Ancient Egypt is one of the very first cultures of world history. This civilization originated in North-East Africa. According to researchers, the word "Egypt" comes from the ancient Greek "Aygyuptos", which means "riddle, mystery." Historians believe that the ancient Egyptian state arose from the city of Hat-ka-Ptah, which the Greeks subsequently gave the name "Memphis." The inhabitants of ancient Egypt themselves called their country by the color of the soil - "Ta Kemeth." Translated, this phrase meant "Black Earth".
How did the settlements in the Nile Valley appear?
People lived here long before a single state was formed in Ancient Egypt. It is believed that the first local settlements belong to the Paleolithic era. Researchers have found here the remains of the sites of primitive hunters. Swarms of predators growing along the banks of the Nile of acacia, insects - this is how the inhospitable ancient savannah met the first people. It is believed that they were forced to migrate to the Nile Valley due to environmental degradation.
What was the Nile Valley long before a unified state appeared in ancient Egypt?
Egypt's climate at that time was not as arid as it is now. The melting of the glaciers that covered part of European territory has ended recently. Over the Nile Valley, it rained constantly, moist winds blew. In the place where the vast desert is now, savannas used to stretch.
On the territory of modern Sahara, primitive hunters of the Mesolithic and Early Neolithic period used to live. It was after them that the first drawings of buffaloes, elephants, and antelopes were now known. These animals are not desert inhabitants. Another piece of evidence that the Nile Valley was once a savannah is the wadi. Wadi are the dried up riverbeds that once flowed into the Nile.
The onset of drought and the resettlement of tribes
By the beginning of the V millennium BC. e. the climate is becoming arid. Wet winds subside. Slowly, the savannah begins to turn into a desert. Hunting tribes at this time turned into shepherd's, and more and more of their settlements were approaching the banks of the Nile.
In the V millennium BC. e. representatives of the Neolithic era have not yet learned to melt copper. They used stone tools for hunting. Despite the fact that hunting and fishing are still the primary sources of food, primitive agriculture and cattle breeding are appearing at this time. At the end of V - beginning of IV millennium BC. e. originates the copper age - the era of the Eneolithic. At this time, the ancient inhabitants of the Nile Valley appear copper products that they used in everyday life - beads, punctures. Irrigation canals begin to be built. However, hunting and fishing do not lose their role in the life of primitive people.
Nomes - the prototypes of states
The next era before a single state was formed in Ancient Egypt, it is customary to call the first pre-dynastic period. It belongs to the first half of the fourth millennium BC. e. At this time, the main role is already beginning to play agriculture. Settlements increase in size, begin to unite and enclose walls. Copper is now used not only for the manufacture of household items and jewelry, but also for tools. In this era, objects made of gold first appear.
By the middle of the 4th millennium BC. e. the ancient Egyptians finally come to a sedentary lifestyle. Now the main role in ensuring the livelihoods of the villages is played by agriculture and cattle breeding. The clan community is replaced by a neighborhood, and economic inequality arises. There is still a small layer of slaves - prisoners captured in the process of constant clashes between settlements. Before the unification of Ancient Egypt into a single state, the settlements were united in nomes - closed centralized areas.
Why did the community unite?
These territorial formations were created on the basis of tribal associations, which together created irrigation systems, entering into the struggle against the merciless forces of nature. Each nom, in fact, was a walled city in which there was a temple, and where there was already its own government apparatus. Before a single state was formed in Ancient Egypt, there were already about forty nomes in the Nile Valley.
Since the creation of irrigation systems required considerable efforts, the need for uniting nomes became more acute. So on the territory of the Nile Valley two states appeared - Lower Egypt and Upper Egypt. These times are evidenced by drawings on slate tablets. They depict scenes of wars, related prisoners, the theft of herds of cattle. A further war between the two associations ultimately led to the victory of Upper Egypt. Thus ended the pre-dynastic period and began the formation of a single state in ancient Egypt. The date that completes this era in history is 33 century. BC e.
What is known about the leaders of Lower and Upper Egypt?
About those rulers, under whose leadership this association took place, practically no information remained. Almost the only information is several dozen ancient Egyptian names. It is also known that the rulers of Upper Egypt wore a white headdress, and the red crown was the hallmark of the leaders of the Lower Egyptian nomes. After the formation of a single state in Ancient Egypt, the red-white crown remained a symbol of power until the very end of the era of antiquity in the Nile Valley.
The merger of states was a long and bloody process. However, some researchers are convinced that some nomes united together peacefully. It is believed that the center of the new state has become one of the northern nomes. The ancient capital of a single state in Egypt is a nom with its center in Buto. The people who lived in the newly formed ancient Egyptian state spoke the Egyptian language, which is now dead.
The late language of the Egyptians - Copstian - came along with Arabic to the Middle Ages. Judging by the remaining figures, the Egyptians were a dark-haired people of medium height. They were slender, broad-shouldered people with straight hair. Images of women were painted yellow, men - in a brick shade.