posted
As an African American who has been 'anointed' by my Amhara friends as an "honorary Amhara," I'll start with this group as part of the African ethnic groups that formed a part in the formation of the Pan-African Civilization of Kemet...
Pwon.t = "The Original Land" (Punt)
According to the Ancient Egyptians, a second Egyptian ruling ethnic/class's ancestral homeland was Punt (Somalia). They referred to this land as "Ta Nteru" ('Land of the Ancestors'). To emphasize their Puntite origins, the Egyptians portrayed the Puntites in the exact same manner in which they portrayed themselves.
A man of Punt This new ruling ethnic/class called themselves "Mesnitu" ('Metalworkers/blacksmiths'), and was also referred to as "Shemsu Hor" ('Followers of Horus').
These Mesnitu had overthrown the original ruling ethnic/class, the Anu (those belonging to Osiris's ethnic group; and yes, Osiris was a real life personage), who had previously established its domination over all of Egypt through military conquest and political unification. Their place of origin was "Ta Seti" ('Land of the Bow') in the Sudan. Gradually tradition would identify both Somalia and the Sudan as "Ta Khent" ('Land of the Beginning' or 'Ancestral land').
But, what separates Somalia and Egypt geographically, is Ethiopia, which consisted of the great civilization of Axum, the colonization of southern Arabia, the origin of the Semitic language; these were the Amhara - Tigrinya peoples, who like their compatriots from Somalia and Sudan joined the cluster of Africans migrating into the Nile river valley...
...still to come in "The Peopling of Ancient Egypt": The Anu, Somali, Saharans, Akans, Bamileke...Posts: 3344 | From: Berkeley | Registered: Oct 2003
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Nice post Wally,when did the Shemshu Hor attained dominance at least in Kemet proper? because we have the people at Ta-Seti which you and Diop identified with the Anu who was the power at the time who named their cities aftrer themselves such as
As to the Southern Egyptians, we have the most essential document, a portrait of a chief, Tera-neter, roughly modeled in relief in green glazed faience, found in the early temple at Abydos. Preceding his name, his address is given on this earliest of visiting cards, "Palace of the Aunu in Hermen city, Tera-neter." Hemen was the name of the god of Tuphium (Lanz., Dict, 544), 13 miles south of Luqsor. Erment, opposite to it, was the place of Aunu of the south, Aunu Menti. The next place in the south is Aunti (Gebeleyn), and beyond that Aunyt-seni (Esneh) http://wysinger.homestead.com/qustul.html If the people of the incense burner was the followers of Horus who was also the people of Ta-Seti how can we square that with them being the Anu? did the Shemshu Hor gained political dominance over the Anu long before then?
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The most significant fact of the founding of Pharaonic Civilization by the Anu people is rarely, if ever, mentioned in texts on Ancient Egypt. Not to mention the Anu is actually worse than, say, writing a history of the United States of America and not mentioning the Pilgrims (aka "Founders"/"Forefathers"). One has to look at earlier texts for this vital information:
The French Egyptologist Abbe Émile Amélineau is credited with the discovery of the Anu and their contribution to Egyptian civilization. It was Amélineau who designated the first black race to occupy Egypt as the Anu. He showed how they came slowly down the Nile and founded the cities of Esneh, Erment, Qouch and Heliopolis...
From Amélineau:
quote: These Anu were agricultural people, raising cattle on a large scale along the Nile, shutting themselves up in walled cities for defensive purposes. To this people we can attribute, without fear of error, the most ancient Egyptian books, The Book of the Dead and the Texts of the Pyramids, consequently, all the myths or religious teachings. I would add almost all the philosophical systems then known and still called Egyptian. They evidently knew the crafts necessary for any civilization and were familiar with the tools those trades required. They knew how to use metals, at least elementary metals. They made the earliest attempts at writing, for the whole Egyptian tradition attributes this art to Thoth, the great Hermes an Anu like Osiris, who is called Onian in Chapter XV of The Book of the Dead and in the Texts of the Pyramids. Certainly the people already knew the principal arts; it left proof of this in the architecture of the tombs at Abydos, especially the tomb of Osiris and in those sepulchers objects have been found bearing unmistakable stamp of their origin, such as carved ivory, or a little head of a Nubian girl found in a tomb near that of Osiris, or the small wooden or ivory receptacles in the form of a feline head--all documents published in the first volumn of my Fouilles d'Abydos.
From the Kememu:
Anu the city of Heliopolis (Coptic; On)
Anu Meh Anu of the north (Heliopolis)
Anu Shemo Anu of the south (Hermonthis/Ermant)
Anu Monti Anu of Hermonthis
Anu Tem the Anu of Tem (Hermonthis)
Anu Re the Anu of Re
Afdu Ikhu the Four Ancestors (of the Anu)
Ugrit Goddess of the Duat of Anu
Djandjané Anu the Anu Court of Judges: Tem; Shu; Tefnut; Osiris; Thoth
Anu n Ptoh the Anu of Ptah (Denderah)
Anu n Nut the Anu of Nut (Denderah)
Anuak ladies of Sudan and Ethiopia: descendants of the Anu people? - I would tend to answer in the affirmative. ...
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quote:Originally posted by Wally: [QB] As an African American who has been 'anointed' by my Amhara friends as an "honorary Amhara," I'll start with this group as part of the African ethnic groups that formed a part in the formation of the Pan-African Civilization of Kemet...
Pwon.t = "The Original Land" (Punt)
According to the Ancient Egyptians, a second Egyptian ruling ethnic/class's ancestral homeland was Punt (Somalia).
why do you say it was Somalia without proof?
Posts: 42940 | From: , | Registered: Jan 2010
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quote:Originally posted by the lioness: why do you say it (Punt) was Somalia without proof?
The problem we encounter here, and it is a sad one indeed, is that the approach is that of looking at Kemet as some quaint and ancient society bereft of any sophistication THAT WE MODERNS POSSESS! Which is total horsesh|t!
Ancient Egypt was NOT, for example, modern colonialized Senegal where the Muslims try to claim some ancestry from the prophet Muhammad (a fault which C.A. Diop was clear in pointing out.). Ancient Egypt was the first, and arguably the greatest CIVILIZATION ever created by humans (don't think so, then name another one!). These Blacks invented geometry, the other sciences, even cartoons and you have people here on this forum, in their splendid camouflage of MODERNITY who have the audacity of saying that they - the Ancient Egyptians - did not have the sense (even though they wrote it down in almost permanent stone) to know where their civilization originated. It's patently absurd B.S.!
1) Punt, for the hard of hearing, is NOT a state, or a nation, it's a godd..m place! (Somalia; Ethiopia; Sudan; Congo; etc., etc.) It's the motherland, Africa, the interior. That's why no one has been able to localize the location of what is generally a f..king continent! I trust that you have heard me now, shouting...
2) For the completely brain dead; the title of all the pharaohs of Kemet was Nsu/Nsuten/Suten; a word which is about as explicit as you can be in describing Rmnku royalty and its origins - "The ones from the land of the Sedge; Sudan; Africa"
If you can't read it then don't try and discuss it! Please, learn to read and/or UNDERSTAND the Mdu Ntr...Please...
The Rmnku were very capable and reliable in speaking for themselves; which makes these spurious comments from our modern and very ignorant observers here seem extremely childish.
The Anu People
The most significant fact of the founding of Pharaonic Civilization by the Anu people is rarely, if ever, mentioned in texts on Ancient Egypt. Not to mention the Anu is actually worse than, say, writing a history of the United States of America and not mentioning the Pilgrims (aka "Founders"/"Forefathers"). One has to look at earlier texts for this vital information:
The French Egyptologist Abbe Émile Amélineau is credited with the discovery of the Anu and their contribution to Egyptian civilization. It was Amélineau who designated the first black race to occupy Egypt as the Anu. He showed how they came slowly down the Nile and founded the cities of Esneh, Erment, Qouch and Heliopolis...
From Amélineau:
quote: These Anu were agricultural people, raising cattle on a large scale along the Nile, shutting themselves up in walled cities for defensive purposes. To this people we can attribute, without fear of error, the most ancient Egyptian books, The Book of the Dead and the Texts of the Pyramids, consequently, all the myths or religious teachings. I would add almost all the philosophical systems then known and still called Egyptian. They evidently knew the crafts necessary for any civilization and were familiar with the tools those trades required. They knew how to use metals, at least elementary metals. They made the earliest attempts at writing, for the whole Egyptian tradition attributes this art to Thoth, the great Hermes an Anu like Osiris, who is called Onian in Chapter XV of The Book of the Dead and in the Texts of the Pyramids. Certainly the people already knew the principal arts; it left proof of this in the architecture of the tombs at Abydos, especially the tomb of Osiris and in those sepulchers objects have been found bearing unmistakable stamp of their origin, such as carved ivory, or a little head of a Nubian girl found in a tomb near that of Osiris, or the small wooden or ivory receptacles in the form of a feline head--all documents published in the first volumn of my Fouilles d'Abydos.
From the Kememu:
Anu the city of Heliopolis (Coptic; On)
Anu Meh Anu of the north (Heliopolis)
Anu Shemo Anu of the south (Hermonthis/Ermant)
Anu Monti Anu of Hermonthis
Anu Tem the Anu of Tem (Hermonthis)
Anu Re the Anu of Re
Afdu Ikhu the Four Ancestors (of the Anu)
Ugrit Goddess of the Duat of Anu
Djandjané Anu the Anu Court of Judges: Tem; Shu; Tefnut; Osiris; Thoth
Anu n Ptoh the Anu of Ptah (Denderah)
Anu n Nut the Anu of Nut (Denderah)
Anuak ladies of Sudan and Ethiopia: descendants of the Anu people? - I would tend to answer in the affirmative. ...
Punt, for the hard of hearing, is NOT a state, or a nation, it's a godd..m place! (Somalia; Ethiopia; Sudan; Congo; etc., etc.) It's the motherland, Africa, the interior. That's why no one has been able to localize the location
Abbe Émile Amélineau (1850-1916) was one of the most incompetent Egyptologists. His theories about the Anu are not endorsed by current professional Egyptologists.
Wally, you are stuck in the 70s and earlier
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quote- The Nubians created the world's first civilization and that civilization was much older than Egypt.The History of Nubian civilization extends back to about 17,000 years and that history included a strong connection with a great civilization that existed in the Sahara In fact, in 2000, archeologists discovered many facinating artefacts, including glasswork of great beauty and excellent craftsmanship. These were found in Sudan and according to Time Magazine, some artefacts were dated to about 8000 years B.C. Astronomy was also well organized in Nubia during the period and an astronomical observatory dating back to about 7000 B.C. was found in Sudan as well. It is also in Sudan that a large number of ancient cities exist.
Excavations in Sudan are revealing that this area, formerly called Nubia, could have been the cradle of African civilization.{ Scott macleod in New York Times Magazine } Teams of archeologists from the US, Europe and Sudan are finding antiquities that show a sophisticated and original culture that could have influenced Egypt.
Another problem, scholars now firmly believe, was racial prejudice, which turned many in the field away from cultures emanating from deeper in Africa. Prominent Egyptologists --including the noted American George Reisner, who worked in Sudan--thought they were excavating the remains of an offshoot of Egyptian culture. "They didn't believe black Africa was capable of producing high civilization," says Kendall.
The latest crop of discoveries is helping put such ideas to rest. French archaeologists, for example, have found exquisite ceramic figurines, bowls and funerary objects at sites that date from at least 8000 b.c. They are as old as any Neolithic sites in Africa and predate prehistoric finds in Egypt by a staggering 3,000 years. This strongly suggests to Hassan Hussein Idris, director of Sudan's National Board for Antiquities and Museums, that ancient Nubia might have been an important source of Egypt's civilization, as well as the other way around.
Not all archaeologists are prepared to go that far. But there is now enough evidence for a scientific consensus that ancient Nubia, beginning in the Stone Age, developed its own distinct civilization--or rather, a series of overlapping civilizations--influenced by Africa, Arabia and the Sahara as well as by Egypt. Moreover, many scholars believe these Nubian kingdoms hold even more clues to the origins of African culture than does Egypt, which, because of its unique position abutting Asia and the Mediterranean, is regarded by many archaeologists as having developed independently from the rest of the continent.
The new perspective owes much to the work of Swiss archaeologist Charles Bonnet, who has spent the past 24 years excavating Kerma, the seat of Africa's greatest empire (outside Egypt) between 2500 B.C. and 1500 B.C. Bonnet acknowledges that he went to Sudan initially to find Egyptian civilization. "But step by step," he confesses, "I came to understand that the Nubian civilizations are really extraordinary. There might be Egyptian influences, but there is a Nubian originality and a Nubian identity."
Evidence of the oldest recognizable monarchy in human history, preceding the rise of the earliest Egyptian kings by several generations, has been discovered in artifacts from ancient Nubia in Africa { Boyce Renseberger in New York Times Magazine }
Nubian civilization is one of the oldest in the world. Presently it is being extensively researched
Lying as it does in the western section of the east African valley often considered to be the cradle of civilization, the country of Nubia played a key part in human evolution. The earliest traces of human life go back to three hundred thousand years ago. The first people were hunters and fishers, who also gathered berries and fruit. In around 6000 B.C. there was a change in climate and the region became increasingly dryer. The population trekked out of the Sahara region towards the Nile valley where they made permanent or semi-permanent settlements. Animals were domesticated for the first time and hunting grew less important. Goats, sheep and cattle are descended from the wild creatures that used to populate the regions lying close to the Nile valley. People also started farming.
Soon came the development of pottery. The ceramics from this period, the oldest surviving in the world, are stunningly beautiful and refined. Ceramic objects were produced not only for domestic use but also for religions ceremonies.
Visit my other site >> An Architect from Nubia
abubaker sidahmed quote- An overlooked African Civilization:
The splendid Africa with it's wealth of culture, knowledge and resources has played the GREATEST role in the built,formation,culture and life of the most today's civilizations and societies worldwide. If depriving African from their sources, resources and culture has been practiced for centuries, it is high time to stop it.. There was more than one Great African Civilization, the Nubian is the Greatest African Civilization. It has been recently recognized as a rival to the other Great African Civilization of Egypt. Both are African ,one got more publicity (Egyptian) and the second (Nubian ) has been overlooked in favor of the other . Egyptians are not to be blamed for this. They had a great Old Civilization and with their enormous media sources (compared to others) they promoted their own Old Egyptian civilization despite that part of lower Nubia lies in Today's Egypt and some few thousands of Nubian live in Egypt.. Nubian Civilization had been always a rival and a 'bugging' neighbor to the Old Egyptian. So there is no logic to expect Egyptians to promote such a civilization. Add to this that some parties wanted to classify Egypt ethnically as a non-African (non-black) as they didn't like the idea of Black Africa being a first run in all world civilization. It is the role of Sudan which had been the Homeland of the Nubian Civilization to tackle the responsibility of promoting Nubian Civilization. Africans have to contribute positively in promoting one of their greatest civilizations which had been overlooked for centuries. This will help all Africans to prove to the world that they had several great civilizations which had contributed positively to the human culture as a whole.
Nubians are Africans but All Africans are not Nubian: Nubian are not Cyper-isolated! The way Nubia had dominated the world civilization for centuries as 'The Greatest African Civilization' has encouraged several 'netters' -who admires this Splendid African Culture, as well as these who are proud being African or from African origin (African Disapora)- to establish an Internet presence with 'Nubia' or'Nubian' associated with the names of their Web Sites and homepages...That's Great! and seems to be a kind of recognition to a civilization unjustifiably overlooked for centuries. However most of the authors and webmasters of these sites and pages do not seem to know enough about Nubia or Nubian. All African are not Nubian , but African are Nubian, Egyptian, Exumites,Arabs and several other cultures and ethnical groups coexisting in a very genuine harmony. Nubian is one of these cultures. There are few hundred thousands of Nubian still in the world (in Sudan and Egypt) and they have their own heritage ,music,dances and language . These Nubians are easily recognizable where they live now (Sudan or Egypt).
However the emphasis on one single African Civilization for centuries was not in favor of Africans and the whole world, since there are other great African civilizations who played a noticeable role in human culture. The huge African Continent is a multi-racial land, there are several races with great tribal heritage and culture. Now what we see on the Internet from several webmasters and Homepage authors who try to relate everything African or Black to Nubian only , is another sort of emphasis on a single civilization and overlooking other African civilizations in favor of Nubian..This way we shall be committing the same mistake others did when they overlooked Nubian in favor of Egyptian.. Let scientific approach be our way to promote Nubian and all other African Civilizations and Culture.
The main goal of my Home Page is to provide hyperlinks and pointers to all informative Web and other Resources on Nubia, as well as to shed light on some aspects which are not covered by these links
Promoting this overlooked Nubian Civilization is required based on facts and archaeological findings and not just emotions and excitement. True and reliable information on Nubia and Nubian is what this homepage is looking after..... Be with us!!! Nubian...Afro-Arabs...African ...African-American ... African Disapora...!
________________________________________ nubia-
Nabta Playa: African Archaeology (9560 BC)
Although some believe the high culture of subsequent Egyptian dynasties was borrowed from Mesopotamia and Syria, University of Colorado at Boulder astronomy Professor J. McKim Malville and others believe the complex and symbolic Nabta culture may have stimulated the growth of the society that eventually constructed the first pyramids along the Nile about 4500 years ago.
Nabta Playa African Archaeology Nabta Playa is an internally drained basin that served as an important ceremonial center for nomadic tribes during the early part of 9560 BC. Located 62 miles west of Abu Simbel some 60 miles west of the Nile near the Egyptian-Sudanese border. Nabta contains a number of standing and toppled megaliths. They include flat, tomb-like stone structures and a small stone circle that predates Stonehenge (2600 B.C.), and other similar prehistoric sites by 1000's of years.
Although some believe the high culture of subsequent Egyptian dynasties was borrowed from Mesopotamia and Syria, University of Colorado at Boulder astronomy Professor J. McKim Malville and others believe the complex and symbolic Nabta culture may have stimulated the growth of the society that eventually constructed the first pyramids along the Nile about 4500 years ago. Neolithic herders that began coming to Nabta about 10,000 years ago -- probably from central Africa -- used cattle in their rituals just as the African Massai do today, he said. Analysis of human remains suggest migration from sub-Saharan Africa (1).
The Nabta culture may have been a trigger for the development of social complexity in Egypt that later led to the Pharaonic dynasty he said.
"The symbolic richness and spatial awareness seen in the Nabta complex of the Late Neolithic age may have developed from adaptation by nomadic peoples to the stress of survival in the desert. The ceremonial complex could not be more recent than the onset of hyperaridity in the region around 4800 years ago, suggesting that the astronomy and ceremonialism of Nabta occurred before most of the megalithic features of Europe, Great Britain, and Brittany were established. Within some 500 years after the exodus from Nabta, the step pyramid at Saqqara was constructed, indicating that there was a pre-existing cultural base, which may have originated in the desert of Upper Egypt. An exodus from the Nubian desert at 5000 years ago could have precipitated the development of social differentiation in predynastic cultures through the arrival in the Nile valley of nomadic groups who were better organized and possessed a more complex cosmology."
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The history of African cities south of the Sahara: from the ... - Page 335 Catherine Coquery-Vidrovitch - 2005 - 421 pages - Preview RW Hull, African Cities and Towns before the European Conquest. 3. DM Anderson and R. Rathbone, cAs., Africa's Urban Past (Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, 2000). A similar publication is forthcoming: Toyin Falola and Steven J. Salm, eds., ...
The site was first discovered in 1974 by a group of scientists headed by Fred Wendorf, an Anthropology Professor from Southern Methodist University in Texas. The team had stopped for a break from their uncomfortable drive from the Libyan border to the Nile Valley when, as Wendorf stated, "we were standing there minding our own business, when we noticed potsherds and other artifacts." Throughout the 1970's and 1980's, Wendorf returned to Nabta several times. He determined that humans had occupied the Nabta area off and on for thousands of years, dating from as early as 11,000 years ago up until about 4800 years ago. Although the area was occupied for more then 5000 years, the majority of the stone structures and other artifacts originated between 7000 and 6500 years ago. It was considered by most to be the height of human occupation at Nabta.
Nabta became a habitable area because of a climatic change that occurred over North Africa around 12,000 years ago. This climatic change was caused by a northward shift of the summer monsoons. This shift brought enough rain to the Nabta region to enable it to sustain life for both humans and animals. Although it was a small amount of rain, usually around four to eight inches (10-15 cm) per year, it was enough to fill the playas with water for months at a time. Between 11,000 and 9300 years ago, Nabta saw its first settlements. The people living at Nabta herded cattle, made ceramic vessels, and set up seasonal camps around the playa. These people regarded cattle in much the same way as modern peoples of West Africa regard them. The blood and milk of the cattle was more significant than the meat. The ceramics that were found from this period are minimal, but are considered to be some of the oldest identified in Africa.
Once fall came and the playa dried up, these people had to migrate to areas where more water was available, possibly to the Nile in the east or perhaps to areas further south. Larger settlements began to pop up shortly after 9000 years ago. These people were able to dig wells that supplied them with enough water to live at Nabta year round. They survived on a number of wild plants and small animals like hares and gazelles. By around 8100 years ago there is evidence for the domestication of larger animals including goats and sheep. This is also a time when the people of Nabta started to produce pottery locally.
Settlements became larger and more sophisticated. One settlement from this period contains 18 houses arranged in two, possibly three straight lines. It also contains numerous fire hearths and these amazing walk-in wells. This settlement also shows the establishment of an organized labor force. This settlement and all the other settlements at Nabta were abandoned for a couple of long stretches between 8000 and 7000 years ago when two major droughts occurred. These droughts caused the water table to be lowered to around the same level as it is today, causing Nabta to be hyper-arid and virtually lifeless for long periods of time.
The groups of people that returned to Nabta after the droughts exhibited substantial advancement toward a more complex society that expressed a greater degree of organization and control. This control and organization was probably centered around some ritual or religious belief system. This is the time period when most of the major structures were constructed at Nabta. They constructed five megalithic alignments that radiated from a cluster of stones that has been named E-96-1 Structure A. These megaliths were constructed out of quartzite sandstone that came from exposed sandstone that was at least a half -kilometer away. The stones were erected and embedded into the playa. With the help of GPS satellite technology, recent surveys by Wendorf and University of Colorado at Boulder's Astronomy Professor J. McKim Malville have allowed them to map out the exact location of these stone alignments. These studies confirm that one of the alignments of the megaliths form an east-west line and another alignment forms a north-south line.
Although more research needs to be done, many scientists, including Malville, believe that the alignments had an astronomical significance. Three hundred meters north of these alignments is the stone calendar circle. Compared to Stonehenge, this circle is very small, measuring roughly 4 m in diameter. The calendar consists of a number of stones, the main ones being four pairs of larger ones. Each of these four pairs were set close together to form what Wendorf calls "gates." Two of these pairs align to form a line very close to a true north-south line, and the other two pairs or gates align to form an east-west line. The east-west alignment is calculated to be where the sun would have risen and set from the summer solstice 6500 years ago.
Fire hearths from around the circle date to around 6800 years ago. Another 300 meters north of the calendar circle is a stone covered tumuli that contained the remains of cattle. One of the tumuli contained a cow that was fully articulated. This particular tumulus was dug into the ground surrounded by a clay frame. It had a roof made from the limbs of tamarisk. It was then covered with broken rocks that formed a mound eight meters in diameter and one meter high. Wood from the roof of the chamber has been dated to around 6500 years ago. Other tumuli that were found in the area were more basic and consisted of unshaped stones that contained disarticulated cattle bones. They had no subsurface structure and were basically piles of bones covered with stones. These tumuli were dated to about 5500 years ago.
Another major feature at Nabta is a group of thirty "complex structures." These structures are located about a kilometer south of the cattle tumuli measuring 500 meters in length and 200 meters in width. The framework was constructed by using roughly shaped or unshaped stones that were set upright to form a structure that was oval in shape measuring 5 meters by 4 meters. Aside from a few minor details, all of the structures were basically the same. They all face slightly west of north and they all have one or two large stone slabs that lay horizontally in the center of the structure. What makes them unique is that they have been built over large mushroom-shaped tablerocks. The tablerocks were shaped by years and years of erosion and then covered by two to three and a half meters of playa clays and silts.
It is unclear as to how the Nabtians were able to locate these tablerocks. One theory is that they were located by accident when they were digging wells, but nobody knows for sure. The largest excavated structure reveals that a large pit was dug before the erection of the walls. The pit was about 6 m in diameter and 4 m deep. It was dug down to the tablerock. They shaped the rock to have three convex sides and one side that was worked to form a straight edge that face north. In the pit they placed another large shaped stone or sculpture that resembled a cow or some other large animal. The sculpture was placed upright with its axis facing north, the same way as the tablerock below it. The pit was backfilled with playa clay one meter thick in order to support the sculpture. Two smaller stones were also placed in the pit to help secure the sculpture even more. Once the sculpture was in place and the pit was completely backfilled, the surface stones were then erected and placed into position. Testing done on charcoal from around the structures indicates a date to 5500-5000 years ago. The actual function of the complex remains a mystery.
About 4800 years ago there was another climatic change. The African monsoons shifted south to approximately the same area that they were prior to 12,000 years ago. The land became hyper-arid again and caused human habitation at Nabta to cease. The cattle worshipping people of Nabta had to migrate to a more livable area. But to where did these people migrate? Some people believe that the people of Nabta eventually made their way to the Nile Valley. Perhaps they were the people responsible for the rise of the Egyptian Empire. This theory is based on the prominence of cattle in the religious belief system of Pre-dynastic Egypt continuing into the Old Kingdom.
In ancient Egypt, cattle were deified and regarded as the earthly representative of the gods. Egyptian Pharaohs were said to represent two gods. Horus represented Upper Egypt and Seth represented Lower Egypt. Horus was the son of Hathor who was depicted as either a cow or a strong bull. Another Egyptian god that is represented by a bull is the god of rain, a very important entity to the people of Nabta, considering that life or death could have been determined by the amount of rain they received. Another point of interest is that pre-Egyptian societies did not place the same importance on cattle in either a social or religious capacity, indicating that outside influence must have played a part in the Old Kingdom belief system. This may have happened because the pastoralists from Nabta came to the Nile to conquer and take over the land from their farming neighbors. Perhaps they simply joined together with the farmers and their beliefs were blended with those of the farmers. No matter how you look at it, given the closeness of Nabta to the Nile, there had to have been interaction between them and ideas had to be exchanged to some degree.
Whether or not the people of Nabta had anything to do with the Egyptian civilization, it is still a site of great importance. It dates to a time when climatic and social changes were occurring. Complex societies or civilizations were starting to emerge not only in Africa, but throughout the world. Nabta helps to provide us with a better understanding of what life was like during this time in history.
Map courtesy of Mary Settegast, Plato Prehistorian: 10,000 to 5000 B.C. Myth, Religion, Archaeology, (2000)
Nabta Playa from Wikipedia Encyclopedia
That's it from here. bye folks.
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