Ancient Egypt is one of the earliest cultures in world history. This civilization originated in Northeast Africa. According to researchers, the word "Egypt" comes from the ancient Greek "Aygyuptos", which means "mystery, mystery". Historians believe that the ancient Egyptian state arose from the city of Het-ka-Ptah, which the Greeks later gave the name "Memphis". The inhabitants of ancient Egypt themselves called their country by the color of the soil - "Ta Kemet". Translated, this phrase meant "Black Earth".
How did settlements appear in the Nile Valley?
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. The researchers found here the remains of the sites of primitive hunters. Flocks of predators growing along the banks of the Nile acacia, insects - this is how the inhospitable ancient savanna met the first people. It is believed that they were forced to migrate to the Nile Valley due to the deterioration of natural conditions.
What was the Nile Valley like long before there was a single state in Ancient Egypt?
Egypt's climate at that time was not as dry as it is now. The melting of glaciers that covered part of the European territory ended quite recently. Over the valley of the Nile there were constant rains, damp winds were blowing. What is now a vast desert was once savannah.
On the territory of modern Sahara, primitive hunters of the Mesolithic and early Neolithic periods used to live. It was after them that the now known first drawings of buffaloes, elephants, and antelopes remained. These animals are not desert dwellers. Another piece of evidence that the Nile Valley was once a savannah is the wadi. Wadis are dry riverbeds that once flowed into the Nile.
Beginning of drought and resettlement of tribes
By the beginning of the 5th millennium BC. e. the climate becomes drier. Wet winds subside. Slowly the savanna begins to turn into a desert. The hunting tribes at this time turn into shepherds, and more and more of their settlements are approaching the banks of the Nile.
In the V millennium BC. e. representatives of the Neolithic era had not yet learned how to smelt copper. They used stone tools for hunting. Despite the fact that hunting and fishing are still the primary sources of subsistence, primitive agriculture and cattle breeding appear at this time. At the end of the 5th - beginning of the 4th millennium BC. e. originates from the Copper Age - the era of the Eneolithic. In ittime, the ancient inhabitants of the Nile valley have copper products that they used in everyday life - beads, piercings. Irrigation canals are being built. However, hunting and fishing do not lose their role in the life of primitive people.
Nomes - prototypes of states
The next era before a single state was formed in Ancient Egypt is commonly called the first pre-dynastic period. It belongs to the first half of the 4th millennium BC. e. At this time, the main role is already beginning to play agriculture. Settlements increase in size, begin to unite and fenced off with 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 IV millennium BC. e. the ancient Egyptians finally come to a settled way of life. Now the main role in ensuring the life of the villages is played by agriculture and cattle breeding. The tribal community is replaced by a neighboring one, and economic inequality arises. There is still a small layer of slaves - prisoners captured in the process of constant skirmishes between the settlements. Before the unification of Ancient Egypt into a single state, settlements were united into nomes - closed centralized areas.
Why did the communities unite
These territorial entities were created on the basis of associations of tribes, which jointly created irrigation systems, enteringin the fight against the unmerciful forces of nature. Each nome, in fact, was a walled city, in which there was a temple, and where there was already a 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 effort, the need to unite the nomes became more and more acute. Thus, two states appeared on the territory of the Nile Valley - Lower Egypt and Upper Egypt. These times are evidenced by drawings on slate tablets. They depict scenes of wars, bound captives, theft of herds of cattle. 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 ends this era in history is the 33rd century. BC e.
What is known about the leaders of Lower and Upper Egypt?
There is practically no information left about those rulers under whose leadership this unification took place. Almost the only information is a few 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 a single state was formed in Ancient Egypt, the red-and-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 oneand bloody process. However, some researchers are convinced that some nomes united among themselves peacefully. It is believed that one of the northern nomes became the center of the new state. The ancient capital of a single state in Egypt is a nome with a center in the city of Buto. The people who lived in the resulting ancient Egyptian state spoke an Egyptian language that is now dead.
The late language of the Egyptians - Coptic - came along with Arabic to the Middle Ages. Judging by the remaining drawings, the Egyptians were a dark-haired people of medium height. They were slender, broad-shouldered people with straight hair. Images of women were painted in yellow, men - in a brick shade.
