Cultural entanglement at the dawn of the Egyptian history: a view from the Nile First Cataract region

Published in Origini n. XXXVI/2014. Rivista annuale del Dipartimento di Scienze dell’Antichità – “Sapienza” Università di Roma | Preistoria e protostoria delle civiltà antiche – Prehistory and protohistory of ancient civilizations

This paper aims to discuss the process of multicultural adjustment and transformation that took place during the forth millennium BCE in the Nile First Cataract region. The period taken into consideration is timing as it corresponds to the formation of the Egyptian state. New archaeological research in the Aswan area has revealed that the process of cultural mixing in this boundary region, clearly detectable in the cultural material, was much more complex and multidimensional than previously thought. Anthropological theories on ethnicity and boundaries, cultural entanglement, and interaction sphere and material culture style are used as tools.