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The
Ecological Context of Ancient Egyptian Predynastic Settlements
If
indeed such a para-agricultural mode of life existed in
the Fayum, a symbiotic relationship may also have existed
with the more fully agricultural communities in the Valley
and the Delta. The tentative steps towards the beginning
of agricultural life at Kom W, and indeed the Fayum as
a whole, could well have been hindered by the pitfalls
of pursuing agriculture along the Fayum lake shores. Coupled
with this was the high productivity and stability of the
marsh fauna and flora that would have attracted the inhabitants
towards fishing, hunting and gathering.
El-Omari
Approximately contemporary with Merimda's final occupation
(c. 4300 BC) is an assemblage of habitation sites and
cemeteries, collectively termed El-Omari, and which survive
down into early Dynastic times. These assemblages are
situated nearby and in the mouth of the Wadi Hof (between
Cairo and Helwan), most likely cultivable land then.
The main settlement is situated on a gravel terrace that
slopes down to the Wadi Hof estuary. A smaller site, contemporary
with the estuary community, has been discovered near two
natural rain catchments on one of Jebel Hof's tallest
terraces. It is hypothesised that the latter, and other
high settlements, were established as naturally defended
outpost of the former and other lower habitations.
The Merimda, Fayum and El-Omari occupations thus provide
clear evidence of functional cultural settlements in Lower
Egypt before 4000 BC. Yet there are few sites (apart from
El-Omari) spanning 4000 - 3700 BC, a period when large
and functionally complex societies were flourishing in
Upper Egypt, the most important being at Hierakonpolis.
The
Upper Egyptian Cultural-Ecological Sequence
Throughout Ancient Egyptian history, the majority of settlements
were located on the Nile floodplain while the Upper Egyptian
cemeteries were often positioned slightly beyond the edge
of the cultivated land, in the desert margins.
As a consequence, many settlement sites (with the exception
of those constructed on reasonably high ground or, in
the example of Kom Ombo, on tells - the residential debris
of previous sedentary communities) have either been covered
by silt or simply washed away as the river changed course,
thus providing an explanation for the low ratio of Upper
Egyptian Predynastic living-sites in relation to their
known cemeteries.Another reason is probably due in part
to earlier excavators' priorities. The Predynastic cemeteries,
containing much grave goods (some of which were made from
exotic materials), attracted greater interest to excavate
than habitation sites either disturbed by digging for
sebakh (organic remains utilized as fertilizer) or else
wiped out by the more recent expanding floodplain agriculture.
The Nile floodplain was lower between c. 8 000 - 5 000
BC than it is in modern times and this, coupled with the
valley also being narrower then (averaging c. 2km in many
areas), has resulted in even the cemeteries positioned
along the then flooded land margins having been buried
under more recent alluvium deposits.
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Until the early 1960s, Middle Egypt (to the north of Badari
and south of Memphis) was believed to have been uninhabited
in Predynastic times. However, work conducted by the geologist
Karl Butzer has revealed that cemeteries dating to this period
in time were probably either wiped out by shifts in the channel
of the Nile or are buried beneath substantial sand and alluvium
deposits. Those surviving Predynastic living-sites are all
positioned on embankments that are several metres above the
modern alluvium level. Their survival is therefore fortuitous.
Butzer further hypothesizes that the low settlement density
in the region between Memphis and the Upper Egyptian sites
may also have been the result of the large natural Middle
Egyptian flood basins that "would have required massive
labour to bring under control". By contrast, the flood
basins from Abydos southwards, in Upper Egypt, were smaller
and thereby more easily controllable than those from further
north and the Delta.
Interpretations differ concerning the exact nature of these
first complex societies. Kemp hypothesizes that a "primate"
settlement pattern existed, i.e. the majority of the population
lived in the towns, thus leading to functional changes towards
rapid centralization and economic functional differential.
The same data, however, has been analyzed by Hassan who has
proposed a "rank" system, i.e. economic and socio-political
systems with comparatively little authoritative or administrative
centralization, and which were first and foremost symbolic
of a new order of life as well as centres for the sacred shrine
and deities. The "rank" system, whereby settlements
were strategically placed in order to maximize control over
the valley inhabitants, came into being as a result of the
linearity and narrowness of the floodplain that limited the
available cultivable land and thereby also the potential for
the growth of pre-industrial settlements in a way that, by
comparison, the Mesopotamian settlements were not.
It seems at first glance an ecological paradox that Upper
Egypt was the initial heartland of cultural complexity and
not Lower Egypt with its wide fertile lands and richer diversity
in resources due to its contact with the Mediterranean lands.
Yet the Upper Egyptian flood basins were smaller in size and
therefore easier to control for agricultural purposes. The
early state formation model of Carneiro could well thus be
relevant in this context, as he hypothesizes that a sharp
population rise in restricted agricultural environments leads
to pressure on the available resources and military competition
over land ensues.
The
Badari
The Badari area is located on the Nile east bank, roughly 30km
to the south of Assyut, where Badarian (4800 - 4000 BC) settlements
and graves extend 33 km southwards in the Mostagedda and Matmar
region. There are 41 cemeteries and 40 settlement locations
in the low desert that overlooks the floodplain beneath the
high desert limestone plateau cliffs. The dwellings of the Badarians
were similar to those Lower Egyptian sites mentioned.
A connection can be seen between the cemeteries, and the floodplain
and desert-edged settlements that suggests the Badarians were
seasonal occupiers of the plain. The Badarian settlement areas
are modest and deposits are thin, which suggests that villages
did not exist for long periods on the same site. The 40 habitation
site strip from Badari-Mostagedda can be subdivided up into
three subregional settlement clusters and various subclusters.
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Ecology of Ancient Egyptian Settlements
