This site contains information about three areas of Egypt in the prehistoric and Predynastic periods. The areas discussed are the Faiyum Depression, southern Cairo and the Western Delta.
There is a considerable amount of information available about these areas, if you know where to look and have the time, but it is contained in numerous specialist papers and publications available usually only through academic libraries. I have tried to bring together most of the known information in order to provide a coherent description of the early archaeology of the area and the geological framework within which it was located, and to identify key areas requiring additional research.
I will continue to update the site, as and when new data becomes available. The site is due for something of an overhaul in the not too distant future, but details will be added in the table below.
I have left in the original numbering system, which looks very odd on the web, particularly since with the latest version I have somehow managed to get the numbers out of sequence (will be sorted in the next couple of days) but it is invaluable to me for keeping both the web version and the Word version aligned. See Changes to Site, below, for details of new additions and changes to the site. I’ll update the Change table again when I’ve sorted the numbering.
I am always on the lookout for feedback, so please let me know if you have any comments.
Currently highlighting development risks to the Faiyum Depression, by Geoffrey Tassie.
A few images on the rest of the site are missing - working on it!
Version 2.33/4th February 2007
Site republished after problem with domain
No changes yet (a few images are missing)
Version 2.33/13th September 2005
Minor corrections to text
Thanks to David Bainbridge for pointing out a mis-coded link.
Version 2.32/24th April 2005
Updating material with newly sourced references, and updated bibliography accordingly.
Updated entire section on Merimde with newly sourced material, updated Omari dating paragraph and Faiyum Middle Palaeolithic section.
Version 2.31/15th September 2004
Updated bibliography, and new material added
The previous bibliography was considerably out of date. New papers have been referenced and included, and the references have been added to the bibliography.
Version 2.3/9th August 2004
To include new material, expand the Late Predynastic and Protodynastic sections, provide contextual information about other Egyptian areas and revise the geological maps.
Naqada III section and Unification sections expanded and updated
Additional appendices
Greater emphasis on areas external to the Faiyum
More contextual information about the Eastern Delta and Upper Egyptian sites
Clarification of terminology used in Naqada II and III periods
Version 2.2/5th February 2004
To reformat Part 1, re-organise appendices and re- edit the whole document
Part 1 was changed to make it more appropriate for a wider audience. The whole document was re-edited for typological and grammatical errors.
Version 2.1/5th December 2003
Submission Document
Conclusion section reorganised.
Version 2.0/4th December 2003
Completed document
Completed second version, with additional archaeology content and extensive revision of Geology section. See Introduction for details. A third version will eventually incorporate the Early Dynastic.
Version 1.2/5th December 2003
To update paper using additional references and resources
Further information from additional references added. Changes to bibliography. Appendix E (C14 dates) corrected and updated
Version 1.1/31st October 2003
Editing corrections
Typographical and grammatical errors corrected throughout entire document
