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. Settlements of the Naqada culture were detected at el-Tarif (Ginter et al. 1979a; 1979b; 1982; 1998), at MA6/83 near Haggar el-Dabia, at MA14/83, MA14a/83, MA15/83, MA16/83, MA17/83, MA20/83, MA18/83, MA18a/83, MA19/83, MA21183, MA21a/83 (Ginter et al. 1985; 1987; 1988; Ginter and Kozlowski 1994), and 1000-1100 (Mond and Myers 1937: 163-258) near Armant. On the other hand, cemeteries have been identified only at Armant (Cemeteries 600, 1300 and 1400-1500, Mond and Myers 1937) and to the north, outside the Thebes-Armant region, at Naqada (South Cemetery, North Cemetery and Cemetery B). 8 Thus, no cemetery
26 ORIENT The Thebes-Armant Region during the Predynastic (Naqada) Period in Egypt has been identified within the about 30km stretch between Naqada and Armant on the west bank. In addition to the extensive cemeteries at Naqada, several more settlements were detected at near by Khattara, about I Okm north of the Theban mountain (Hays 1976; 1984; Hassan and Matson 1989; Vermeersch et al. 2004), which further enhance apparent predominance of settlements in the region. The abundance of detected settlements may be due in part to the fmesse with which recent research has been undertaken in this area, and the interests of modem researchers on settlements in contrast to the cemetery based research of earlier times. However, there can be no doubt that the predynastic inhabitants, especially in the earlier part of the period, were very active in the deserts of this region. Some of these settlements and cemeteries were used by same people. The Polish mission has suggested that the pattern near Armant is actually composed of two complexes consisting of a few cemeteries and several associated settlements (Ginter and Kozlowski 1994: 1). 9 If this is the case, another complex, dating to Naqada III, may be assumed to have been present near el Tarif, where only the settlement was excavated by the German and Polish missions (Ginter et al. 1979a; 1979b; 1982). The palette and ivory pin discovered by the Waseda University expedition at Malqata-South may have originated from an isolated grave or some other context. 10 It is noteworthy that while the cemeteries at Armant contained burials from Naqada IC to IIIAl or IIIC-D?, most of the settlements in the vicinity are dated to Naqada I- II?, with the exception of the settlement 1000-1100, which was excavated by Myers (Mond and Myers 1937: 163-258) and has been dated to Naqada I-III (Hendrickx and van den Brink 2000: 379).ll Thus, it has been suggested that settlements during the later part of the Naqada culture were located in what is now the cultivation zone and buried under Nile silts (Ginter and Kozlowski 1994: 139). 12 The settlements excavated by the Polish mission reveal their ruraVpastoral and temporary natures, as they consist solely of archaeological features such as fire-places, storage and trash pits, post-holes, and simple dwellings probably constructed with light and perishable materials, but occasionally built with stones foundations (Ginter et al. 1979b; 1987; 1988; Ginter and Kozlowski 1994).l9l 13 It is obvious also from the cemeteries, containing only about 200 graves, that the community at Armant was quite small, especially when compared with larger communities like Naqada (more than 2000 graves, Petrie and Qui bell 1896) and Hierakonpolis (over 3000 graves, Hoffinan 1982: Table IV-3).
Vol. XLIII 2008 27 I'V. Cultural and Social Situations in the Thebes-Armant Region W. Kaiser, who devised the scheme of relative chronology for the Naqada culture generally in use today, suggested that the culture frrst emerged in Upper Egypt in the area between Abydos and Naqada and then gradually spread out to the north and south along the Nile (Kaiser 1956: Abb.5; 1957). More recently, S. Hendrickx, who reconsidered and modified the Kaiser's scheme (Hendrickx 1996), has provided finer dates for each site, enabling us to confrrm Kaiser's suggestion on this point (Hendrickx and van den Brink 2002: Tables 23-1 and 23-2) at least in the Upper Egyptian Nile valley. 14 According to both scholars, the earliest phase (Naqada lallA) can be identified at some sites in the region from Abydos to Naqada. During the next phase (Naqada Ib/IB), the Naqada culture expanded as far south as Naga el Mamariya, but many cemeteries in this area first appear only later in Naqada Ic/ IC, when the Naqada culture had spread into the northern part of Lower Nubia (Kaiser 1956: Abb.5; 1957). Burials in the cemeteries at Annant also begin in Naqada IC. These chronological studies, therefore, indicate that the Thebes Armant region was within the geographical territory of the Naqada culture by Naqada IB, and that people bearing the Naqada culture were well settled in the region by Naqada IC at the latest. 15 Atlhough the Naqada culture appears almost uniform all along the Nile particularly with regard to its funerary customs, several authors have succeeded in discriminating regional differences in the material culture of both settlements and cemeteries, especially during Naqada I and early Naqada II. Such regional differences may provide clues for understanding the cultural and social situation of the Thebes-Armant region in Naqada society. E. Finkenstaedt was able to identify regional differences in the painting styles and manufacturing techniques of"White Cross-Lined Ware" (C-ware), 16 a pottery type that was produced during Naqada I and early Naqada II. She observed three regional styles: the Abydos group, centered around the type site of el-Amrah, and including Abydos, Mahasna, Naga el-Alawna and probably Mesaeed; the Naqada group, which consists of sites clustered around Naqada including Abadiya and Armant; and the Badari group, which includes Badari, Hemmamiya, Matmar, Qau and Mostagedda (Finkenstaedt 1981: 7). The style of the Naqada group is distinguished by the clarity and regularity of the line, the manner in which the paint has flaked off the vessel surface, leaving a fugitive outline of the design (Finkenstaedt 1980: 116), and the essentially peaceful, pastoral mood of pictorial scenes (Finkenstaedt 1980: 120). Thus, on the basis of the painting styles of the limited amount of C-ware found at Armant, the site was
28 ORIENT The Thebes-Armant Region during the Predynastic (Naqada) Period in Egypt included in the Naqada group. However, because there were so few examples of provenanced C-ware from the area south of Armant, Finkenstaedt could not differentiate a distinctive style for the southern part of the country. In addition to the study of C-ware, regional styles among lithic industries have been distinguished by D. Holmes, on the basis of a comparative study of . lithics from the settlements at Badari, Naqada and Hierakonpolis (Holmes 1989). After determining the distinct regional styles for three regions, she discussed the extent and borders of these regional lithic styles or industries (Holmes 1989: 329-331). In her analysis, the assemblages from the settlements in the Thebes-Armant region are included within the Naqada industry, owing to several shared characteristic between them (see also Ginter and Kozlowski 1994: 73-74). R.F. Friedman, who investigated the pottery from the settlements at Hierakonpolis, Naqada and Hammamiya in Upper Egypt, also identified regional differences in ceramic production based on the different materials used as temper for the utilitarian wares from these sites during the Amratian period (late Naqada II early Naqada II). Her distinctions correspond and complement the lithic study by Holmes (Friedman 1994: 865-882; 2000). Her analysis showed that a shale-tempered or shale-rich clay was used for cooking vessels at Hierakonpolis, while at the Khattara sites in the Naqada region ground potsherds or grog was employed as a regionally distinct tempering agent. As grog tempered pottery occurs at Armant (Ginter and Kozlowski 1994: 74, 93), she suggested that the regional tradition of Khattara stretched as far south as Armant (Friedman 2000: 183). Thus, the Thebes-Armant region can be included in the Naqada region on the basis of ceramic tradition also} 7 In addition, Friedman suggested some degree of interaction between the Hierakonpolis and Naqada regions (Friedman 2000: 183), because a small amount of the shale-tempered ware was also present in the Armant settlements, where it was called "Grit ware" (Mond and Myers 1937: 50-51, 178-179). 18 It is significant that all of these studies generally identify regional styles centered at Badari, Naqada and Hierakonpolis, 19 and locate the regional border between the latter two to the south of the Thebes-Armant region during Naqada I - early Naqada II. The factors leading to the creation of these regional differences have been explained by the authors in various ways. Finkenstaedt ascribed the regional distinctions to "workshops (probably family groups in reality)" (Finkenstaedt 1981: 8), while Holmes suggested that they reflect different Predynastic kingdoms or other socio-political units (Holmes 1989: 327- 329). Along with pointing out a coincidence between the geographical ranges of
Vol. XLIII 2008 29 these regions and Upper Egyptian proto-states proposed by B.J. Kemp (1989: Fig.8), Friedman suggested that the area of social interaction identified in archaeological materials may have formed the basis for later polities (Friedman 2000: 184). The available evidence indicates that the Thebes-Armant region was, from its earliest stage onward, a part of the Naqada region and that cultural and technological information was shared and goods frequently exchanged by the region's inhabitants, through mechanism still to be clarified. These cultural and social networks may have been formed by the earliest settlers, who branched off from the parent settlements to establish new ones but maintained close ties. Although the northern border of the Naqada region along the Nile was apparently located near Naga Hammadi according to lithic styles (Holmes 1989: 329-330), it is difficult to identify the exact border between the Hierakonpolis and Naqada regions, mainly because of the scarcity of data from the sites at Gebelein to Esna.20 Around the mid Naqada II, the regional differences observed in pottery production disappeared or became invisible in archaeological materials, as C ware fell into disuse (Kaiser 1957) and mass-produced chaff tempered utilitarian wares prevailed over the local tradition all over Upper Egypt (Friedman 2000: 174). Lithic data, however, seems to indicate that the Thebes-Armant region still remained a part of the Naqada region (Holmes 1989: 330).21 Additionally, the geographical importance of the Thebes-Armant region should be noted. The region is located at the terminus of the desert Farshfit road and the 'Alamat Tal road to the Dakhlah oasis via Hiw (J.C. Darnell2002a: Figs. 1(a) and (b)). Several sites yielding objects and rock inscriptions of the Naqada culture have been found along these roads (J.C. Darnell 2002a; 2002b; D. Darnell 2002). Situated at such an important point on the route between the Western Desert and the Nile valley, as well as between the region north and south while bypassing the Naqada region, the inhabitants of the Thebes-Armant region may have had better communication with desert dwellers and benefited from the commodities and/or information flow from that source, though positive evidence for this is not apparent from the poorly known cemeteries in the region, as discussed below.
V. Social Structures and Development of Social Stratification in the Tbebes Armant Region Studies of the development of social stratification in the Naqada culture as reflected in the mortuary evidence from cemeteries have been undertaken by
30 ORIENT The Thebes-Armant Region during the Predynastic (Naqada) Period in Egypt many scholars. Among them, M. Atzler (Atzler 1981), J.J. Castillos (Casttilos 1982; 1983), K.A. Bard (Bard 1988; 1989; 1994), W.A. Griswold (Griswold 1992) and T.A.H. Wilkinson (1996) have investigated the cemeteries at Armant. K.A. Bard has analyzed most intensively social differentiation and its chronological sequence by using cluster analysis on the evidence from the cemeteries at Armant and Naqada, both of which are within the main scope of this paper (Bard 1988; 1989; 1994).22 She concluded that the cemetery at Armant (Cemetery 1400-1500) was composed of groups at two hierarchical levels, richer and poorer, and that social stratification did not increase beyond a simple ranked society because the settlement remained in a small farming village (Bard 1988: 52-53; 1994: 68-73). In contrast, the cemeteries at Naqada (Great Cemetery, Cemeteries T and B) reflected a much more complicate and stratified society, with developing differentiation, which lead to an increase in the number of hierarchical levels from two during Naqada I to four or more during Naqada II (Bard 1994: 87-109). The increase in social differentiation relates to the emergence of elites in the society at Naqada. However, the visible differentiation within the burials decreased in Naqada III, suggesting that high status burials ceased or shifted elsewhere possibly due to a changing political situation (Bard 1994: 103). The analysis of Armant Cemetery 1400-1500 by W.A. Griswold (Griswold 1992) is unique for introducing the Gini Index devised by sociologists to investigate inequalities among ancient burials. 23 This analysis indicated a gradual decline in social inequality from the beginning of the cemetery in Naqada Ic to its end in Naqada Ilia, although the average size of the tombs increased continuously. The social status of the persons buried in the large and richly endowed tombs in Armant Cemetery 1400-1500 was inferred from their sex, age and funerary equipments, although disturbance by tomb robbers has introduced a certain ambiguity to the interpretation. During Naqada Ic and Ila-b, the largest and often wealthiest graves contained a body of male, female or child, with some exceptional cases of multiple burials. The presence of a child in the largest grave of Naqada Ic (No.1461 )24 had led some scholars to suggest a ranked society with inherited status (Bard 1994: 71; Wilkinson 1996: 81). During Naqada Ila-b, rare prestige goods or status symbols, such as wooden beds and ivory objects, were found in the largest tombs. The occupants of the graves, adult males and females, may have been decent group authorities (Bard 1994: 72) and leaders of this small farming village. From Naqada lie onward, the large and wealthy tombs tend to contain Wavy-handled pottery, but no other prestige
Vol. XLIII 2008 31 goods or status symbols were clearly identified with a few exceptions (Bard 1994: 67; Takamiya 2003), implying a decrease in social inequality as has been suggested by Griswold's analysis. The various analyses suggest that while only a small degree of social stratification occurred in the cemeteries at Armant, social stratification and inequality increased to complex levels in the cemeteries at Naqada by the end of Naqada II and that powerful and wealthy elite classes emerged only in the largest communities, which were functioning as local centers. Even in the rural condition inferred from the settlements and cemeteries in the Thebes-Armant region, some kinds of specialization of production emerged here as well as in more urbanized areas of the Nile valley. Ginter and his co workers have proposed that at Armant certain types of blades, such as those made from green flint, were manufactured in workshops located near the flint mines during early Naqada II, because only these products occur at high frequency within the settlements (Ginter and Kozlowski 1994: 71-72, 138; Takamiya 2004: 1029). Thus, it is highly probable that the small communities in the Thebes-Armant region also were influenced by the development of complexity in the adjacent Naqada region and throughout Upper Egypt.
VI. Political Situation of the Thebes-Armant Region The political process of early Egyptian state formation has been discussed by several authors from a various point of view since the beginning of the 20th century, but B.J. Kemp is the first scholar to look at the process from its earliest stage on a geographical basis. He proposed a process, in which small polities located along the Nile at the earliest stage of the Naqada culture or even earlier gradually developed into larger polities by integrating adjacent polities (Kemp 1989: 31-46, Figs. 8 and 13). Recently, T.A.H. Wilkinson has attempted to reconstruct this process in detail on the basis of the elite cemeteries and high-status graves of the ruling class, rock-cut inscriptions from the deserts and the royal names incised or painted on pottery vessels (Wilkinson 2000). According to his hypothetical reconstruction, in Naqada I, when several small polities emerged, the Thebes Armant region was mainly part of the territory of a supposed polity centered at Gebelein. In mid Naqada II, when Upper Egypt had coalesced into a number of major polities centered at large settlements such as This (Abydos), Naqada and Hierakonpolis, the Thebes-Armant region was absorbed in the territory of Naqada, but Gebelein may still have remained an independent polity (Wilkinson 2000: 384-385).25 In Naqada III, the Naqada polity as a whole came under
32 ORIENT The Thebes-Armant Region during the Predynastic Conclusion During the period of early Egyptian state formation, when societies all over Egypt were rapidly and in some cases entirely changing, the Thebes-Armant region remained basically a rural area with village level communities, located between the large settlements that functioned as the centers of major polities. Although this is the impression obtained from the available evidence, important Vol. XLIII 2008 33 information about the Predynastic history of the region indubitably still remains buried beneath Nile silts, Dynastic structures or the sand of the desert. The region contained significant flint mines, which potentially could have supplied important material for lithic production, but these resources do not seem to have affected the social power of the communities in the region. The region under consideration was culturally and socially included in or largely influenced by the communities centered at Naqada from the beginning of its Predynastic history, presumably because of the reasons embedded in the descent and lineage origin of the communities. Later, around the middle of Naqada II, the region was integrated into a larger polity, probably that of Naqada, and lost any political independence. The geographical position of the region, near the border of the Naqada and Hierakonpolis polities and at the terminus of the desert roads may have been advantageous to the communities in some aspects, 27 but, in the political struggles, this position may have been a liability, leading to the drastic changes in the communities during the final stages of the state formation. A number of Predynastic cemeteries in Upper Egypt ceased around the threshold of Dynasty I, i.e. during Naqada III. 28 Cemetery 1400-1500 at Annant is typically among them. After its demise, tombs continued to be made in an adjacent area, though it seems only sparsely (Mond and Myers 193 7). As has been argued by Bard, Tombs 1207 and 1208, both of them large mud-brick tombs with multiple rooms and dated to Naqada IIID, probably reflect the imposition of royal order by the administrative hierarchy of the kings who united Egypt at the end of the Predynastic period (Bard 1994: 74) or slightly later, after the establishment of the united state. 29 Acknowledgement I am grateful to Dr. Renee Friedman for many helpful suggestions, discussions and references on the topic, as well as for her patient linguistic check of the paper. I largely owe the completion of this paper to her and Prof. So Hasegawa's encouragement. Notes 1 Half a century later, in 1958, W. Kaiser conducted another general survey of Predynastic sites in Upper Egypt with a view to revisiting known sites (Kaiser 1961 ). 2 For example, B. Ginter and his co-workers have also carried out intensive surveys of the flint workshops near Deir el-Bahari (Drobniewicz and Ginter 1976; Drobniewicz et al. 1976; Ginter 1976). 3 For example, in 1971, the Mission of Waseda University, Japan, directed by the late Prof. Kiichi Kawamura, found a slate palette and an ivory pin in a small trench under a Roman 34 ORIENT The Thebes-Armant Region during the Predynastic Vol. XLIII 2008 35 Naqada I to Naqada III, may have been more permanent in nature, though its preservation is too poor to prove this. 14 Many prehistoric sites have been revealed during recent research by "the Theban Desert Road Survey" directly by J.C. Darnell and D. Darnell in the Western Desert to the west of the Thebes-Armant region, where the desert is confined on the north, east and south by the Qena Bent of the Nile. These include rock inscriptions of the Predynastic and Protodynastic periods (Naqada 11-lll) at Gebel Tjauti and at the "Dominion Behind Thebes'' just behind Thebes, a habitation site at "the Cave of the Wooden Pegs" containing pottery of the Badarian culture and of the Naqada culture (Naqada 1-111) and a burial site in the Wadi el-Hol with Tasian vessels and features (J.C. Darnell 2002a; 2002b; D. Darnell 2002). Considering the early date of some of these desert sites, the impression of the emergence and distribution of the Naqada culture may need to be modified in a broader context that includes not only the Nile valley but also the adjacent desert areas. For the latest discussions on natures and relationships of the earliest Predynastic cultures, see D. Darnell 2002: 168-169 and Friedman and Hobbs 2002. 15 At present, the Tarifian is the oldest known culture in the Thebes-Armant region. This early, locally based, pottery producing culture is archaeologically well-attested in several settlement sites in the region (Ginter et al 1979a; 1979b; 1885; Ginter and Kozlowski 1994). Pottery fragments classified as Badarian were recovered in the assemblages from the settlement 1000-1100 at Armant (Mond and Myers 1937: 166-177), another settlement (Myers and Fairman 1931), several tombs (Mond and Myers 1937: 6-9), MA21/83 and MA2la/83 (Ginter ·and Kozlowski 1994: 77, 81, 134). Thus, the area was inhabited prior to the Naqada period, but the relationship of these earlier inhabitants to those bearing the Naqada culture is unclear. For the Palaeolithic period, see Takahashi in this volume. 16 "C-Ware" is one of the classes of pottery vessels from cemeteries of the Naqada culture, firstly identified by W.M.F. Petrie (Petrie 1920-1921: 14-16, Pls.X-XVIII). The vessels in this class are characterized by designs in white paint on a red slipped body. 17 According to Friedman, sherds of these fabrics found at Armant are also similar to those recovered from the .Khattara sites with regard to the range of forms and surface treatment (Friedman 2000: 183). 18 The shale-tempered fabric was found over a wide area from Dakhleh oasis to Upper Egypt (Edwards and Hope 1989; Friedman 1994: ISS, 504-505; 519-521; 2000: 183; Hope 2002: 58), but the number of sherds in sites north of the Thebes-Armant region is extremely limited (Friedman 1994). Considering the relatively high proportion of the fabric (44.4%) in the pottery assemblage from the early phase (niveau f-m du sectur 1001, Naqada IC-118) at Adaima (Buchez 2004: 17-20), a site located 40-SOkm south of Armant, the interaction between the Hierakonpolis region, including Adaima, and the Thebes-Armant region may be reasonably assumed, though a possibility of influences from the desert area (Hope 2002: 58) cannot be excluded. See also note 20. 19 The identification of regional styles largely depended on the availability of data. The Abydos style was recognized only in C-ware from cemeteries, because no settlement in the Abydos region provided sufficient data of lithics and domestic pottery vessels. However, recent excavation of the settlement at Mahasna by D. Anderson suggests that limestone and chaff temper may characterize the Abydos region (Anderson 2006: 153-154). 20 For previous research and excavations at Gebelein, see J. de Morgan 1896: 41-42; H. de Morgan 1908: 137-138; 1912: 49; Anon. 1930; 1933; 1937; Roveri et al. 1994: 19-28; Hendrickx and van den Brink 2002: 361, 379, and for those near Esna, see H. de Morgan 1912: 25-6; Debono 1971: 246-249; Hendrickx and van den Brink 2002: 362,379-380. Although available information is limited, the border between the Hierakonpolis and Naqada regions may have been somewhere close by Armant or Gebelein, as the shale-tempered ceramic assemblage (among other aspect) of the settlement at Adaima, located just a few kilometers south of Esna, indicates that it was part of the Hierakonpolis region (Friedman 2000: 183; Midant-Reynes and Buchez 2002: 169-240; Buche 2004). See also note 18. 36 ORIENT The Thebes-Armant Region during the Predynastic (Naqada) Period in Egypt Additionally, while artifacts of the A-group culture have so far been scarcely reported from the Thebes-Annant region, some sites along the desert roads to the west of Thebes have yielded many examples (D. Darnell 2002: 158-159). A small number of A-group vessels or sherds have been identified in pottery assemblages at some settlements and cemeteries in the southern part of Upper Egypt (Gatto 2006: 64, see also Needler 224-231), such as at Naqada (Friedman 1994: 148, 539), Khattara, (Friedman 1994: 148, 507), Adaima (Midant-Reynes and Buchez 2002: 217-219) and Hierakonpolis (Gatto 2003). This ceramic evidence may imply a certain degree of interaction between the A-group affiliates and dwellers of southern Upper Egypt. Since recent research in the Western Desert has brought to light the wide distribution of A-Group pottery sherds in the area, especially in its southern part (Lange 2003), it may be supposed that the Thebes-Annant region was situated near the periphery of the geographical zone, in which A group affiliates were active in the desert as well as in the Nile valley. New studies of A-Group(s) pottery may change the previous conceptions about the A-group culture and the cultural border between the A-group and Naqada cultures (Gatto 2000; 2003; 2006). 2l Because of the documented shift of settlement out of the desert and onto the alluvial plain in the latter part of the Naqada period, available archaeological materials from Upper Egyptian settlements for this later period are sparse (Friedman 2000: Fig.l). 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(eds.) 2004,213-276 Wilkinson, T.A.H. 1996: State Formation in Egypt. Chronology and Society (BAR International Series 65 1), Oxford. Wilkinson, T.A.H. 2000: "Political Unification: Towards a Reconstruction," Mitteilungen des deutschen archiiologischen Instituts Abteilung Kairo 56, 377-395. Vol. XLIII 2008 41 Fig. 1 Map of the Predynastic Sites 42 ORIENT The Thebes-Armant Region during the Predynastic (Naqada) Period in Egypt qQ.'Tl N ~ '0"' .....,0 ...... ::r ....,("[) ::r ("[) CT ("[) Vl >' 3 :s"'...... ;::o ... 0 ("[) • • (JQ o· 0 () C/) :s :::J (1) (1) ::r... s· ... C1l .... 3 ...... , .,...(1) ro- :;; (1) "' 0 ..., 3 ..., '<: Vol. XLIII 2008 43 Table 1 Archaeological Sites of the Naqada culture in theTheban Area Map Setttlement/ Bank Site Period References No. Cemetery 1 West EI-Tarif settlement 44 ORIENT