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Nabta Playa was once a large basin in the Nubian Desert, located approximately 500 miles south of modern day Cairo [1] or about 100 kilometers west of Abu Simbel of southern Egypt [2], 22° 32' north, 30° 42' east [3]. Today the region is characterized by numerous archaeological sites [4]. Image File history File links Stop_hand. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1190x1270, 382 KB) Summary Public Domain Map, permission granted here, by the University of Texas at Austin. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1190x1270, 382 KB) Summary Public Domain Map, permission granted here, by the University of Texas at Austin. ... Basin has several meanings: Look up basin in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... The Nubian Desert, is in the eastern region of the Sahara Desert, it spans 407, 000 km2 of northeastern Sudan between the Nile and the Red Sea. ... Although technically in Giza, The Great Pyramids have become a symbol of Cairo internationally Cairo (Arabic: القاهرة; transliterated: al-Qāhirah) is the capital city of Egypt (and previously the United Arab Republic) and has a metropolitan area population of approximately 15. ... Model showing the relative positions of the Abu Simbel temples before and after relocation Categories: Ancient Egypt stubs | Wonders of the World ... Archaeology or sometimes in American English archeology (from the Greek words αρχαίος = ancient and λόγος = word/speech) is the study of human cultures through the recovery, documentation and analysis of material remains, including architecture, artefacts, biofacts, human remains, and landscapes. ...

Early History

Beginning around the 10th millennium BC, this region of the Nubian Desert began to receive more rainfall, filling a lake [5]. Early peoples may have been attracted to the region as a source of water for grazing cattle. (Pleistocene, Paleolithic – 10th millennium BC – 9th millennium BC – other millennia) Beginning of the Mesolithic, or Epipaleolithic time period, which is the first part of the Holocene epoch. ... The Nubian Desert, is in the eastern region of the Sahara Desert, it spans 407, 000 km2 of northeastern Sudan between the Nile and the Red Sea. ... Binomial name Bos taurus Linnaeus, 1758 Cattle (called cows in vernacular usage) are domesticated ungulates, a member of the subfamily Bovinae of the family Bovidae. ...

Archaeological findings indicate occupation in the region dating to somewhere between the 10th and 8th millennia BC [6]. These peoples were herding domesticated cattle and using ceramics [7] adorned by complicated painted patterns created perhaps by using combs [8]. Archaeology or sometimes in American English archeology (from the Greek words αρχαίος = ancient and λόγος = word/speech) is the study of human cultures through the recovery, documentation and analysis of material remains, including architecture, artefacts, biofacts, human remains, and landscapes. ... (Pleistocene, Paleolithic – 10th millennium BC – 9th millennium BC – other millennia) Beginning of the Mesolithic, or Epipaleolithic time period, which is the first part of the Holocene epoch. ... (9th millennium BC – 8th millennium BC – 7th millennium BC – other millennia) // Events The south area of Çatalhöyük. ... A man herding goats in Tunisia Herding is the act of bringing individual animals together into a group, maintaining the group and moving the group from place to place—or any combination of those. ... Domesticated animals, plants, and other organisms are those whose collective behavior, life cycle, or physiology has been altered as a result of their breeding and living conditions being under human control for multiple generations. ... Binomial name Bos taurus Linnaeus, 1758 Cattle (called cows in vernacular usage) are domesticated ungulates, a member of the subfamily Bovinae of the family Bovidae. ... The word ceramic is derived from the Greek word Κεραμεικος (the name of a suburb of Athens), and in its strictest sense refers to clay in all its forms. ... For information on the U.S. borough, see Paint, Pennsylvania. ... A modern plastic comb with a handle A comb is a device made of solid material, generally flat, always toothed, used in hair care for staightening and cleaning hair or other fibers. ...

By the 7th millennium BC, exceedingly large and organized settlements may be found in the region, relying also on deep wells for sources of water [9]. Huts are found constructed in straight rows [10]. Sustenance included fruit, legumes, millets, sorghum and tubers [11]. (8th millennium BC – 7th millennium BC – 6th millennium BC – other millennia) // Events Circa 7000 BC – Agriculture and settlement at Mehrgarh in South Asia. ... A reference to colonization, or the resulting communities. ... For the Scottish football team, see Motherwell F.C. The Whole Earth Lectronic Link (or The WELL) is one of the oldest virtual communities still online. ... A hut is a small and crude shelter used for dwelling. ... In the context of a relational database, a row represents a single, implicitly structured data item in a table. ... Fruit stall in Barcelona, Catalonia. ... Varieties of soybean seeds, a popular legume A flowering legume (Lupin) The term legume has two closely related meanings in botany, a situation encountered with many botanical common names of useful plants whereby an applied name can refer to either the plant itself, or to the edible fruit (or useful... Pearl millet in the field Ripe head of proso millet The millets are a group of small-seeded species of cereal crops, widely grown around the world for food and fodder. ... Species About 20 species, including: Sorghum almum Sorghum bicolor Sorghum caffrorum Sorghum caudatum Sorghum cernuum Sorghum halepense Sorghum nervosum Sorghum nigricans Sorghum nitidum Sorghum propinquum Sorghum roxburghii Hybrids Sorghum × almum Sorghum × drummondii Sorghum is a genus of about 20 species of grasses, native to tropical and subtropical regions of the... A tuber is a part of a rhizome thickened for use as a storage organ, usually, though not always, subterranean, such as a potato. ...

Also in the 7th millennium BC, but a little later than above, imported goats and sheep, apparently from Southwest Asia [12], appear. Many large hearths also appear [13]. (8th millennium BC – 7th millennium BC – 6th millennium BC – other millennia) // Events Circa 7000 BC – Agriculture and settlement at Mehrgarh in South Asia. ... Species See Species and subspecies A goat is a mammal in the genus Capra, which consists of nine species: the Ibex, the West Caucasian Tur, the East Caucasian Tur, the Markhor, and the Wild Goat. ... Species See text A Sheep is a mammal known as Keating, one of several woolly ruminant quadrupeds in the genus Ovis. ... Southwest Asia (PDF) Southwest Asia (often confused with the Middle East) is the southwestern portion of Asia. ... In common historic and modern usage, a hearth is a brick- or stone-lined fireplace or oven used for cooking and/or heating. ...

High level of organization

Archaeological discoveries reveal that these prehistoric peoples led livelihoods seemingly at a higher level of organization than their contemporaries who lived closer to the Nile Valley [14]: Archaeology or sometimes in American English archeology (from the Greek words αρχαίος = ancient and λόγος = word/speech) is the study of human cultures through the recovery, documentation and analysis of material remains, including architecture, artefacts, biofacts, human remains, and landscapes. ... The term prehistory (Greek words προ = before and ιστορία = history) is usually used to describe the period before written history became available. ... The Nile (Arabic: النيل an-nÄ«l), in Africa, is one of the two longest rivers on Earth. ...

• above-ground & below-ground stone construction,
• villages designed in pre-planned arrangements, and
• deep wells that held water year-round.

Findings also indicate that the region was occupied only seasonally, likely only in the summer when the local lake filled with water for grazing cattle (see [15], [16]). Analysis of human remains suggest migration from sub-Saharan Africa [17]. Stone can refer to any of the following: Stone may be used as a building material, as in this dry stone wall Look up stone in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Cranes are essential in large construction projects, such as this skyscraper Construction on the North Bytown Bridge in Ottawa, Canada. ... A village is a human settlement commonly found in rural areas. ... For the Scottish football team, see Motherwell F.C. The Whole Earth Lectronic Link (or The WELL) is one of the oldest virtual communities still online. ... Summer is a season, defined by convention in meteorology as the whole months of June, July, and August, in the Northern hemisphere, and the whole months of December, January, and February, in the Southern hemisphere. ... Binomial name Bos taurus Linnaeus, 1758 Cattle (called cows in vernacular usage) are domesticated ungulates, a member of the subfamily Bovinae of the family Bovidae. ... A satellite composite image of Africa showing the ecological break between North and Sub-Saharan regions Sub-Saharan Africa, Africa south of the Sahara, is the term used to describe those countries of Africa that are not part of North Africa or some areas of West Africa. ...

Religious ties to ancient Egypt

By the 6th millennium BC, evidence of a prehistoric religion or cult appears, with a number of sacrificed cattle buried in stone-roofed chambers lined with clay [18]. It has been suggested that the associated cattle cult indicated in Nabta Playa marks an early evolution of Ancient Egypt's Hathor cult. For example, Hathor was worshipped as a nighttime protector in desert regions (see Serabit el-Khadim). To directly quote professors Wendorf and Schild [19] (1998): (7th millennium BC – 6th millennium BC – 5th millennium BC – other millennia) // Events c. ... In religion and sociology, a cult is a cohesive group of people (often a relatively small and new religious movement) devoted to beliefs or practices that the surrounding culture or society considers to be far outside the mainstream. ... Sacrifice (from a Middle English verb meaning to make sacred, from Old French, from Latin sacrificium : sacer, sacred; sacred + facere, to make) is commonly known as the practice of offering food, or the lives of animals or people to the gods, as an act of propitiation or worship. ... Stone can refer to any of the following: Stone may be used as a building material, as in this dry stone wall Look up stone in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Quaternary clay in Estonia. ... Binomial name Bos taurus Linnaeus, 1758 Cattle (called cows in vernacular usage) are domesticated ungulates, a member of the subfamily Bovinae of the family Bovidae. ... In religion and sociology, a cult is a cohesive group of people (often a relatively small and new religious movement) devoted to beliefs or practices that the surrounding culture or society considers to be far outside the mainstream. ... ... Statue of Hathor (Luxor Museum) // The divine waterway In Egyptian mythology, Hathor (Egyptian for house of Horus) was originally a personification of the Milky Way, which was seen as the milk that flowed from the udders of a heavenly cow. ... In religion and sociology, a cult is a cohesive group of people (often a relatively small and new religious movement) devoted to beliefs or practices that the surrounding culture or society considers to be far outside the mainstream. ... Serabit el-Khadim (Arabic, also transliterated Serabit al-Khadim, Serabit el-Khadem) is a locality in the south-west Sinai Peninsula where turquoise was mined extensively in antiquity, mainly by the ancient Egyptians. ...

... there are many aspects of political and ceremonial life in the Predynastic and Old Kingdom that reflects a strong impact from Saharan cattle pastoralists... which suggests that the Old Kingdom belief system was imposed from the outside, perhaps ... a conquest by pastoralists (Coon 1958:295-323; Khazanov 1994).

Nevertheless, though the religious practices of the region involving cattle suggest ties to Ancient Egypt [20], Egyptologist Mark Lehner [21] cautions: The Predynastic Period of Egypt (prior to 3100 BC) is the period that culminates in the rise of the Old Kingdom and the first of the thirty dynasties based on royal residences, by which Egyptologists divide the history of pharaonic civilization using a schedule laid out first by Manethos... The Old Kingdom is the name commonly given to that period in the 3rd millennium BC when Egypt attained its first continuous peak of civilization complexity and achievement - this was the first of three so-called Kingdom periods which mark the high points of civilisation in the Nile Valley (the... Satellite image The Sahara is the worlds largest hot desert, over 9,000,000 km² (3,500,000 mi²), located in northern Africa and is 2. ... Pastoralism is a form of cultivation, such as Agriculture and Horticulture. ... This article is being considered for deletion in accordance with Wikipedias deletion policy. ... ... Dr. Mark Lehner is an American archaeologist with over thirty years experience excavating in Egypt. ...

It makes sense, but not in a facile, direct way. You can't go straight from these megaliths to the pyramid of Djoser.

Circular megalith at Nabta

Other subterranean complexes are also found in Nabta Playa, one of which included evidence of perhaps an early Egyptian attempt at sculpture [22]. Netjerikhet Djoser (Turin King List Dsr-it; Manetho Tosarthros) is the best-known pharaoh of the Third dynasty of Egypt, for commissioning his vizier Imhotep to build his Step Pyramid at Saqqara. ... Image File history File links Nabta. ... Image File history File links Nabta. ... Megalithic tomb, Mane Braz, Brittany A megalith is a large stone which has been used to construct a structure or monument either alone or with other stones. ... A sculpture is a three-dimensional, man-made object selected for special recognition as art. ...

World's earliest known archeoastronomy

By the 5th millennium BC these peoples had fashioned the world's earliest known archeoastronomical device, about 1000 years older than but comparable to Stonehenge [23] (see sketch at right). Research suggests that it may have been a prehistoric calendar which accurately marks the summer solstice [24]. (6th millennium BC – 5th millennium BC – 4th millennium BC – other millennia) Events 4860 BC - Mount Mazama in Oregon collapses, forming a caldera that later fills with water and becomes Crater Lake, the deepest lake in the United States. ... Archaeoastronomy (also spelled Archeoastronomy) is, as the name implies, the combination of astronomical and archaeological studies. ... Stonehenge Stonehenge is a Neolithic and Bronze Age monument located near Amesbury in the English county of Wiltshire, about 8 miles (13 km) northwest of Salisbury. ... A calendar is a system for naming periods of time, typically days. ... Summer is a season, defined by convention in meteorology as the whole months of June, July, and August, in the Northern hemisphere, and the whole months of December, January, and February, in the Southern hemisphere. ... Diagram of the Earths seasons Solstice is an astronomical term regarding the position of the Sun in relation to the earths equator. ...

References

• Archaeological Institute of America
• Comparative Archaeology Web
• NASA
• Scientific American
• University of Colorado at Boulder:
  • 1998 article
  • 1999 article
  • 2000 article
• University of Texas