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The Thebes-Armant Region During the Predynastic (Naqada) Period in Egypt Izumi T AKAMIYA

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The Thebes-Armant Region During the Predynastic (Naqada) Period in Egypt Izumi T AKAMIYA The Thebes-Armant Region during the Predynastic (Naqada) Period in Egypt Izumi T AKAMIYA * In this paper, the Thebes-Armant region on the west bank of the Nile is examined in terms of its geographical, cultural, social, political and economic aspects during the period of early Egyptian state formation. During the period, the Thebes-Armant region remained basically a ruraV pastoral area with village level communities, located between the large settlements that functioned as the centers of major polities. The region was culturally and socially included in or largely influenced by the communities centered at Naqada from the beginning of its Predynastic history. Later in the middle of Naqada II, the region was integrated into a larger polity, probably that ofNaqada, and lost any political independence. Owing to its geographical location at the terminus of the desert roads leading to the Western Desert and the Abydos region via Hiw, dwellers of the Thebes-Armant region may have benefited from better communication with inhabitants of these areas, though positive evidence for this is not apparent from the poorly known cemeteries in the region. Keywords: Naqada culture, Armant, Thebes, Local differences, State formation I. Introduction Thebes, the ancient Egyptian capital, with territory on both the east and west banks of the Nile, was continuously used as one of the major political and religious centers in Upper Egypt from the Middle Kingdom onward. However, during the Predynastic period (c. 4000 - 3000 BC), Thebes seems to have been a rural area, on the periphery of regions dominated by the large settlements at Hierakonpolis and Naqada, that were urbanized at an early date and functioned as major centers, on important step in the development of complex society in the Egyptian Nile valley, which finally culminated in the emergence of a unified nation state in Dynasty I, at around c. 3000 B.C. As a part of this special volume entitled "Egyptian Archaeology: The New • Associate Professor, Kinki University Vol. XLIII 2008 23 Light on Theban Studies", the major purpose of this paper is to examine in detail the characteristics and role of the Theban region during the Predynastic period, when the Naqada culture has spread through the region. However, in light of the disturbed condition of the archaeological remains and the limitation of the data, this investigation at times becomes a speculative adventure, as will be discussed below. The major significance of the Predynastic period in the overall history of the Ancient Egypt is that the complicated process of state formation, which led to the creation of this unique civilization, took place at this time, and it is the cultural, social, political and economic aspects relating to this process that are considered and reexamined in this paper. In order to elucidate the characteristics and role of the Theban region in the history of the state formation in the Nile valley, the area from el-Tarif to Armant on the west bank of the Nile (Fig. 1) is examined with reference to adjacent areas of Naqada to the north, Gebelein to the south, the surrounding desert regions, and sometimes Upper Egypt as a whole. II. History of Archaeological Research on Predynastic Sites in the Thebes­ Armant Region Although archaeological research on prehistoric sites in the Theban area has been on-going since the late 19th century, the first systematic survey of Predynastic sites was undertaken by J. de Morgan in 1896-1897 (J. de Morgan 1897: 25-50) as a part of his comprehensive general survey in Upper Egypt, which was the first to shed light on the distribution pattern of prehistoric sites along the Nile. He included several flint workshops in the Theban mountain area in his report with reference to earlier publications on the sites, and identified the prehistoric sites at Khizam and Gamoulah to the north and Armant to the south (J. de Morgan 1897: 40-41 ). 1 More recently, in 1983, the mission led by B. Ginter in cooperation with Jagiellonean University at Krakow and the German Institute of Archaeology in Cairo carried out a systematic investigation of prehistoric sites located between Quma and Armant on the west bank of the Nile. The mission identified eleven settlements sites of the Naqada culture, including some that had not been reported previously (Ginter etal. 1985). The mission also conducted excavations at several of these sites (Ginter et al. 1985; 1987; 1988; Ginter and Kozlowski 1994). In addition to these general surveys covering extensive areas, some sites in the region have been detected by researchers focused on more restricted areas. 2 Oliver Myers' explorations at Armant revealed several settlements and 24 ORIENT The Thebes-Armant Region during the Predynastic (N aqada) Period in Egypt cemeteries, and his exemplary excavation of cemetery 1400-1500 at Armant has served as the type site for developing the system of relative chronology now used widely in Predynastic research (Mond and Myers 1937; Kaiser 1957). Several Predynastic sites and materials of that age have also been discovered unexpectedly by researchers interested in site of Dynastic or later date. 3 A comprehensive list of prehistoric settlement and cemetery sites identified in the Theban region has been compiled by S. Hendrickx and E.C.M. van den Brink as a part of their elaborate study of prehistoric sites all over Egypt (Hendrickx and van den Brink 2002: Tables 23-1 and 23-2). I have relied on the list, especially for relative dating,4 although detailed information has been added from other sources. III. Distribution Pattern of Predynastic Sites in the Thebes-Armant Region: appearance and reality Fig. 2 shows the distribution of Predynastic sites in the Thebes-Annant region based on what is currently known. It is not clear to what extent this image of the site distribution reflects the actual reality of that age. Many factors can affect the taphonomy of archaeological sites and/or their detection by modern researchers. Theoretically, the visible pattern of site distribution may have been influenced by factors such as the intensity of archaeological surveys in the area, geological conditions in ancient times and/or later, including movement in the location of the Nile (Hillier 2007), and cultural and/or human disturbances in ancient time up to the present day. 5 All of these factors must be taken into consideration when attempting to understand the reality of the past. In general, while many sites have been identified in the low desert on the west bank of the Thebes-Armant region, no archaeological sites have so far been reported on the east bank except for a cemetery at Naga el-Medamud (Loret 1907; Kaiser 1961: 13; Hendrickx and van den Brink 2002: 361) and an Early Dynastic settlement(?) at Karnak (Legrain 1903: 24-25; Hendrickx and van den Brink 2002: 379). The scarcity of sites on the east bank is striking. It may be the result of geological factors that affected this broad area in ancient times or it may be a due to a later shift in the course of the Nile that these sites have been washed away (Hillier 2007). On the other hand, the density of sites on the west bank, 28 sites spread over about 15km, seems to be comparable to other regions of Upper Egypt where surveys have been undertaken, although most of the sites are concentrate on and around Deir el-Bahari and Armant. It is highly likely that the original site distribution pattern has been severely distorted by the intensive land use and Vol. XLIII 2008 25 construction activities of the ancient Egyptians in Dynastic times. In general, throughout Upper Egypt, Predynastic sites are located near the edge of the low desert on the both banks of the Nile. In the Theban region, the desert edge on the west bank was densely built over by tombs, temples, palaces and other large structures in Dynastic times. These buildings include a series of large funerary temples for the New Kingdom pharaohs, the palace of Amenophis III at Malqata, an artificial lake (?) at Birket Habu, a Ptolemaic temple at Deir el­ Shalwit and Roman houses adjacent to Deir el-Shalwit (Kawamura 1973). Therefore, it is probable that sites of the Predynastic period have been destroyed by these later constructions, or may be still buried beneath them. 6 Despite of the various disturbances, it may still be possible to distinguish some characteristics unique to the distribution pattern of the Predynastic sites on the west bank in the Thebes-Armant region, as distinct from other areas in Upper Egypt. One significant feature of the region is the concentration of flint workshops in the Theban mountain area at Deir el-Bahari, the same hills that also contains the famous New Kingdom burial site, "the Valley of the Kings". Eight prehistoric workshops located near the flint mines have been identified at Deir el-Bahari along with five "Neolithic" workshops in this region (Drobniewicz et al. 1976; Drobniewicz and Ginter 1976; Ginter 1976). In the Nile valley, flint nodules occur as primary deposits naturally and ubiquitously in the Eocene limestone hills between Cairo and Esna (Aston et al. 2000: 28). Flint was obtained by ancient Egyptians not only from such primary deposits, but also from secondary deposits on the desert surface near the mines. Since only a small number of flint workshops have been recognized outside the Theban region, 7 despite the wide distribution of flint resources, the concentration of workshops in the Theban mountain area is remarkable. Flint was no doubt intensively exploited in these mines. Another characteristic of the site distribution patterns of the Thebes­ Armant region is the scarcity of cemeteries, even on the west bank, in comparison to the abundance of settlement sites.
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