Near East (4,365 – 2,638 BCE) Late Neolithic–Chalcolithic — Canal Gardens, Copper, and Maritime Aegean

Geographic and Environmental Context

• Anchors: the Nile Valley and Delta; Sinai–Negev–Arabah; the southern Levant (with Tyre as the sole Levantine node in this subregion); Hejaz–Asir–Tihāma on the Red Sea; Yemen’s western uplands/coast; southwestern Cyprus; western Anatolian littoral (Smyrna–Ephesus–Miletus–Halicarnassus–Xanthos; Troad).

Climate & Environment

• Flood variability increased; Delta marshes fluctuated; Aegean coasts stable; Arabian west slope drier, highlands stable.

Subsistence & Settlement

• Canal/levee fields in Nile Delta/Valley matured; orchard–garden mosaics; caprine herding in Sinai–Negev; mixed farming in Ionia–Lydia–Caria.

• Yemen western terraces in embryo; Hejaz oases (Ta’if-like) incipient.

Technology

• Copper metallurgy in Anatolia; advanced pottery; reed boats; early sails; improved qanat/terrace conceptions in Arabia highlands (proto-forms).

Corridors

• Nile–Delta–Mediterranean shipping; Anatolian maritime loops; overland Sinai/Negev into the southern Levant.

Symbolism

• Temple precincts (Egyptian cores outside our exact geography but influence strong); Aegean cape sanctuaries; ancestor cults.

Adaptation

• Canal/qanat + terraces hedged droughts; coastal fisheries stabilized diets.

The Near East (4365–4222 BCE): The Chalcolithic Epoch Begins

Renewed Settlement of Cyprus

After a fifteen-hundred-year hiatus, human habitation resumed on Cyprus around 4500–4000 BCE. Excavations reveal small village sites near Curium at Sotira and within the Kyrenia Mountain range. Notably, artifacts crafted from picrolite and copper highlight early trade and cultural practices on the island.

Naqada Culture Emergence

The Naqada culture (circa 4400–3000 BCE), named after the necropolis site near present-day Naqada in Egypt, represents a significant prehistoric and predynastic cultural phase. Initially defined by British Egyptologist William Flinders Petrie in 1894, it comprises three sub-periods: Naqada I (Amratian), Naqada II (Gerzean), and Naqada III (Semainean). Naqada I (about 4400–3500 BCE) is distinguished by black-topped pottery and trade networks reaching Nubia, Western Desert oases, and the eastern Mediterranean, as well as Ethiopian obsidian imports. Modern chronologies extend slightly earlier than initially defined, emphasizing continuity and cultural complexity across the region.

Present Naqada, a town on the west bank of the Nile in the Egyptian governorate of Qena, that stands near the site of a necropolis from the prehistoric, pre-dynastic period around 4400-3000 BCE, has given its name to the widespread Naqada culture that exists at the time, here, and at other sites including …

…al-Badari, …

…Gerzeh, …

…Nekhen (Hierakonpolis), and …

…Qau.

The large quantity of remains from Naqada have enabled the dating of the entire culture, throughout Egypt and environs.

The Naqada period was first divided by the British Egyptologist William Flinders Petrie, who explored the site in 1894, into three sub-periods: Amratian (after the cemetery near El-Amrah), Gerzean (after the cemetery near Gerzeh), and Semainean (after the cemetery near Es-Semaina).

The first site where the so-called Amratian Culture group is found unmingled with the later Gerzean culture group is the site of el-Amra, about one hundred and twenty kilometers south of Badari, but because this period is better attested at the Naqada site, it is referred to also as the Naqada I culture.

The production of black-topped pottery continues; the production of white cross-line ware, decorated by close parallel white lines being crossed by another set of close parallel white lines, begins.

The Amratian culture trades with Nubia, Western Desert oases and the eastern Mediterranean, and obtains obsidian from Ethiopia.

Petrie's chronology was superseded by that of Werner Kaiser in 1957.

Kaiser's chronology began around 4000 BCE, but the modern version begins slightly earlier, as follows: Naqada I a-b-c (about 4400–3500 BCE), characterized by black-topped and painted pottery; Naqada II a-b-c (about 3500–3200 BCE), a culture represented throughout Egypt and characterized by the first marl pottery, and metalworking; and Naqada III a-b-c (about 3200–3000 BCE), characterized by more elaborate grave goods, cylindrical jars, and writing.

The Near East (4221–4078 BCE): Early Trade Networks and Cultural Exchange

Interregional Trade Expansion

This period witnesses a substantial growth in trade between Upper and Lower Egypt, evidenced by artifacts such as stone vases from the northern regions found at el-Amra. Copper, absent in Egypt's natural environment, is likely imported from Sinai or Nubia, while obsidian, a volcanic glass used for tool-making, and limited amounts of gold are definitively sourced from Nubia. The trade network further includes the desert oases, facilitating broader cultural exchanges and economic interactions across the region. These burgeoning trade routes fostered increasing complexity and interdependence among early Near Eastern societies.

Trade between Upper and Lower Egypt is attested by excavated objects.

A stone vase from the north has been found at el-Amra, and copper, which is not present in Egypt, is apparently imported from the Sinai, or perhaps from Nubia.

Obsidian and an extremely small amount of gold are both definitively imported from Nubia.

Trade with the oases is also likely.

The Near East (4077–3934 BCE): Environmental Changes and Cultural Diversification

Environmental Transformation

Human settlement became increasingly confined to the Nile valley and its immediate fringes, as declining rainfall transformed surrounding lands into arid deserts after 4000 BCE.

Tasian and Badarian Cultures

Around 4000 BCE, two distinct cultures emerged in southern Egypt: the northern-influenced Tasian culture, evolving through phases labeled Naqada I (Amratian) and Naqada II (Gerzean), and the eastern desert-originated Badarian culture. Tasian pottery, often black-topped and painted, displayed diverse fabrics and decorations.

Early Domestication and Metallurgy

The domestication of date palms around 4000 BCE in eastern Arabia significantly impacted diets and economies. Copper metallurgy also appeared around this time, with evidence found in Egypt and Mesopotamia. The domestication of the donkey from Nubian and Somalian wild ass species provided essential pack and farming animals, enhancing transportation and agriculture throughout Egypt and Nubia.