Before the Pyramids: The Origins of Egyptian Civilization: 33 (ORIENTAL INSTITUTE MUSEUM PUBLICATIONS)

This catalogue for an exhibit at Chicago's Oriental Institute Museum presents the newest research on the Predynastic and Early Dynastic Periods in a lavishly illustrated format. Essays on the rise of the state, contact with the Levant and Nubia, crafts, writing, iconography and evidence from Abydos, Tell el-Farkha, Hierakonpolis and the Delta were contributed by leading scholars in the field. The catalogue features 129 Predynastic and Early Dynastic objects, most from the Oriental Institute's collection, that illustrate the environmental setting, Predynastic and Early Dynastic culture, religion and the royal burials at Abydos. This volume will be a standard reference and a staple for classroom use.

Table of Contents

Foreword (Gil J. Stein)

The Chronology of Early Egypt

Introduction (Emily Teeter)

List of Contributors

Map of Principal Areas and Sites

1. Sequence Dating and Predynastic Chronology (Stan Hendrickx)

2. Petrie and the Discovery of Earliest Egypt (Patricia Spencer)

3. Political Organization of Egypt in the Predynastic Period (Branislav Andelkovic)

4. Hierakonpolis (Renée Friedman)

5. The Predynastic Cultures of the Nile Delta (Yann Tristant and Béatrix Midant-Reynes)

6. The Predynastic/Early Dynastic Period at Tell el-Farkha (Krzysztof M. Cialowicz)

7. Material Culture of the Predynastic Period (Alice Stevenson)

8. Iconography of the Predynastic and Early Dynastic Periods (Stan Hendrickx)

9. Relations between Egypt and Nubia in the Naqada Period (Bruce B. Williams)

10. Crafts and Craft Specialization (Stan Hendrickx)

11. The Invention of Writing in Egypt (David Wengrow)

12. Early Interaction between Peoples of the Nile Valley and the Southern Levant (Eliot Braun)

13. The Rise of the Egyptian State (E. Christiana Köhler)

14. Tomb U-j: A Royal Burial of Dynasty 0 at Abydos (Günter Dreyer)

15. The First Kings of Egypt: The Abydos Evidence (Laurel Bestock)

16. The Narmer Palette: A New Interpretation (David O’Connor)

Catalog of Objects

Concordance of Museum Registration Numbers

Checklist of the Exhibit