The Amratian culture is named after the archaeological site of
el-Amrah, located around south of Badari in Upper Egypt. El-Amrah was the first site where this culture group was found without being mingled with the later
Gerzeh culture (Naqada II). However, this period is better attested at the
Naqada site, thus it also is referred to as the
Naqada I culture.
Pottery types The Naqada I period corresponds to the maximum development of black-topped red ware, as well as wares with painted white motifs on a polished red background. Naqada I pottery mainly used one type of clay: a grey clay from the alluvium of the Nile, which is rich in
ferrous oxide and becomes red to brown upon firing in an oxidizing environment. •
Black Top ware (type "B", all Naqada I): Polished red body with black top •
Polished Red ware (type "P", all Naqada I): red polished pottery •
White cross-lined ware (type "C", Naqada IC): Polished red body with white painting •
Fancy Forms ware (type "F", Naqada IC): Pottery with fancy shapes or animal-shaped
Black-topped pottery ("B-ware") Red-bodied black-topped pottery, already found in the
Badarian culture was continuously produced. The red color of the body was a natural result of firing Nilotic clay rich in ferrous oxide, but the black top was obtained by exposing the top portion of the vessels to dense black soot. Although mostly characteristic of Naqada I, this type continued to be produced throughout the whole Naqada period. File:Black-topped Red Ware Beaker MET 15.2.16 EGDP010266.jpg|Black-topped Red Ware beaker File:Naqada black top.jpg|Ovoid Naqada I (Amratian) black-topped terracotta vase, c. 3800–3500 BC File:Black-topped red ware jar MET DP249146.jpg|Black-topped red ware jar File:Vase double - Musée du Louvre Antiquités égyptiennes E 11419.jpg|A "fancy" (Type "F") shape: double vase. Louvre Museum.
Cross-lined pottery (C-ware) White cross-lined pottery (
C-ware) were a type of painted pottery essentially specific to Naqada I. Compared to the total number of ceramics produced, only very few of them were painted. The painting technique too was different from Naqada II, in that white or cream white painting was used over a red background, while Naqada II used brown painting over cream-bodied pottery. These vessels were found in graves, but were also used in daily life.
Geometric symbols and natural scenes File:HARGM 9964 Egyptian pre-dynastic red pottery bowl or drinking vessel with interior geometric decoration.jpg|Red pottery bowl or drinking vessel with interior geometric decoration. File:Vase, Amratian, Naqada I (10450137386).jpg|Vase, Amratian, Naqada I File:Ashmolean C-ware jar with animals.jpg|C-ware jar with animals. Circa 3700 BC. Naqada IC. File:Double-jar graced with hunting scenes (C-Ware); the decoration is by two different hands, baked clay - Museo Egizio, Turin S 1823 p03.jpg|Double jar with animals being hunted.
Museo Egizio, Turin.
Human figures A few scenes on Cross-lined pottery (C-ware) depict human figures of the Naqada I period. One depicts a hunter brandishing a bow and holding four dogs on leashes. One of the most famous and ambitious scenes is depicted on
Jar E3002 in the Royal Museums of Art and History, Brussels, dated to Naqada IC-IIA (c. 3800-3600 BC). It shows eight individuals in a warlike scene. Two tall figures, equipped with long feathers in their heads, short curly hair, a penile sheath and seemingly an animal tail attached at their waist, raise their arms above their heads in an apparent sign of victory. Four of the smaller figures are attached to the central victor with ropes at their necks. These scenes of warfare in the Nile Valley are dated to Naqada IC, and may be a prelude to future scenes of Pharaohs smiting their enemies. The raised arms posture of the victor would appear in many statuettes and pottery paintings of the Naqada II period, but as an essentially female posture. File:Hunter plate, Naqada period (vertical).jpg|Plate with hunter with dogs on leash. Naqada I.
Pushkin Museum. File:Hunter with dogs on leash. Naqada I, Egypt (detail).jpg|Detail of a plate with hunter with dogs on leash. Naqada I.
Pushkin Museum. File:Man on a boat fishing. Predynastic, Naqada I ca. 3900–3650 BCE.jpg|Man on a boat fishing. Naqada I, ca. 3700 BC.
Burials ). Ashmolean Museum The period of Naqada I sees the appearance of early forms of artifacts that would become characteristic of the later Naqada periods: ivory tags, simple statuettes. In the area of pottery, black-topped red pottery was the main style, with some white cross-lined pottery ("C-ware") and red polished ware ("R-ware"). Rough pottery (type "R") also started to appear during this period.
Commerce and crafts , Abydos (Cairo Museum, JE 99583). Trade between the Amratian culture bearers in Upper Egypt and populations of
Lower Egypt is attested during this time through new excavated objects. A stone vase from the north has been found at el-Amrah. The predecessor
Badarian culture had also discovered that
malachite could be heated into
copper beads; the Amratians shaped this metal by chipping. Innovations such as
adobe buildings, for which the Gerzeh culture is well known, also begin to appear during this time, attesting to cultural continuity. However, they did not reach nearly the widespread use that they were known for in later times. Additionally, oval and
theriomorphic cosmetic palettes appear to be used in this period. However, the workmanship was still very rudimentary and the relief artwork for which they were later known is not yet present. Each Amratian village had an animal deity;
amulets were worn of humans and various animals including birds and fish. Food, weaponry, statuettes, decorations, malachite, and occasionally dogs were buried with the deceased. File:Comb decorated with a wildebeest MET DP249310.jpg|Decorated ivory combs. Late Naqada I-Naqada II, 3900-3500 BC
Early cosmetic palettes Siltstone was first utilized for cosmetic palettes by the
Badari culture. The first palettes used in the Badarian Period and in Naqada I were usually plain, rhomboidal or rectangular in shape, without any further decoration. It is in the
Naqada II period in which the
zoomorphic palette is most common. File:Mudstone cosmetic palette in the form of a turtle with inlaid bone eyes (one missing). Predynastic, Naqada I. 4000-3600 BC. EA 37913 (British Museum).jpg|Mudstone cosmetic palette in the form of a turtle with inlaid bone eyes (one missing). Predynastic, Naqada I. 4000–3600 BC. EA 37913 (British Museum) File:Mudstone palette in the form of a hippopotamus. Predynastic, Naqada I. 4000-3600 BC. EA 29416. (British Museum).jpg|Mudstone palette in the form of a hippopotamus. Predynastic, Naqada I. 4000–3600 BC. EA 29416. (British Museum) File:Palette Naqada I-II Palettes for blending cosmetics.jpg|Naqada I–II palette for blending cosmetics File:Palette in the Shape of a Boat 3700-3600 BCE Naqada I.jpg|Palette in the shape of a boat, 3700–3600 BC, Naqada I
Stoneware Various example of
basaltic polished stoneware, sometimes called "Black Polished Ware", are known from the Naqada I period, particularly from the area of
Abydos. File:Vase - Musée du Louvre Antiquités égyptiennes 23175.jpg|Naqada I basalt vessel. Louvre Museum. Penile sheath (
karnatiw) may also have been used for medical reasons, in a mistaken attempt to avoid
schistosomiasis and contamination by
cercariae. Rather similar figures, using similar ivory material, also appear in the contemporary archaeology of the
Levant Chalcolithic (4500-3500 BC), suggesting a level of trade relations and cultural influence from Egypt at that time.
Female statuettes Various female statuettes from Naqada I have been found, mainly made of ivory and bone. A few broadly similar ivory statuettes are already known from the preceding
Badarian period. File:Amratian people.jpg|Early Naqada I statuettes. Petrie dated these statuettes to SD 31-34. File:British Museum (2659924470).jpg|Figurines of bone and ivory. Naqada I. 4000–3600 BC. Alternatively dated Naqada II-III.
Bearded figures , dated SD 37-38 (Naqada IC-Naqada IIA). Tall bearded figures with hats seem to appear towards the end of the Naqada I period, specifically during Naqada IC. Many such figurines have pointed beards, and some trace of hair. There are often indications of clothing, and they may represent people dressed in long cloaks. The headgear of the
Mesopotamian-style "
Lord of Animals" on the Gebel el-Arak knife may also be comparable to the torus-shaped headgear visible on many of the Naqada I figurines. Many anthropomorphic ivory tags showing bearded individuals were found in Naqada graves dated to the Naqada IC-IIA period, with only a few specimens in Naqada IIB. These have been found in the same graves as anthropomorphic tusk and simple animal ivory tags, indicating contemporaneity between these objects.
A bearded figure atop an ivory tusk was excavated from
Badari tomb 3165 and dated SD 37-38, at the intermediate period between Naqada IC and Naqada IIA. This is one of the rare such figurines to have been excavated in a secure archaeological excavation, making it pivotal in determining their antiquity. File:Tusk figurine of a man Late Naqada I Early Naqada II 3900-3500 BCE.jpg|Tusk figurine of a man Late Naqada I to Early Naqada II, 3900-3500 BCE File:Anthropomorphic tag. Naqada grave T24. Naqada IC.jpg|Anthropomorphic tag. Matmar grave 2682. Naqada IC File:Ivory human figures, Matmar grave 2682. Naqada IC.jpg|Ivory human figures, Matmar grave 2682. Naqada IC. Naqada, grave 1329. Naqada I-II. Ashmolean Museum.jpg|Naqada, Tomb 1329, transitional Naqada I-II. File:Hierakonpolis death mask (elite cemetery). Nagada Ic – Nagada IIa (3750 BC). Upper Egypt, Hierakonpolis (HK6, Tomb 16). Egyptian Museum, Cairo.jpg|Death mask. Naqada IC–IIA (3750 BC).
Hierakonpolis elite cemetery (HK6, Tomb 16). File:Content of Tomb 3165, Badari, SD 37-38.jpg|Inventory of
Badari tomb 3165, dated SD 37-38 (Naqada IC-Naqada IIA) File:Ivory tusk figurine of Tomb 3165, Badari, SD 37-38.jpg|Ivory tusk figurine of
Badari tomb 3165, dated SD 37-38 (Naqada IC-Naqada IIA) ==See also==