The Predynastic Period of Egypt is traditionally the period between the Early Neolithic and the beginning of the Pharaonic monarchy beginning with King Narmer.
The Predynastic people were presumably the ancestors of the Egyptians of historical times, thus a mixture of Hamitic, Semitic and Negroid.
The people in Predynastic lived in small villages which joined to form two kingdoms – Upper Egypt in the south and Lower Egypt in the north.
They made great strides in the development of agriculture, cultivating all sorts of grains, fruit and vegetables as well as flax.
The cattle herders may have brought their culture and practices to the people populating the Nile Valley about 5500 BC.
The domesticated plants and animals were the major economic importance in Predynastic Egypt. The important plant domesticates were wheat, barley and flax and the domesticated animals were sheep, goats, dogs, cattle and pigs.
During the Badarian period (5500-4000 BC), the people of the Nile Valley (Nilotes) began to cultivate barley and raised sheep, pigs and cattle.
At that time Egyptians were not as well organized nor well equipped especially for warfare. Their weaponry consisted of knives made of stone and needles carved from bone.
By the end of the Predynastic Period the Egyptians had learned to make cloth, pottery and items of gold and copper. They had invented a form of picture writing.
The Predynastic Period is divided into four separate phases:
*Early Predynastic - 6th to 5th millennium BCE (approximately 5500 - 4000 BCE)
*Old Predynastic - 4500 to 3500 BCE
*Middle Predynastic - 3500 to 3200 BCE
*Late Predynastic – 3200 to 3100 BCE.
In 3150 BC, Egypt first recorded the battle which unifying the Two Lands (Lower and Upper Egypt) and establishing the First Dynasty.
From then on the history of the country is divided into dynasties, Up to the conquest of Egypt by Alexander the Great in 332 BC, 30 dynasties had reigned over the land.
Predynastic Era of Egypt
