Predynastic Artifacts in Civilization Museum
This is a list of all the predynastic artifacts in the Civilization Museum on display since the opening of the museum in 2017.
Predynastic Period (3800–3200 BCE.)
The predynastic period marks the final stage of the Neolithic epoch. It came before the development of writing and the establishment of the state in the Dynastic epoch. This period is defined by sedentary communities along the banks of the Nile and the emergence of cultural centers. By the 6th millennium BCE,
Egyptians learned to farm and built grain storage silos. Additionally, they produced ceramics in various styles to represent different stages of this era. In the 5th millennium BCE, Egyptians constructed homes from reeds and mud bricks. They also began creating tombs equipped with funerary furnishings. This era also saw the first evidence of corpse preservation.
By the 4th millennium BCE, Egyptians discovered how to melt minerals. They developed the first known writing system, a significant achievement of the predynastic period. Between 4500 BCE and 4000 BCE, the earliest political groups in Upper Egypt emerged from independent towns and urban centers. These groups formed several nomes, each with political and economic importance.
Around 3600 BCE, Egyptians successfully united Upper and Lower Egypt under a single government. They established the first capital of a united state and created a ruling hierarchy based on royal inheritance. This event marks the beginning of the Dynastic period.
