Rise of the Nile delta

Holmes, Diane

doi:10.1038/363402a0

Cited by 6 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 4 publications

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“…It is generally agreed that the techniques of agricultural domestication were adopted much later in the Nile valley than in the Near East or the Eastern Sahara, despite the likely interactions between the Nile valley inhabitants and these nearby agriculturalists (Wendorf et al, 1984(Wendorf et al, , 1992Holmes, 1993). This delay suggests that the previous subsistence pattern had to be rendered unstable before this transition would be desirable or widespread.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dental indicators of health and stress in early Egyptian and Nubian agriculturalists: A difficult transition and gradual recovery

Starling

Stock

2007

American J Phys Anthropol

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Although agriculture is now the globally predominant mode of food production, studies of the skeletal remains of early agriculturalists have indicated high levels of physiological stress and poor health relative to hunter-gatherers in similar environments. Previous studies identifying this trend in different regions prompt further research of the causes and effects of subsistence transitions in human societies. Here, 242 dentitions from five ancient Egyptian and Nubian populations are examined: 38 individuals from Jebel Sahaba (Upper Paleolithic), 56 from Badari (Predynastic), 54 from Naqada (Predynastic), 47 from Tarkhan (Dynastic), and 47 from Kerma (Dynastic). These populations span the early period of agricultural intensification along the Nile valley. Skeletal remains were scored for the presence of linear enamel hypoplasia (LEH) of the dentition, an established indicator of physiological stress and growth interruption. The prevalence of LEH was highest in the "proto-agricultural" (pastoralist) Badari population, with a gradual decline throughout the late Predynastic and early Dynastic periods of state formation. This suggests that the period surrounding the emergence of early agriculture in the Nile valley was associated with high stress and poor health, but that the health of agriculturalists improved substantially with the increasing urbanization and trade that accompanied the formation of the Egyptian state. This evidence for poor health among proto- and early agriculturalists in the Nile valley supports theories that agricultural intensification occurred as a response to ecological or demographic pressure rather than simply as an innovation over an existing stable subsistence strategy.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dental indicators of health and stress in early Egyptian and Nubian agriculturalists: A difficult transition and gradual recovery

Starling

Stock

2007

American J Phys Anthropol

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“…For example, centres of domestication of both cattle and grains in the Sahara may have influenced the Neolithic of the Nile Valley (Warfe, 2003;Hanotte et al, 2002). The complexity of the cultural history of the Nile Valley throughout the Holocene may have also influenced the development of the Neolithic and subsequent cultural change in a variety of ways (Holmes, 1993;Warfe, 2003).…”

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confidence: 99%

Body Size, Skeletal Biomechanics, Mobility and Habitual Activity from the Late Palaeolithic to the Mid‐Dynastic Nile Valley

Stock

O’Neill

Ruff

et al. 2011

Human Bioarchaeology of the Transition to Agriculture

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The ancient history of the Nile Valley is of particular interest for those studying long-term trends in human cultural and biological adaptation, due to the presence of an excellent series of human remains and associated material culture dating from the Late Palaeolithic to the present. The late Pleistocene of this region is represented by the archaeological record of huntergatherers at sites such as Jebel Sahaba. The subsequent Predynastic, or Neolithic Period (5500-3100 BC), in current Egypt and Nubia is characterized by a transition from nomadic pastoralism to agricultural proto-city-states (Kemp, 1989). It has been argued that this period forms the basis for the Pharaonic state (Wilkinson, 1999), which developed in the Early Dynastic Period. The first and second Dynasties mark the onset of the first monumental architecture, a developed system of writing, and a combination of agricultural and individual Human Bioarchaeology of the Transition to Agriculture Edited by Ron Pinhasi and Jay T. Stock

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“…Agriculture, however, became common along the Nile only during the Predynastic, when species native to the Fertile Crescent (wheat, barley, goats, sheep, cattle, and pigs) became widespread [64], bearing the clear mark of their geographical origin. The most likely location through which these crops and animals were introduced was the Nile Delta [65]. The recorded history of the introduction of agriculture therefore justifies the Egyptian myth of founder gods (foreigners) bearing cultural novelties.…”

Section: Is the Claimed Explanation Of The Myth Compatible With Egyptmentioning

confidence: 99%

Atlantis: A Grain of Truth Behind the Fiction?

Rapisarda¹

2019

Heritage

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The legend of Atlantis was almost certainly invented by Plato to promote the political ideal of his masterwork The Republic, while praising the heroism of his own ancestors. This paper suggests that, in assembling the story, Plato might have reworked the myth of the foundation of Egypt—attributed to divine invaders bringing agriculture and unknown technologies to the country—and popularized in Greece through the writings of Herodotus. The key issue explored is the curious coincidence between the period of the alleged foundation of Egypt (according to traditional Egyptian sources) and some remarkable events that characterized the end of the Ice Age. Indeed, besides the sudden increase in temperature and the consequent rise in sea level, the period was also marked by the birth of agriculture and the appearance of totally new technologies in diverse Near Eastern locations. The memory of these events would have been handed down through the myth of the foundation of Egypt, and through this, to Greek culture, enabling Plato to exaggerate the antiquity of his noble ancestors, while embellishing the characteristics of the invaders. Such occasional technological leaps may also have occurred elsewhere in the world, for instance on the deltas of the Indus or the Yangtze, driven by the same change in climate that affected the whole planet. Although today there is no archaeological evidence of such events besides in the Near East, the article suggests that the possible discovery of obsidian in a submerged site would be a strong indication of a local technological leap. To this end it examines, as a Mediterranean example, some flooded islands in the Strait of Sicily, which, lying on the route to Pantelleria, may retain traces of ancient obsidian exploitation.

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Rise of the Nile delta

Cited by 6 publications

References 4 publications

Dental indicators of health and stress in early Egyptian and Nubian agriculturalists: A difficult transition and gradual recovery

Dental indicators of health and stress in early Egyptian and Nubian agriculturalists: A difficult transition and gradual recovery

Body Size, Skeletal Biomechanics, Mobility and Habitual Activity from the Late Palaeolithic to the Mid‐Dynastic Nile Valley

Atlantis: A Grain of Truth Behind the Fiction?

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