Pre-Dynastic Egypt spans many millennia, a complicated timeline of events with many different cultures, who had many different practices, beliefs, styles of art, influences and ways of living. There are many gaps in the archaeological record too and like with any part of the world being researched, the further we go back in time, the more fragmented the story gets.
We do know that Egypt was not a unified country until the dynastic era, when it looks as though a king from the south, Narmer or Menes, defeated the Maadi Culture of the north, and began a new era of history.
With regards to Ancient Egypt, my primary interest has always been the Giza Plateau, the history of the pyramids and the Great Sphinx, and so, in terms of Pre-Dynastic history, I’m most interested in the Maadi Culture, the people who occupied this region immediately prior to the dynastic era.
They were replaced by the Naqada III culture from Upper Egypt, but whether this was by conquest or infiltration, well, it’s open to debate. Some draw upon objects like the Narmer palette, to show that what most likely happened was the people of the south suppressing the northern people of the marshes by force.
In this video, I will first be presenting an overview of the Maadi Culture, the people of Lower Egypt before the dynastic era, a unique people with architectural feats unlike anything seen anywhere else in Egypt at the time, the implications of which must be considered.
Then I will document their presence at Giza. These were the first known people of the Giza Plateau and they left behind more archaeology than most people know, with at least three documented sites of interest.
Furthermore, these were the first people that could have potentially built the first Proto-Sphinx and although speculative, it’s even possible they left something else behind that so many have overlooked, something actually preserved inside the Great Pyramid itself.
Watch this video to learn more!
00:00 | Introduction
04:07 | Maadi Culture
19:33 | Pre-Dynastic Giza
24:57 | The First Sphinx
32:22 | Secret in the Great Pyramid