For more than half of the twentieth century, much like the pyramids, the predynastic Egypt was a mystery to archeologists. The little discoveries that had been made from the period preceding the pharaohs were not enough to either prove or disprove the various theories circulating at the time.
One of the first artifacts dated at the time of the unification to be unearthed was Narmer?s palette, discovered by the English archeologist James Edward Quibell at the end of the nineteenth century. The discovery was made at Hierakonpolis, about four hundred and fifty miles outside of Cairo. The object depicted the unification of the Lower and Upper Egypt, the event being attributed to Narmer; he also found a macehead that carried the insignia of Scorpion, a king which was believed to have ruled Upper Egypt just before the unification. Not far from the spot where Quibell had found the palette, his colleague, Frederick W. Green, discovered an extremely decorated tomb that had been built for a ruler who dominated the surrounding region almost two centuries before Narmer. Their discoveries were the first ones to document this moment of extreme importance in history: a time of political and cultural change and evolution. Unfortunately they were not nearly enough to explain that evolution.
The little evidence available led several archeologists to come up with more or less ?believable? theories about the predynastic Egypt. Some sustained that the society before the pharaohs was a primitive and one that could not have evolved into the great Egyptian state without any outside help. Walter Brian Emory was one of the supporters of this theory.
Only three years before this amazing discovery, another English archeologist, William Fliders Petrie, had unearthed at Naqada about twenty-one hundred graves containing such objects as fired-clay pots, palettes, and amulets made of stone, bone, and ivory. The latest graves were dated to about 3100 BC, while the earliest were dated to the predynastic period. Petrie assigned the objects found in the ?predynastic graves? to three major periods: the Amratian (3800-3500 BC), the Gerzean (3500-3200 BC), and the Protodynastic (3200-3100 BC) periods; a fourth period, the Badarian (before 4000-3800 BC), is added in the 1920?s. Using the scarce evidence they had, Petrie and other archeologists concluded that life before the pharaohs was quite a primitive one and it wasn?t until very short before the dynastic era that the culture would evolve. But he had deduced this by studying graves and not habitation sites, which meant that he had no evidence of what day to day life was, therefore he couldn?t know if the evolution had came from within or from outside.
The uncertainty floated around for a long time, before any light would be shed upon this ancient period of our prehistory. In 1969 a team of archeologists from the American Museum of Natural History discovered a structure dating to the Protodynastic period, very close to the place where Quibell had made his discovery. Excavations outside Hierakonpolis led to the discovery of a whole Amratian village along an ancient dried-up creek bed, Wadi Abul Suffian, which finally made possible the reconstruction of what day-to-day life might have been. The population was constituted mostly of farmers and craftsmen; the leaders were the ones that managed the manufacture and commerce of the goods. During this period the first signs of written language appear also. During the Gerzean period we see a very primitive layout of what will become the irrigation system being created. We also see the old local chieftains expand into regional kings. At the same time, the tombs grew larger and more sophisticated, so by the end of the Gerzean they were very much alike the graves of the early pharaohs. The Protodynastic was a period of political unrest and consolidation, a period during which the city of Hierakonpolis became one of the greatest, biggest and most powerful urban centers in Egypt.
The excavations at Hierakonpolis have, without doubt, proven the fact that there was no as Emory sustained nor any other outside force that influenced the development of the predynastic civilization; Egypt?s development into a state was gradual, but entirely from within.
Personal Opinion:My overall impression of the article is that it was objective one, although not very concise. As I first started reading it I realized I didn?t have much knowledge of the prehistoric Egypt and what exactly is known about it today; yet the article gives us a pretty good insight of how we came to know all we know about it today and also how well we do know it. That gives you a much better understanding of the topic.
Its strongest point I would say is the fact that it without any doubt achieves its goal: proving that Egypt, the first nation-state, developed from within, and invalidating all the other ?influential? theories that had emerged since the beginning of the twentieth century. Another thing that I liked in this article is that the author does not suppress the contrary view points, but instead tries to bring logical arguments against them.
Although I don?t see any major weaknesses, I could say a down-point was the over-attentiveness the author paid to details. Although there are certain things he couldn?t have left out, there certainly are some details he could have skipped.
Другие работы по теме:
Pictograph Essay Research Paper In the ancient
Pictograph Essay, Research Paper In the ancient times (4000-30B.C.) the Egyptian Pharaohs were the most powerful people on the planet. They had sophisticated methods for building and irrigation. In one area that they lagged in sophistication was the basic form they used for writing their language. The ancient Egyptians used hieroglyphics that was often expressed through pictographs that are stylized pictures used to express words and subjects.
Egypt Essay Research Paper IntroductionMany people
Egypt Essay, Research Paper Introduction Many people know about Egypt from the ancient times when there were pharaohs, queens, slaves, and pyramids. Since those days with all the pyramids, the various Gods they worshiped, and the pharaohs, times in the land of Egypt have changed. Their whole government system has changed, their religion is totally different, and women have more rights than they had back then.
King Tutankhamun Essay Research Paper King Tutankhamun
King Tutankhamun Essay, Research Paper King Tutankhamun lived over 3,300 years ago during a period known as the New Kingdom. This period of time was called the New Kingdom because it was when the pharaohs united upper and lower Egypt into one kingdom with the capital being Memphis near current day Cairo. The reason I chose to write a research paper on King Tut is because he is one of the most well known pharaohs of ancient Egypt.
Life Essay Research Paper You have been
Life Essay, Research Paper You have been ready to move on for quite some time But maybe not so ready to let go Of all that you know (Your friends, your family, and all the sweet memories)
Poem Destiny Essay Research Paper Sometimes I
Poem: Destiny Essay, Research Paper Sometimes I wonder if life is just meant to be If we have not a choice in the matter, or we really are free I walked down the street on one fine day
The Magnificence Of Ramses Ii Essay Research
Paper The Magnificence of Ramses II The history of Ancient Egypt consisted of a number of very powerful rulers known as pharahs. These pharaohs were regarded as gods by the Egyptian people. Every aspect of daily Egyptian life including the weather, and the success of the crops, was supposedly controlled by the pharaohs’ attitude.
Life Essay Research Paper People come into
Life Essay, Research Paper People come into your life for a reason, a season, or a lifetime. When you figure out which it is, you know exactly what to do. When someone is in your life for a REASON, it is usually to meet a need you have expressed outwardly or inwardly. They have come to assist you through a difficulty, to provide you with guidance and support, to aid you physically, emotionally, or spiritually.
The Pyramids Essay Research Paper The Great
The Pyramids Essay, Research Paper The Great Pyramids of Egypt The Pyramids of Egypt were built from 2700-2500 BC. It?s located in Giza, Egypt, on the West Bank of the Nile River. The pyramids are the oldest and the only one surviving of all the ancient wonders. Its believed to have taken 100,000 slave laborers and about 20 years to build the massive pyramid using about 2.3 million blocks of stone.
Seregas Essay Essay Research Paper The life
Seregas Essay Essay, Research Paper The life stories of many today s New Yorkers are amazingly similar and different at the same time. For those of us who can call New York our new home, the choice to move to this city has certainly been one of the most important decisions of our lives. Whether or not we came from fifty or five thousand miles away, the hopes for success and brighter future were the sources of our motivation.
Philosophy On Life Essay Research Paper My
Philosophy On Life. Essay, Research Paper My philosophy on life begins with the subject of death, which infact terrifies most people. Many people believe after you die you go to ‘heaven’ or ‘hell’, my opinion is similar but in a way different. I believe that there is certainly an afterlife but not as limited to those two fictional places.
Poem Belong Essay Research Paper Where I
Poem: Belong Essay, Research Paper Where I belong I am weak, I am strong I will fit where I belong don’t know where it is for now but it will come, if I allow tomorrow, I start a brand new day
Life And Chess Essay Research Paper To
Life And Chess Essay, Research Paper To run, to hide, to fight, Are the questions we face, day and night. To run, to hide, to fight, You have options, choose well, choose right.
Quotes About Life Essay Research Paper Quotes
Quotes About Life Essay, Research Paper Quotes About Life “The answers to life s problems aren t at the bottom of a bottle: they re on TV!” Homer Simpson “It s a funny thing about life; if you refuse to accept anything but the best, you very often get it.”
Aliens Essay Research Paper Aliens
Aliens Essay, Research Paper Aliens What are aliens? There are illegal aliens. Their are UFO aliens. You have to ask yourself one question, do you think there could be intelligent life
Zues Essay Research Paper A Stranger in
Zues Essay, Research Paper A Stranger in the Valley of the Kings by: Ahmed Osman The book “Stranger in the Valley of the Kings” was an account of the pharaohs of Egypt in the Hyksos’ rain over Egypt.
Ancient Greece Essay Research Paper ANCIENT EGYPT
Ancient Greece Essay, Research Paper ANCIENT EGYPT Ancient Egypt – Info on pyramids, temples, king and queens and hieroglyphs. Ancient Egypt’s mysterious Language: Hieroglyphics – This site has a hieroglyph
Persian Empire Essay Research Paper The Persian
Persian Empire Essay, Research Paper The Persian EmpireThe Persian Empire, started in 539 B.C., stretched from the Indus River all the way to Egypt. They are considered a model for the future empires because of their justice, simple religion, and roads. Unlike some of the pharaohs in Egypt, who collected any amount of tax, anytime they wanted to, the Persian rulers collected the taxes fairly.
Life Essay Research Paper LifeWhat is it
Life Essay, Research Paper Life What is it that makes life interesting? Better yet, does life even have a purpose? Right away most people would have answered yes to this question, but how sure are we if yes is the right answer. I too question myself if everyone on Earth or this whole universe has a meaning to live.
Secrets Of Life Essay Research Paper There
Secrets Of Life Essay, Research Paper There is one part of my life that no one knows about. This secret has caused me to act in ways I thought I wasn’t capable of doing. For the past five years, I
Egyptian Afterlife Essay Research Paper Egyptian View
Egyptian Afterlife Essay, Research Paper Egyptian View on Afterlife Most of the Egyptian life was preparing for their afterlife. This resulted in the pyramids and other great tombs for the Pharaohs and other nobility.
Annie Essay Research Paper In Edger Allen
Annie Essay, Research Paper In Edger Allen Poe?s poem ?For Annie? it illustrates Poe?s life as being an illness, which has finally come to an end. For example, on lines 29 & 30 Poe writes, ?With a fever called ?Living? That burned in my brain?. It?s odd how Poe reverses the ways of death and life. He feels that life is an illness and that death is a cure for the illness called life.
A Difficult Decision Essay Research Paper Steve
A Difficult Decision Essay, Research Paper Steve Bayne 1/31/00 English IV Mr. Larson Persuasive Essay A Difficult Decision Throughout each of our lives, we go through many trials. Life seems like a big smack in the face at times. Anyone can relate to this, because no one has had a perfect life, a life without blemish.
Music 2
Music & Movies Essay, Research Paper Music & Movies This paper is based on what I know about music. Music is a way of life, and life would be a mistake without music. Music can encourage ones emotions, thoughts, and feelings.
Life Is Like Essay Research Paper Life
Life Is Like Essay, Research Paper Life is like a car. When it?s new, it usually works all right. As time drives by, it breaks down and needs repairs. Life is like a leaf. In its youth, it
Road Not Taken Essay Research Paper Robert
Road Not Taken Essay, Research Paper Robert Frost The Road Not Taken The poem “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost is about the choices that one makes in life. It tells about a man who comes to a fork in the road he traveling upon, he feel