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Naqada

Map of Egypt showing Naqada during the Protodynastic Period of Egypt (clickable map)

The Narmer Palette, thought to mark the unification of Upper and Lower Egypt; note the images of the goddess Bat at the top, as well as the serpopards that form the central intertwined image.

Naqada III is the last phase of the Naqada culture of ancient Egyptian prehistory, dating approximately from 3200 to 3000 BC.^[1] It is the period during which the process of state formation, which had begun to take place in Naqada II, became highly visible, with named kings heading powerful polities. Naqada III is often referred to as Dynasty 0 or the Protodynastic Period^[1] to reflect the presence of kings at the head of influential states, although, in fact, the kings involved would not have been a part of a dynasty. They would more probably have been completely unrelated and very possibly in competition with each other. In this period, those kings' names were inscribed in the form of serekhs on a variety of surfaces including pottery and tombs.

The Protodynastic Period in ancient Egypt was characterised by an ongoing process of political unification, culminating in the formation of a single state to begin the Early Dynastic Period. Furthermore, it is during this time that the Egyptian language was first recorded in hieroglyphs. There is also strong archaeological evidence of Egyptian settlements in southern Canaan during the Protodynastic Period, which are regarded as colonies or trading entrepôts.

State formation began during this era and perhaps even earlier. Various small city-states arose along the Nile. Centuries of conquest then reduced Upper Egypt to three major states: Thinis, Naqada, and Nekhen. Sandwiched between Thinis and Nekhen, Naqada was the first to fall. Thinis then conquered Lower Egypt. Nekhen's relationship with Thinis is uncertain, but these two states may have merged peacefully, with the Thinite royal family ruling all of Egypt. The Thinite kings were buried at Abydos in the Umm el-Qa'ab cemetery.

Most Egyptologists consider Narmer to be both the last king of this period and the first king of the First Dynasty. He was possibly preceded over some parts of Upper Egypt by Crocodile, Iry-Hor, Ka and perhaps by the so-called "Scorpion King(s)", whose name may refer to, or be derived from, the goddess Serket, a special early protector of other deities and the rulers.^[2]

Naqada III extended all over Egypt and was characterized by some notable firsts:

• The first hieroglyphs
  


• The first graphical narratives on palettes
  


• The first regular use of serekhs
  


• The first truly royal cemeteries


• Possibly the first example of irrigation
  

And at best, a notable second:

• The invention of sail navigation^[3] (independently from its prior invention in the Persian Gulf 2,000 years earlier)^[4]

References

Further reading

• 
  Anđelković, Branislav (2002). "Southern Canaan as an Egyptian Protodynastic Colony". Cahiers Caribéens d’Égyptologie. 3/4 (Dix ans de hiéroglyphes au campus): 75–92.
  


• 
  Bard, Katherine A. (2000). "The Emergence of the Egyptian State". In Shaw, Ian. The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 61–88. ISBN 0-19-815034-2.
  


• 
  Midant-Reynes, Béatrix (2000). The Prehistory of Egypt: From the First Egyptians to the First Pharaohs. Oxford and Malden: Blackwell. ISBN 0-631-20169-6.
  


• 
  Shaw, Ian, ed. (2000). The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-815034-2.
  


• 
  Wilkinson, Toby Alexander Howard (2001). Early Dynastic Egypt (2nd ed.). London: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-18633-1.
  


• 
  Wright, Mary (1985). "Contacts Between Egypt and Syro-Palestine During the Protodynastic Period". Biblical Archaeologist. 48 (4): 240–53.
  

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Naqada III.

http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/hdyn00.htm

• 
  "Unification Theories", Digital Egypt, UK: UCL.