Protodynastic period correspond in Egypt to what is known as Dynastic 0, a time when various princes of Upper Egypt, from Irj-Ho and Scorpion to Narmer, as competing for control of the territory.
The ‘Predynastic’ was the last few hundred years of the long prehistoric period in the Nile Valley, while ‘Early Dynastic’ refers to the first few centuries of the dynastic or pharaoh period.
Protodynastic or Naqada II period was one of rapid social, technological and artistic development that was characterized by the introduction of writing, specialized production, importation on a large scale and the rose of kingship.
It is the last phase of the Naqada culture of ancient Egyptian prehistory, dating approximately from 3200 to 3000 BC. It is the period during which the process of state formation, which had begun to take place in Naqada II.
Although the Naqada II cultures spread throughout Egypt as a single unified culture, the country remained under the rule of several rival regional kings who controlled the resources of smaller regional states. Toward the end of the Naqada II period, the power centers engaged on a series of conflicts.
Around 3050 BC, one of the those leaders Narmer, the last king of Dynasty O and founder of Dynasty I, unified Egypt, thus completing the expansion of the southern Naqada culture into Lower Egypt.
Protodynastic in Egypt (3200 – 3050 BC)
