Companion to Ancient Egyptian Art |date=2014 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |isbn=978-1-118-32509-4 |page=424 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gF24BQAAQBAJ&pg=PA424 |language=en}}</ref> but are not stylistically similar.
<gallery widths="200" heights="175"> File:Hierakonpolis Tomb 100 Master of animals.jpg|{{center|Figure with rampant lions}} File:Hierakonpolis Tomb 100 Individual fighting scene.jpg|{{center|Presumed warriors}} File:Gebelein painted linen. Naqada II (large boat detail).jpg|Painted linen (large boat detail) from a grave in Gebelein, 3450–3300 BC. Museo Egizio, Turin.{{sfn|Patch|Eaton-Krauss|2011|pp=64, 38}}<ref name="RA"/> Gebelein painted linen. Naqada II (small boat detail).jpg|Painted linen (small boat detail) from a grave in Gebelein, 3450–3300 BC. Museo Egizio, Turin.{{sfn|Patch|Eaton-Krauss|2011|pp=64, 38}}<ref name="RA"/> </gallery>
===Proto-hieroglyphic symbols=== [[File:Design of the Abydos token glyphs dated to 3400-3200 BCE.jpg|thumb|Designs on some of the labels or token from Cemetery U-j, Umm El Qa'ab, Abydos, carbon-dated to circa 3400–3200 BC.<ref name="CS"/><ref name=Mitchell1999>"The seal impressions, from various tombs, date even further back, to 3400 B.C. These dates challenge the commonly held belief that early logographs, pictographic symbols representing a specific place, object, or quantity, first evolved into more complex phonetic symbols in Mesopotamia." {{cite web|last=Mitchell|first=Larkin|title=Earliest Egyptian Glyphs|url=https://archive.archaeology.org/9903/newsbriefs/egypt.html|work=Archaeology|publisher=Archaeological Institute of America|access-date=29 February 2012}}</ref>]] Some symbols on Gerzeh pottery resemble traditional Egyptian hieroglyphs, which were contemporaneous with the proto-cuneiform script of Sumer. The figurine of a woman is a distinctive design considered characteristic of the culture.
On the Koptos monumental statues of the god Min, generally dated to circa 3300 BCE during the late Naqada II- early Naqada III periods, the Min symbol, an archaic form of the classical hieroglyph, is inscribed.<ref name="LBM"/><ref name="Betro"/>
thumb|center|upright=1.2|Late Gerzean decorated pottery signs
==Final period, Naqada IID (c.3300 BC)== {{multiple image|perrow=2|total_width=450|caption_align=center | align = right | direction =horizontal | image1 = Gebel el-Arak Knife ivory handle (front top part detail).jpg | caption1 = Likeness of a Mesopotamian king as Master of Animals on the ''Gebel el-Arak Knife'', dated circa 3300–3200 BC, Abydos, Egypt. This artifact suggests the influence of Mesopotamia on Egypt at an early date, as part of ancient Egypt-Mesopotamia relations.<ref name="Site officiel du musée du Louvre">{{cite web |title=Site officiel du musée du Louvre |url=http://cartelfr.louvre.fr/cartelfr/visite?srv=car_not_frame&idNotice=668 |website=cartelfr.louvre.fr}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Cooper |first1=Jerrol S. |pages=10–14|title=The Study of the Ancient Near East in the Twenty-first Century: The William Foxwell Albright Centennial Conference |date=1996 |publisher=Eisenbrauns |isbn=9780931464966 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3hc1Yp0VcjoC&pg=PA10 |language=en}}</ref> | image2 = Tusk carved in the form of a bearded man, 3900-3500 BCE, Upper Egypt (side).jpg | caption2 = Hippopotamus tusk with realistic depictions of bearded man. Possibly Naqada IID, or earlier.<ref name="Hend233">{{cite book |last1=Polz |first1=Daniel |last2=Seidlmayer |first2=Stephan Johannes |last3=Hendrickx |first3=Stan |title=Gedenkschrift für Werner Kaiser |date=2016 |publisher=Zabern |location=Mainz |isbn=978-3-11-041802-6 |url=https://www.academia.edu/26839908/Hendrickx_S_Piquette_K_E_Eyckerman_M_Madrigal_K_and_Graves_Brown_C_The_origin_and_early_significance_of_the_White_Crown_MDAIK_70_71_2014_2015_227_238 |chapter=The origin and early significance of the White Crown |page=233 |quote=Possible attribution on stylistic grounds, per Hendrickx (2016): "If stylistic comparison can be relied upon, a Predynastic date for the Gebelein statuette is possible. Given that the tusk figurines (and tags, mentioned above), disappear completely before the Naqada III period, we suggest that the statuettes may date anywhere from Naqada I up to Naqada IID."}}</ref><ref name="collezioni.museoegizio.it">{{cite web |title=Collection online - Tusk carved in the form of a bearded man |url=https://collezioni.museoegizio.it/en-GB/material/S_1068/ |website=collezioni.museoegizio.it |language=en}}</ref> | footer= }} The period of Naqada IId (ca. 3350–3150 BCE) is thought to have been particularly in rich in rather revolutionary societal, artistic, and technological innovations, which culminated with the formation of Dynasty 0 (ca. 3150–3000 BCE) and the rise of the Egyptian Empire.<ref name="JJ166"/> The Naqada IId period is characterized by major accomplishments in the work of ivory, with small works of extraordinary quality, ceremonial knife handles, and decorated pottery.<ref name="JJ166"/> These accomplishments were accompanied by societal innovations, with the development of kingship, writing, and organized religion around clearly defined gods.<ref name="JJ166">{{cite journal |last1=Josephson |first1=Jack |title=Naqada IId, Birth of an Empire |journal=Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt |date=29 November 2015 |issue=51 |pages=166–169 |doi=10.5913/JARCE.51.2015.A007 |url=https://www.academia.edu/19179915}}</ref>
Ivory tusks with realistic depictions of bearded men may be attributable to this period, as late as Naqada IID, especially on stylistic grounds and based on the fact that they entirely disappear in the Naqada III period.<ref name="Hend233"/>
Territorial expansion into northern areas was confirmed during Naqada IID, with the occupation of major cemeteries and settlements in the Nile delta (Minshat Abu Omar, Kafr Hassan Daoud) and the replacement of the Maadi-Buto culture as seen Buto.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>
The period probably saw the development of city-states ruled by kings, such as Abydos and Hierakonpolis, resulting in conflicts in which Abydos was the final victor, thereby unifying Upper Egypt, as seen in the scenes of the ''Gebel el-Arak Knife'', which likely depict the conflict between Abydos and Hierakonpolis.<ref name="JJ166"/> King Horus of Dynasty 0, would then endeavor to conquer the region of the Nile Delta.<ref name="JJ166"/>
===Contacts with Western and Central Asia=== {{main|Egypt-Mesopotamia relations}} [[File:Dynastie 0 Stabaufsatz.jpg|thumb|Enthronement scene, Hierakonpolis, likely Naqada IId (ca. 3350–3150 BCE). Staatliche Sammlung für Ägyptische Kunst.<ref name="JJ166"/>]] Distinctly foreign objects and art forms entered Egypt during this period, indicating contacts with several parts of Asia. Scientific analysis of ancient wine jars in Abydos has shown that there was some high-volume wine trade with the Levant during this period.<ref name="CS"/> Objects such as the Gebel el-Arak knife handle, which has patently Mesopotamian relief carvings on it, have been found in Egypt,<ref name="Shaw, Ian 1995 p. 109">Shaw, Ian. & Nicholson, Paul, ''The Dictionary of Ancient Egypt,'' (London: British Museum Press, 1995), p. 109.</ref> and the silver which appears in this period can only have been obtained from Asia Minor.<ref name="Redford 16">Redford, Donald B. ''Egypt, Canaan, and Israel in Ancient Times.'' (Princeton: University Press, 1992), p. 16.</ref>
Lapis lazuli trade, in the form of beads, from its only known prehistoric source – Badakhshan in northeastern Afghanistan – also reached ancient Gerzeh.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.digitalegypt.ucl.ac.uk/gerzeh/tombs.html|title=Gerzeh, tomb 80|access-date=2008-03-22|work=Digital Egypt for Universities|author=University College London}}</ref>
These imports from Mesopotamia appear to have been quite intensive during the late Gerzean period, and correspond to the Protoliterate b and c cultures of Mesopotamia.<ref name="BGT36-37"/>
===Warfare=== Numerous scenes of warfare appears on decorated ivories of the period, especially on knife handles such as the Gebel el-Arak knife.<ref name="JJ166"/> The period has been characterized as a period of expansion and consolidation, establishing the basis for the formation of the Egyptian empire.<ref name="JJ166"/>
In the Gebel el-Arak knife, the fighting figurines are armed with flint knives, clubs and also pear-shaped maces, which are considered as an innovation introduced from Mesopotamia, replacing the initial Egyptian disk-shaped mace.<ref name="MI"/> Some authors have suggested that the reliefs represent a battle between warriors of the cities of Abydos and Hierakonpolis, the two main rival Egyptian cities of the period, and that the victor was Abydos.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Josephson |first1=Jack |title=Naqada IId, Birth of an Empire |pages=166–167 |url=https://www.academia.edu/19179915 |language=en |journal=Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt }}</ref> In effect, most of Egypt became unified under rulers from Abydos during the Naqada III period.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Thompson |first1=Jason |title=A History of Egypt: From Earliest Times to the Present |year=2008 |publisher=American Univ in Cairo Press |isbn=978-977-416-091-2 |page=18 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HbcCqIC5358C&pg=PA18 |language=en}}</ref>
Another knife with very similar iconography, including depictions of warriors, prisoners and nearly identical types of ships can be seen in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (Accession number: 26.241.1).<ref name="WB">{{cite journal |last1=Williams |first1=Bruce |last2=Logan |first2=Thomas J. |last3=Murnane |first3=William J. |title=The Metropolitan Museum Knife Handle and Aspects of Pharaonic Imagery before Narmer |journal=Journal of Near Eastern Studies |date=1987 |volume=46 |issue=4 |pages=245–285 |doi=10.1086/373253 |jstor=544868 |s2cid=162209013 |issn=0022-2968}}</ref> Numerous objects from the Naqada II period are similar to the Gebel el-Arak Knife in style and content.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Josephson |journal=Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt |first1=Jack |title=Naqada IId, Birth of an Empire |pages=165–175 |url=https://www.academia.edu/19179915 |language=en}}</ref>
<gallery widths="200" heights="200" perrow="4"> File:Bald-headed attackers armed with mace and knife, against unarmed opponents with long hair, all wearing penile sheaths, on the Gebel el-Arak knife.jpg|''Gebel el-Arak Knife''. Shaven-headed attackers armed with maces and knives, against unarmed opponents with long hair, all wearing penile sheaths.<ref name="LWK">{{cite book|last1=King|first1=Leonard William|title=Legends of Babylon and Egypt in Relation to Hebrew Tradition|date=1918|publisher=Oxford University Press|pages=14–15|isbn=9783748182030|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RgV6DwAAQBAJ&pg=PT14}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Josephson|first1=Jack|title=Naqada IId, Birth of an Empire|page=166|url=https://www.academia.edu/19179915|language=en|journal=Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt}}</ref> File:Long-haired man using a knife against baton-wielding enemies.jpg|''Gebel el-Arak Knife''. Long-haired man (center) using a knife against shaven-headed baton-wielding enemies File:Bald-headed warrior towing high-prowed ship on the Gebel el-Arak knife (reconstitution).jpg|''Gebel el-Arak Knife''. Shaven-headed man towing high-prowed boats, of a type seen on Sumerian Uruk period seals and artworks (see example).<ref name="WFA">{{cite book|last1=William Foxwell Albright Centennial Conference|title=The Study of the Ancient Near East in the Twenty-first Century: The William Foxwell Albright Centennial Conference|date=1996|publisher=Eisenbrauns|isbn=978-0-931464-96-6|page=14|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3hc1Yp0VcjoC&pg=PA14|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Kantor |first1=Helene J. |title=Further Evidence for Early Mesopotamian Relations with Egypt |journal=Journal of Near Eastern Studies |date=1952 |volume=11 |issue=4 |page=250 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/542687 |issn=0022-2968}}</ref> Possibly part of the depiction of a naval battle.<ref name="IS"/><ref name="MKHB">{{cite book|last1=Hartwig|first1=Melinda K.|title=A Companion to Ancient Egyptian Art|date=2014|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|isbn=978-1-118-32509-4|page=424|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gF24BQAAQBAJ&pg=PA424|language=en}}</ref><ref>For an image of a similar high-prowed boat: {{cite journal|last1=Porada|first1=Edith|title=Why Cylinder Seals? Engraved Cylindrical Seal Stones of the Ancient Near East, Fourth to First Millennium B.C.|journal=The Art Bulletin|date=1993|volume=75|issue=4|page=566, image 8|doi=10.2307/3045984|jstor=3045984|issn=0004-3079}}</ref> File:Ivory knife handle depicting rows of kneeling prisoners. Hierakonpolis. Nadaqa IID. Ashmolean Museum E.4975.jpg|Ivory knife handle depicting rows of kneeling prisoners. Hierakonpolis. Nadaqa IID. Ashmolean Museum E.4975.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Josephson |first1=Jack |title=Naqada IId, Birth of an Empire |journal=The Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt |date=29 November 2015 |volume=51 |pages=169, 172 Fig.5 |doi=10.5913/JARCE.51.2015.A007 |url=https://www.academia.edu/19179915/Naqada_IId_Birth_of_an_Empire}}</ref> </gallery>
====Maceheads==== {{multiple image|perrow=2|total_width=300|caption_align=center | align = right | direction =horizontal | header= | image1 = Egyptian disk macehead 4000-3400 BCE.jpg | caption1 = Egyptian disk-shaped macehead 4000–3400 BCE | image2 = Egg-Shaped Mace Head 3500-3300 BCE Naqada II.jpg | caption2 = Egyptian macehead, 3500–3300 BCE | footer= }} Egyptians used traditional disk-shaped maceheads during the early phase of Naqada culture, circa 4000–3400 BCE. At the end of the period, the disk-shaped macehead was replaced by the militarily superior Mesopotamian-style pear-shaped macehead as seen on the Narmer Palette.<ref name="MI">{{cite book |last1=Isler |first1=Martin |title=Sticks, Stones, and Shadows: Building the Egyptian Pyramids |date=2001 |publisher=University of Oklahoma Press |isbn=978-0-8061-3342-3 |page=42 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ip-tqz1xGkoC&pg=PA42 |language=en}}</ref> The Mesopotamian macehead was much heavier with a wider impact surface, and was capable of giving much more damaging blows than the original Egyptian disk-shaped macehead.<ref name="MI"/>
===Cylinder seals=== [[File:Jemdet Nasr style Mesopotamian cylinder seal from Grave 7304 Cemetery 7000 at Naqada.jpg|thumb|upright|left|Jemdet Nasr-style Mesopotamian cylinder seal, from Grave 7304 Cemetery 7000 at Naqada, Naqada II period.<ref name="HK239"/>]] It is generally thought that cylinder seals were introduced from Mesopotamia to Egypt during the Naqada II period.<ref name="HK239">{{cite journal |last1=Kantor |first1=Helene J. |title=Further Evidence for Early Mesopotamian Relations with Egypt |journal=Journal of Near Eastern Studies |date=1952 |volume=11 |issue=4 |pages=239–250 |doi=10.1086/371099 |jstor=542687 |s2cid=161166931 |issn=0022-2968}}</ref> Cylinder seals, some coming from Mesopotamia and Elam, and some made locally in Egypt following Mesopotamian designs in a stylized manner, have been discovered in the tombs of Upper Egypt dating to Naqada II and III, particularly in Hierakonpolis.<ref name="MKH">{{cite book |last1=Hartwig |first1=Melinda K. |title=A Companion to Ancient Egyptian Art |date=2014 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |isbn=978-1-4443-3350-3 |pages=424–425 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=z0NwDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA424 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="Eisenbrauns">{{cite book |last1=Conference |first1=William Foxwell Albright Centennial |title=The Study of the Ancient Near East in the Twenty-first Century: The William Foxwell Albright Centennial Conference |date=1996 |publisher=Eisenbrauns |isbn=978-0-931464-96-6 |page=15 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3hc1Yp0VcjoC&pg=PA15 |language=en}}</ref> Mesopotamia cylinder seals have been found in the Gerzean context of Naqada II, in Naqada and Hiw, attesting to the expansion of the Jemdet Nasr culture as far as Egypt at the end of the 4th millennium BC.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Isler |first1=Martin |title=Sticks, Stones, and Shadows: Building the Egyptian Pyramids |date=2001 |publisher=University of Oklahoma Press |isbn=978-0-8061-3342-3 |page=33 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ip-tqz1xGkoC&pg=PA33 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="HK239"/>
In Egypt, cylinder seals suddenly appear without local antecedents from around Naqada II c-d (3500–3300 BC).<ref name="EH" /> The designs are similar to those of Mesopotamia, where they were invented during the early 4th millennium BC, during the Uruk period, as an evolutionary step from various accounting systems and seals going back as early as the 7th millennium BC.<ref name="EH">{{cite journal |last1=Honoré |first1=Emmanuelle |title=Earliest Cylinder-Seal Glyptic in Egypt: From Greater Mesopotamia to Naqada |journal=H. Hanna Ed., Preprints of the International Conference on Heritage of Naqada and Qus Region, Volume I |date=January 2007 |url=https://www.academia.edu/41692593 |language=en}}</ref> The earliest Egyptian cylinder seals are clearly similar to contemporary Uruk seals down to Naqada II-d (circa 3300 BC), and may even have been manufactured by Mesopotamian craftsman, but they start to diverge from circa 3300 BC to become more Egyptian in character.<ref name="EH" /> Cylinder seals were made in Egypt as late as the Second Intermediate Period, but they were essentially replaced by scarabs from the time of the Middle Kingdom.<ref name="HK239" />
===Religion=== [[File:God Min, Temple of Koptos, circa 3300 BCE (reconstruction drawing and existing pieces I, II and III).png|thumb|Reconstruction of the Koptos colossi, pre-dynastic colossal statues of the God Min, Koptos, Late Naqada II- Early Naqada III, about 3300 BCE.<ref name="LBM">{{cite journal |last1=Baqué-Manzano |first1=Lucas |title=Further arguments on the Coptos colossi |journal=Bulletin de l'Institut français d'archéologie orientale |date=2002 |issue=102 |pages=17–61 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/290949422_Further_arguments_on_the_Coptos_colossi_Bulletin_de_l'Institut_francais_d'archeologie_orientale_BIFAO_102_2002_p_17-61 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="ASH">{{cite web |title=Exhibit notice |url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/156915032@N07/54768587791/in/dateposted-public/ |website=Ashmolean Museum}}</ref>]] {{see also|Ancient Egyptian religion|Koptos colossi}}
The worship of nameless supernatural powers, ''numina'', may go back thousands of years before Naqada, mainly revolving around the worship of supernatural beasts, votive figurines, or bearded human effigies.<ref name="AJJ173">{{cite journal |last1=Josephson |first1=Jack A. |last2=Dreyer |first2=Günter |title=Naqada IId: The Birth of an Empire Kingship, Writing, Organized Religion |journal=Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt |date=January 2015 |volume=51 |issue=1 |pages=173–177 |doi=10.5913/JARCE.51.2015.A007 |url=https://www.academia.edu/19179915/Naqada_IId_Birth_of_an_Empire}}</ref> Organized religion however seems to first appear during Naqada IID, with images of the goddess Bat and possibly the fertility god Min, both symbolized by proto-hieroglyphic signs.<ref name="AJJ173"/>
Bat appears as a cloaked female, with cow horns and surrounding stars, a possible symbol of divinity similar to the ''dingir'' of Mesopotamian culture.<ref name="AJJ173"/> The first image specifically identifying Bat is a Naqada IID greywacke palette from Gerzeh.<ref name="AJJ173"/> She appears as a cloaked, horned female. She has extended arms and a star replaces her head and her hands. She has two additional stars at her waist. This exact motif is also known from other contemporary artifacts. Bat can also be shown symbolically as a bovine head with human shoulders.<ref name="AJJ173"/>
The first known depictions of the Egyptian god of fertility Min, appear in the form of monumental statues discovered in an ancient temple at Koptos, dated to the late Naqada II to early Naqada III periods, and now displayed in the Ashmolean Museum following their discovery by Flinders Petrie in Koptos at the end of the 19th century.<ref name="LBM"/><ref name="ASH"/> The estimated size of the three known statues ranges from 372 cm to 403 cm.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Baqué-Manzano |first1=Lucas |title=Further arguments on the Coptos colossi |journal=Bulletin de l'Institut français d'archéologie orientale |date=2002 |issue=102 |page=42|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/290949422_Further_arguments_on_the_Coptos_colossi_Bulletin_de_l'Institut_francais_d'archeologie_orientale_BIFAO_102_2002_p_17-61 |language=en}}</ref> The statues show a bearded man, naked but for a belt and a sash, holding his erect penis.<ref name="LBM"/> An early form of the character for "''Min''" is inscribed on the side of one of these statues.<ref name="LBM"/>
On the Koptos monumental statues of Min, generally dated to circa 3300 BCE during the late Naqada II- early Naqada III periods, the Min symbol is inscribed, together with marine objects: the "sword" of a sawfish and two shells of the Pterocera species.<ref name="LBM"/><ref name="Betro"/> These symbols seem to corroborate the traditional origin histories of the god, according to which he originated in the fabulous "Land of Punt", in the Eritrean region bordering on the Red Sea.<ref name="Betro">{{cite book |last1=Betrò |first1=Maria C. |title=Hieroglyphics : the writings of ancient Egypt |date=1996 |page=211 |url=https://archive.org/details/PJ1097.B46/page/n103/mode/2up}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Olette-Pelletier |first1=Jean-Guillaume |title=Akhmîm. Egypt's Forgotten City |chapter=Min and the other Egyptian gods |date=1 January 2021 |publisher=Staatliche Museen zu Berlin |url=https://www.academia.edu/127189304/Min_and_the_other_Egyptian_gods |page=68}}</ref>
The Koptos colossi are "remarkably similar" to the much earlier Pre-Pottery Neolithic A statues of northern Mesopotamia, dating to circa 9,000 BCE, such as the ''Urfa Man'' (a sculpture from a Pre-Pottery Neolithic temple at Yeni Mahalle), or the Adiyaman-Kilisik sculpture.<ref name="Hodder">{{cite book |last1=Hodder |first1=Ian |title=Religion in the Emergence of Civilization: Çatalhöyük as a Case Study |date=30 August 2010 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-139-49217-1 |pages=37–38 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=i-35rgOQ6EkC&pg=PA38 |language=en}}</ref> They share the same hieratic construction and phallic emphasis.<ref name="Hodder"/> According to Ian Hodder, the cult of the Egyptian god Min is related to the Middle East and goes back millennia.<ref name="Hodder"/>
<gallery widths="175" heights="175"> File:Ägyptisches Museum Kairo 2019-11-09 Kuhpalette 01.jpg|The famous "Hathor palette", or "Bat palette" from Tomb 59 of Gerzeh, Naqada IId.<ref name="JJ166"/> File:Min II, right sash inscriptions.jpg|Engravings with the character for ''Min'', with swordfish blades and sea shells, on one of the Koptos Temple statues. File:'MacGregor Man'.jpg|The stylistically similar "MacGregor Man", with long beard and penile sheath.<ref name="Daniel229">{{cite book |last1=Polz |first1=Daniel |last2=Seidlmayer |first2=Stephan Johannes |last3=Hendrickx |first3=Stan |title=Gedenkschrift für Werner Kaiser |date=2016 |publisher=Zabern |location=Mainz |isbn=978-3-11-041802-6 |url=https://www.academia.edu/26839908/Hendrickx_S_Piquette_K_E_Eyckerman_M_Madrigal_K_and_Graves_Brown_C_The_origin_and_early_significance_of_the_White_Crown_MDAIK_70_71_2014_2015_227_238 |chapter=The origin and early significance of the White Crown|pages=234–235}}</ref> </gallery>
== See also == {{commons category|Naqada II}} thumb|Chronology of state formation in Ancient Egypt.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Kemp |first1=Barry John |title=Ancient Egypt: anatomy of a civilization |quote=Early in the developmental sequence of kingship is tomb 100 (the ‘Decorated Tomb’), probably the tomb of an early king of Hierakonpolis of the Nagada IIC phase (c. 3400–3300 BC).|date=2018 |publisher=Routledge |location=New-York (NY) |isbn=978-0415827263 |page=14/44, Fig.2.6 |edition=3rd}}</ref> {{Chalcolithic}} *Riqqeh
==Sources== * {{cite journal |last1=Dee |first1=Michael W. |last2=Wengrow |first2=David |last3=Shortland |first3=Andrew J. |last4=Stevenson |first4=Alice |last5=Brock |first5=Fiona |last6=Bronk Ramsey |first6=Christopher |title=Radiocarbon dating and the Naqada relative chronology |journal=Journal of Archaeological Science |date=June 2014 |volume=46 |doi=10.1016/j.jas.2014.03.016}} <!--- {{sfn|Dee|Wengrow|Shortland|Stevenson|2014|p=}} ---> * {{cite book |last1=Patch |first1=Diana Craig |last2=Eaton-Krauss |first2=Marianne |title=Dawn of Egyptian art |date=2011 |publisher=Metropolitan Museum of Art; Distributed by Yale University Press |location=New York : New Haven |isbn=978-0300179521 |url=https://www.metmuseum.org/met-publications/dawn-of-egyptian-art}} <!--- {{sfn|Patch|Eaton-Krauss|2011|p=}} --->
==Notes== {{reflist}}
==Bibliography== *Petrie/Wainwright/Mackay: ''The Labyrinth, Gerzeh and Mazghuneh'', British School of Archaeology in Egypt XXI. London 1912 *Alice Stevenson: ''Gerzeh, a cemetery shortly before History'' (Egyptian sites series), London 2006, {{ISBN|0-9550256-5-6}}
==External links== *[http://www.digitalegypt.ucl.ac.uk/gerzeh/index.html Gerzeh (Girza)]. University College London, 2000 *[http://www.britannica.com/eb/article?tocId=22289 Egypt, ancient. Encyclopædia Britannica], 2005 *[http://www.digitalegypt.ucl.ac.uk/gerzeh/tomb20/index.html Gerzeh Tomb 20] *[http://www.digitalegypt.ucl.ac.uk/gerzeh/tomb105/index.html Gerzeh Tomb 105] *[http://www.digitalegypt.ucl.ac.uk/gerzeh/tomb205/finds.html Gerzeh Tomb 205]
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{{Ancient Egypt topics}}
Category:Gerzeh culture Category:4th-millennium BC establishments Category:4th-millennium BC disestablishments Category:4th millennium BC in Egypt Category:Archaeological cultures in Egypt Category:Predynastic Egypt Category:Jemdet Nasr period