Everything about Naqada totally explained
» This article is about the Egyptian village. See also Naqahdah for the fictional element from the Stargate setting.
Naqada is a town on the west bank of the
Nile in the
Egyptian governorate of
Qena. It was known in
Ancient Egypt as
Nubt and in
classical antiquity as
Ombos. Its name derives from ancient
Egyptian nub, meaning
gold, on account of the proximity of gold mines in the
Eastern Desert.
Naqada comprises some villages such as
Tukh, Khatara, Danfiq and Zawayda. It stands near the site of a
necropolis from the prehistoric,
pre-dynastic period around
4400-
3000 BCE. Naqada has given its name to the widespread
Naqada culture that existed at the time, here, and at other sites including
el Badari,
Gerzeh,
Nekhen (
Hierakonopolis), and
Qau. The large quantity of remains from Naqada have enabled the dating of the entire culture, throughout
Egypt and environs. The modern town is located at:, while the ancient site is located at: .
Naqada dating scheme
Flinders Petrie
The Naqada period was first divided by the British Egyptologist
William Flinders Petrie, who explored the site in
1894, into three sub-periods:
Werner Kaiser
Petrie's chronology was superseded by that of
Werner Kaiser in
1957. Kaiser's chronology began c. 4000 BC, but the modern version begins slightly earlier, as follows:
Naqada I a-b-c (about 4400–3500 BCE)
- black-topped and painted pottery
Naqada II a-b-c (about 3500–3200 BCE)
- this culture represented throughout Egypt
- first marl pottery, and metalworking
Naqada III a-b-c (about 3200–3000 BCE)
Monuments & excavations
About three kilometers northwest of Naqada, on the edge of the Western Desert is an early dynastic tomb found in 1897. It contained ivory tablets, vase fragments and clay sealings bearing the name of Pharaoh Hor-Aha and his wife, Neithotep (also spelled Nithotep). The tomb probably belonged to a local administrator of the First dynasty. Nearby cemeteries also produced a number of stelae of the end of the Old Kingdom and the First Intermediate Period. The necropolis belonged to the town of Qus, on the east bank of the Nile.
The size of the cemetries and settlements found in the area shows that Naqada, along with modern Tukh, must have been a very important town in the later Predynastic Period. The town's rise to prominence could have been caused by its proximity to the gold mines in the Eastern Desert.
The local god of Naqada was Seth. A New Kingdom temple dedicated to him was located, to which various kings of the 18th Dynasty (Thutmose I, Thutmose III, Amenhotep II), as well as several Ramessids contributed.
A small pyramid, known as the step pyramid of Ombos, is built of undressed stone, and dates to the end of the Third dynasty.
Further Information
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