Egypt before the pharaohs: the prehistoric foundations of Egyptian civilization

Hoffman, Michael A.

Book

Egypt before the pharaohs: the prehistoric foundations of Egyptian civilization

Knopf • New York • Published In 1979 • Pages:

By: Hoffman, Michael A..

Abstract
Hoffman has written a comprehensive account of Egypt's prehistory, from the Lower Paleolithic down to the first Dynasty, for the general reader. Hoffman stresses the importance of the early researchers in Egyptian prehistory, stating, '… Egyptian prehistory is a collection of individual researchers … Thus, in our account … individual excavators, their foibles, finds, and interpretations will be as important as the material which they have unearthed.' (page xvi). He includes discussions of the impact of climate changes on prehistory. During the last great drought in the Sahara, from 40,000 years ago to 7,000 years ago, people would have had to immigrate to the Nile Valley. Hoffman and others have hypothesized that cattle might have been domesticated independently in Africa and these people might have brought their domesticated animals with them. Then, from 7,000 to 3,100 years ago, Egypt was wetter and people could live near the wadis away from the Nile river and into the Sahara. Hoffman discusses contact between the people living near the Nile and those living in the Western Desert and the Red Sea Hills and also between Egypt and Nubia. Only the data that pertain to the Upper Egypt Predynastic period were indexed for OCM (Outline of Cultural Materials) subjects.

Identification

Reviews and critiques

Theoretical orientation in research and its results

Acculturation and culture contact

Burial practices and funerals

Chronologies and culture sequences

Upper Egypt Predynastic

HRAF PubDate