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Encyclopedia of the Archeology of Ancient Egypt Kathryn A. Bard (Editor)
p 83-84
A-Group culture
The A-Group is a distinctive culture of Lower Nubia contemporary with the Predynastic (Nagada) culture of Upper Egypt. This culture was first identified by George Reisner, who studied the artifacts collected during the First Archaeological Survey of Nubia (1907–8). Reisner’s classification was later revised by Trigger, Adams and Nordström, based on archaeological evidence from the UNESCO salvage campaign in Nubia (1959– 65). A-Group sites have been recorded throughout Lower Nubia (between the First and Second Cataracts). A few sites are known in the Batn el-Hajar region, and near Seddenga in the Abri-Delgo reach (south of the Second Cataract). Recently an A-Group site was discovered at Kerma, near the Third Cataract. A-Group sites include both settlements and cemeteries. Diagnostic elements of this culture are pottery and graves. The pottery includes several different types of vessels. Black-topped pots, with a polished red slip exterior and a black interior and rim, are common. These pots, though similar to those of the Nagada culture in Upper Egypt, were locally manufactured. Pots with a painted geometric decoration, sometimes imitating basketwork, are particularly distinctive of this culture. A-Group graves include mainly simple oval pits, and oval pits with a chamber on one side. There is no clear evidence of grave superstructures. At a single site, Tunqala West, tumuli with an offering place of stone and an uninscribed grave stela were recorded. In A-Group burials, the bodies were laid in a contracted position on the right side, usually with the head to the west. Grave goods were arranged around the body. Seated female figurines are a distinctive type of grave goods found in some A-Group burials. Luxury imported goods, such as beads of Egyptian manufacture, have also been excavated. Poorer graves, with a few simple grave goods or no grave goods, occur as well. These were initially classified by Reisner as another culture which he called the BGroup. At present, “B-Group” graves are considered to be evidence of lower status individuals in the A-Group.
Excavations of A-Group settlements suggest seasonal or temporary camps, sometimes reoccupied for a long time. A few sites have evidence of architecture, such as houses constructed of stone with up to six rooms. Three large (Terminal) A-Group centers were located at Dakka, Qustul and Seyala, where some elaborate burials have been recorded, but the archaeological evidence does not demonstrate the emergence of an early state. Agriculture was practiced by the A-Group, who cultivated wheat, barley and lentils. Animal husbandry was certainly an important component of their subsistence economy, but evidence for it is scarce. The chronology of the A-Group is divided into three periods: 1 Early A-Group, contemporary to the Nagada I and early Nagada II phases in Upper Egypt, with sites from Kubbaniya to Seyala; 2 Classic A-Group, contemporary to Nagada IId–IIIa, with sites in Lower Nubia and south of the Second Cataract in the northern Batn el-Hajar region; 3 Terminal A-Group, contemporary to Nagada IIIb, Dynasty 0 and the early 1st Dynasty, with sites in Lower Nubia and northern Upper Nubia. The dating of the A-Group culture is still debated, however. Based on the evidence of Nagada culture artifacts in Lower Nubian graves, the A-Group arose in the first half of the fourth millennium BC. It is usually assumed that the A-Group disappeared in Lower Nubia during the Egyptian Early Dynastic period (1st–2nd Dynasties), as a consequence of Egyptian military intervention there. The origins of the A-Group are not yet well understood. Trade contacts with Upper Egypt were an important factor in the social and economic development of the A-Group. In Nagada II times, trade with Upper Egypt greatly increased, as can be inferred from the great number of Nagada culture artifacts in A-Group graves. The occurrence of rock drawings of Nagada II-style boats at Seyala might suggest that this was an important trading center. In the early 1st Dynasty, Egyptian policy in Nubia changed and raids were made as far south as the Second Cataract. Evidence of this is seen in a rock drawing at Gebel Sheikh Suleiman (near Wadi Halfa) recording a raid against the Nubians by a king of the 1st Dynasty (possibly Djet). A fortified Egyptian settlement was probably founded in the late 2nd Dynasty at Buhen, to the north of the Second Cataract. Archaeological evidence points to a substantial abandonment of Lower Nubia in Old Kingdom times. Yet the occurrence of A-Group potsherds in the Egyptian town at Buhen dating to the 4th–5th Dynasties suggests that some A-Group peoples were still living in the region then. Moreover, the discovery of a few A-Group sites between the Second and Third Cataracts (between the Batn el-Hajar and Kerma) points to a progressive movement southward in Upper Nubia of A-Group peoples. Posts: 43043 | From: , | Registered: Jan 2010
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