Introduction

Early humans lived in Africa for hundreds of thousands of years as foragers. So, why would humans begin to shift from foraging to farming? Some of the answers are found along the Nile. The Nile River is the longest river in the world, and this stretch of land provided the necessities required to sustain life. It also connected Egypt with Nubia, its southern neighbor.

Nubia, A-Group culture (c. 3800-2900 BCE)

The ancient settlements of Nubia were located in southern Egypt and modern-day Sudan. Some of the earliest farming societies began in this region of Africa. Archaeologists have referred to the early inhabitants of Nubia as A-Group culture. They have analyzed almost 200 sites, mainly cemeteries and some housing sites. Nubian and early Egyptian artifacts indicate the two societies may have shared many traits. These traits include ideas about rulers, written symbols, and artistic features. There is also evidence of established trade networks between Nubia and Egypt.

Archaeologists have unearthed Nubian storage pits. They have also discovered stone tools, grindstones, gold, copper, and pottery. Some of these artifacts were made from local sources while others were brought from Egypt and beyond. Nubian and Egyptian burials were also similar. Both societies buried bodies facing west and left offerings to guide the dead to the afterlife.

Lapis lazuli, a semi-precious, deep blue stone, has also been found in both Nubian and Egyptian sites. This rock was used in the creation of the female figure shown on the right. These figures may have been used as fertility symbols or for religious purposes (very much like the Venus of Willendorf discussed in Unit 2). It is interesting that the nearest quarry (mine) for this rock was in modern-day Afghanistan. These mines are thousands of miles from the Nile River Valley where these artifacts were found.

Some graves of people with higher social status also included the bodies of cattle. This finding shows the importance of this animal to a semi-agricultural and pastoral community. These graves also held artifacts that indicate that the cultures of Nubia and Egypt were connected. Some decorations on these artifacts have common themes.

Nubian women may have been more highly regarded than women in other early farming societies. Women were viewed as givers of life and experts in agriculture. Nubian women also held an important role in religious rituals related to birth (creation), fertility, death, and rebirth. Archaeologists have uncovered female burials with important grave goods. These goods offer insight into the importance of women in Nubian culture.

Ancient Egypt—predynastic, protodynastic, and early dynastic periods (c. 6000-2700 BCE)

We usually picture pyramids and mummies when we think of ancient Egypt. The pyramids are huge structures that housed the dead and have been preserved for millennia. But Egyptian history began long before the pyramids were built.

Ancient Egypt is usually divided into periods ruled by different dynasties—lines of rulers in the same family—who ruled as pharaohs. These dynasties really began to rule Egypt around 3000 BCE. In this article, we are mainly focusing on:

• The period before dynasties of kings ruling a unified Egypt. This is called the Predynastic Period (about 6000-3200 BCE)
• The period in which a centralized kingdom began to emerge. This is called the Protodynastic Period (around 3200-3000 BCE)
• The earliest pharaohs. This is known as the Early Dynastic Period (3000-2700 BCE)

The early history of Egypt covers the transition to agriculture and the foundation of societies governed by kings. There are still things we do not know about this ancient history. We do know that early agrarian communities existed along the Nile River Valley. Like many other areas, the shift from foraging to farming was a gradual one. It took about 2,000-2,500 years and may have been driven by a changing climate. A drying period occurred, which pushed people closer to the life-giving resources of the Nile.

Like Nubia, Egypt appears to have been connected to other areas of Southwest Asia. We know this from artifacts from these foreign areas found in burial sites. Lower Egypt had fertile soil and access to networks of trade and interaction with the Mediterranean and Southwest Asia. As a result, this section of Egypt grew in population, wealth, and power.

Throughout the predynastic period, rulers of different communities gained more power. As a result, contact between communities grew. The sharing of beliefs and places for rituals became more common. An example of these shared spiritual places was the city of Abydos. This city was a necropolis, housing the dead of Nubia. Later, Abydos was also chosen as the burial place for Egyptian royalty.

The unification of Egypt marks a significant point in Egyptian history. Egyptian kings consolidated power and the region grew into an ancient superpower. This began the Early Dynastic Period in Egyptian history.

The unification of Egypt is also when hieroglyphic writing became more common. First used to keep records, this script became the written language of Egypt. Hieratic script was used for recordkeeping and hieroglyphics were reserved for religious purposes. There are also a number of similarities between the ancient scripts of Egypt and Nubia. These similarities indicate they may have shared a common language.

Unification of Egypt

The early kings of Egypt maintained a dual role as both god and human ruler. In much the same way, Egyptian society was seen as a society of opposing forces. Egyptians incorporated this concept of duality in all aspects of their lives. This included the notion of life and afterlife and the complementary nature of men and women.

This idea of harmony between male and female helped elevate Egyptian women in society. As in Nubia, women held important roles in religious rituals and agriculture. Egyptian women also received equal pay for equal work and owned their own businesses and land. This was not true in most areas of the world at this time. In fact, most societies today have yet to achieve equal legal and economic status between women and men.