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Posted by Troll Patrol (Member # 18264) on :
 
The oldest epigraphic and digital record of a king wearing the upper Egyptian crown has been relocated in Al-Kab archaeological site, north Aswan.


Following the relocation of the artefacts, a team from Yale University, the University of Bologna and the Provinciale Hogeschool Limburg, Belgium, has completed the first epigraphic and digital record of a site near Nag El-Hamdulab on the west bank of the Nile, north of Aswan. The site was discovered nearly half a century ago by the famous Egyptian Egyptologist Labib Habachi. Minister of State for Antiquities Zahi Hawass said this new and thorough study has brought to light a previously unknown Early Dynastic cycle of royal images and an early hieroglyphic inscription.

This work was carried out by the Aswan-Kom Ombo Archaeological Project (AKAP), which is a joint venture between Yale and University of Bologna, lead by Maria Carmela Gatto and Antonio Curci, with an international research team from various European and America countries as well as Egypt. Now in its seventh season, the project aims to survey and rescue the archaeology of the region between Aswan and Kom Ombo, in the southern part of Upper Egypt.

Gatto said that this group of images and the short inscription—carved around 3200 BCE, at the dawn of the dynastic period—record the earliest depiction of a royal Jubilee complete of all the elements known from later documents: an Egyptian ruler wearing a recognizable crown of Egypt; “the following of Horus”; and the royal court as known it is known to have been in Early Dynastic accounts such as the Palermo Stone.

She explained that the Nag El-Hamdulab scenes are unique, bridging the world of the ritual Predynastic Jubilee in which images of power—predominately boats and animals—are the chief elements, and the world of the royal pharaonic Jubilee, in which the image of the human ruler dominates events. The Nag El-Hamdulab cycle of images shows the emergence of the ruler as the supreme human priest the manifestation of both human power and the divine incarnate. The Nag El-Hamdulab cycle is the last of the old nautical Jubilee cycles of the Predyanstic Period, and the first of the pharaonic cycles over which the king presides in full regalia, here the oldest form of the White Crown. The Nag El-Hamdulab cycle is also the first such image with a hieroglyphic annotation. That text refers to a vessel of the “Following,” probably the “Following of Horus,” and may therefore be the earliest record of tax collection we have from Egypt, and the first expression of royal economic control over Egypt and most probably also Nubia.

Mohamed El-Beyali, the general director of Aswan and Nubia monuments, said that the Nag El-Hamdulab cycle of images probably dates back to about 3200 BCE, corresponding to the late Naqada period. In other words, it is from the time between King Scorpion (the owner of tomb Uj at Abydos), first king of Dynasty 0, and Narmer, first ruler of Dynasty 1.The discovery is so important that it already figures in a new documentary series from Germany (currently on air on the satellite TV channels ARTE and ZDF), which will soon be available worldwide.


Ahram Online
 

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Posted by Mike111 (Member # 9361) on :
 
Troll Patrol - I don't know that you should give much credence to any of this. It smells like a hype job to me. 5000 years old scratch relief that was perfectly legible? Found and then Abandoned for 80 years with no thought of preservation? It makes me go Hmm, I wonder what those Turk mulattoes are up to now.


These were first identified and photographed in the 30s or so by an Egyptian Egyptologist, Labib Habachi.










The photos were stored in the Chicago House at Luxor. Maria Catto has been working at this site in Aswan and reconstructed the images because, since Habachi photographed them, some IDIOTS have scratched at them and almost destroyed them. Probably in a fit of religious piety, thinking they were an affront to god.

These scenes were carved into the rock a little over 5,000 years ago. They date to around 3500 BCE, to the time between the Scorpion King and Narmer, and they show a mixture of royal festival iconography that bridges the differences in the early examples of these scenes. The earliest focused on boats while slightly later ones focused on the king and beasts. This one has both. The king with a dog and retainers carrying flags and boats.






 

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Posted by the lioness (Member # 17353) on :
 


 

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Posted by Clyde Winters (Member # 10129) on :
 


You have asked a very interesting question. It is easy to answer the question if you only look at the historical evidence. The historical evidence, which is based off textual material would support the view that the first writing system was developed in Africa and would be the Thinite script.



The thing that complicates this equation is cuneiform. It is clear that when the Sumerians arrive in Mesopotamia they were using the the Thinite inspired Proto-Sumerian writing and the Elamites used linear Elamite. But we soon see a transition to the cuneiform writing.



This suggest to me that cuneiform was probably in use in Mesopotamia before the Sumerians came on the scene. It is my opinion that cuneirform was invented by the Anu along with Egyptian hieroglyphics. This would explain why we see in Egypt the use of Hieroglyphic writing in Egypt, along with Hieratic and Demotic, which were syllabic system. I believe that the Anu used perishable material to record their writing while the Proto-Saharans preferred to use stone. The Sumerians probably introduced the engraving of cuneiform in stone.

Recently Edwin van den Brink provides a detailed discussion of pot marks dating to the Thinite period from Lower and Upper Egypt. There is continuity between these signs from the Thinite period through Dynaties O and I down to the Saharan/Libyco-Berber rock inscriptions and Vai Syllabary.


Writing systems among African people were mainly devised for two purposes. Firstly, to help merchants keep records on the business venture they made. Secondly, the Proto-Saharan script was also used to preserve religious doctrines or write obituaries.The scarcity of documents, written for historical preservation among ancient African groups resulted from the fact that the keeping of history, was usually left in the hands of traditional (oral) historians. These historians memorized the histories of their nation and people for future recitation before members of their respective communities. This oral history was often accompanied by music or delivered in poetic verse and remains the premier source for the history of most African nations even today.It is obvious that the first inscriptions were engraved in stone by the Proto-Saharans , or a stylus was used to engrave wet clay (Winters 1985b).


Writing was invented by the Proto=Saharans.

See:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBb-sBoR0ts&feature=related


The Proto-Saharans were called Ta-Seti and Tehunu by the Egyptians. In the archaeological literature they were called A-Group and C-Group respectively. Farid (1985, p.82) noted that:We can notice that at the beginning of the neolithic stage in Egypt on the edge of the Western Desert corresponds with expansion of the Saharian Neolithic culture and the growth of its population .The Fertile Saharan Crescent is an arc shaped series of highland regions in the Saharan zone of Africa. The Saharan zone is bounded on the north by the Atlas mountains, the Atlantic Ocean in the West, the tropical rain forest in the south and the Red Sea in the East.

The Proto-Saharans or Kushites used similar terms for writing. In general the term for writing was formed by the labial stops /p/ and /b/. For example:

code:

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Dravidian par 'write'

Manding bo, bu 'make a stroke', sebe 'write'

Elamite tipu 'to write'Galla tafa 'to write'

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code:

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Egyptian hti 'carve'

Manding kiri, kiti 'mark'

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code:

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For example:
Sumerian ru, shu

Elamite talu

Dravidian carru

Egyptian drf

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These terms agree with the Manding terms for excavate or hollow out Ø du #, Ø do #, Ø kulu #, Ø tura #, etc. The Sumerian term for writing was Ø du #.

This show that the Proto-Saharan term for writing denoted the creation of impressions on wet clay and hard rock.The origin of writing among the Proto-Saharans as an activity involving the engraving of stone is most evident in the Egyptian language. This hypothesis is supported by the Egyptian words Ø m(w)dt #. The term Ø md t # means both '(sculptor's) chisel' and 'papyrus-roll, book'. The multiple meanings of Ø md t # makes it clear that the Egyptian, and probably other descendants of the Proto-Saharans saw a relationship between engraving stone and the creation of books.

Other Egyptian lexical items also support the important role Proto-Saharans saw in engraving rocks, and writing. In addition to md t we have, Ø hti # 'carve, sculpture' and Ø iht # 'writing'.

The fact that iht is an Old Kingdom term for writing, almost identical to hti, is further evidence that writing involved the engraving of stone.POTTERY INSCRIPTIONSThe Proto-Saharan writing was first used to write characters on pottery (Winters 1980), to give the ceramics a talismanic quality .


Information on history of writing in Africa. See:

http://bafsudralam.blogspot.com/2008/08/thinite-writing.html


http://bafsudralam.blogspot.com/2008/08/gebel-sheikh-suleiman-inscription.html

Videos

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUGc2W06rgo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bpsIFT4uJo&feature=related


Enjoy
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Posted by Troll Patrol (Member # 18264) on :
 
The Journal of African History (1986), 27 : pp 175-177 Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1986 DOI: 10.1017/S0021853700029285 (About DOI) Published online: 22 January 2009

Table of Contents - 1986 - Volume 27, Issue 01  


From Hunters to Farmers. Edited by J. Desmond Clark and Steven A. Brandt. Berkeley, Los Angeles and London: University of California Press, 1984. Pp. xi + 433. £44. Roland Olivera1



 

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Posted by Troll Patrol (Member # 18264) on :
 
Abstract:
This paper reports the combined preliminary results of the Italian Mission to Kassala and the joint University of Khartoum/Southern Methodist University Butana Project. Both groups have been carrying out extensive survey and test excavations in the Southern Atbai of the East Central Sudan, between the Atbara and Gash Rivers. This work has led to the recognition of a previously unknown culture area and ceramic tradition which spans about 5000 years and, at its peak, probably covered about 100,000 sq. km east of the Nile. This ceramic tradition, the Atbai Tradition, is associated with the development of large villages (over 10 ha) during the 4th millennium bc. /// Le présent article rapporte les résultats préliminaires combinés de la Mission italienne à Kassala et du projet Butana entrepris en commun par les universités de Khartoum et Southern Methodist. Ces deux groupes ont réalisé des reconnaissances archéologiques extensives et des sondages dans le sud de l'Atbai, dans la partie centrale orientale du Soudan, entre les rivières Atbara et Gash. Leur travail a mené à la reconnaissance d'une civilisation et d'une tradition céramique auparavant inconnues qui durèrent quelque 5000 ans et qui couvraient à leur apogée environ 100,000 km² à l'est du Nil. Cette tradition céramique, la tradition Atbai, est associée au développement des grands villages (de plus de 10 ha) au cours du $4^{{\rm e}}$ millénaire avant notre ère.



 

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