XXXIᵉ siècle av. J.-C. – XXVIIIᵉ siècle av. J.-C.
Lower Nubia between the First Cataract and Batn el-Hagar
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The A-Group was a prosperous, non-literate Chalcolithic culture of Nubia contemporary with Egypt’s First Dynasty. Its communities were semi-nomadic herders who moved between small camps as pastures were exhausted. Archaeological remains show distinctive fine pottery, imported copper tools, elaborate graves, and expanding population across Lower Nubia, with related finds farther south in the northern Sudan.
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Around the end of the fourth millennium BCE, the A-Group flourished in Nubia at the same time as Egypt’s First Dynasty. Archaeologists identify it through graves, pottery, and artefacts rather than written testimony: the culture was non-literate and cannot be tied securely to a named political centre. Its remains nevertheless indicate prosperity and a considerable increase in population.
The principal archaeological distribution extended from the First Cataract in the north to Batn el-Hagar, the “Belly of Stones,” in the south. Similar pottery was also found on the surface at sites farther south in the northern Sudan, including a grave near Omdurman Bridge whose vessel was indistinguishable from one found at Faras. This distribution suggests connections extending beyond the best-known Lower Nubian settlements.
A-Group communities were semi-nomadic and probably herded sheep, goats, and some cattle. Their culture was essentially Neolithic but included a limited use of copper tools, all described as imported from Egypt. Their pottery was especially distinctive: thin, finely made vessels with black-burnished interiors, red-painted exterior decoration imitating basketwork, bulbous jars with pointed bases, wavy-ledge handles, and Egyptian conical jars.
Two principal grave forms are described. One consisted of a simple oval pit roughly 0.8 metres deep; the other was a deeper oval pit, about 1.3 metres, with a chamber sunk into one side. The body was wrapped in a leather shroud and placed in a contracted position on the right, normally with the head toward the west.
Grave goods included stone palettes, ostrich-feather fans, alabaster grinding-stones, copper axes and borers, wooden boomerangs, bone bracelets, clay female idols, and beads made of shell, carnelian, and blue-glazed steatite. These objects reveal both local craft traditions and links with neighbouring regions. The range of goods, together with the quality of the pottery, gives the A-Group a material culture more elaborate than the label “semi-nomadic” might suggest.
XXXIᵉ siècle av. J.-C. – XXVIIIᵉ siècle av. J.-C.
Lower Nubia between the First Cataract and Batn el-Hagar
Traduction non disponible · Original (anglais) · français indisponible
The A-Group was a prosperous, non-literate Chalcolithic culture of Nubia contemporary with Egypt’s First Dynasty. Its communities were semi-nomadic herders who moved between small camps as pastures were exhausted. Archaeological remains show distinctive fine pottery, imported copper tools, elaborate graves, and expanding population across Lower Nubia, with related finds farther south in the northern Sudan.
Poursuivre l’exploration
Le récit
Around the end of the fourth millennium BCE, the A-Group flourished in Nubia at the same time as Egypt’s First Dynasty. Archaeologists identify it through graves, pottery, and artefacts rather than written testimony: the culture was non-literate and cannot be tied securely to a named political centre. Its remains nevertheless indicate prosperity and a considerable increase in population.
The principal archaeological distribution extended from the First Cataract in the north to Batn el-Hagar, the “Belly of Stones,” in the south. Similar pottery was also found on the surface at sites farther south in the northern Sudan, including a grave near Omdurman Bridge whose vessel was indistinguishable from one found at Faras. This distribution suggests connections extending beyond the best-known Lower Nubian settlements.
A-Group communities were semi-nomadic and probably herded sheep, goats, and some cattle. Their culture was essentially Neolithic but included a limited use of copper tools, all described as imported from Egypt. Their pottery was especially distinctive: thin, finely made vessels with black-burnished interiors, red-painted exterior decoration imitating basketwork, bulbous jars with pointed bases, wavy-ledge handles, and Egyptian conical jars.
Two principal grave forms are described. One consisted of a simple oval pit roughly 0.8 metres deep; the other was a deeper oval pit, about 1.3 metres, with a chamber sunk into one side. The body was wrapped in a leather shroud and placed in a contracted position on the right, normally with the head toward the west.
Grave goods included stone palettes, ostrich-feather fans, alabaster grinding-stones, copper axes and borers, wooden boomerangs, bone bracelets, clay female idols, and beads made of shell, carnelian, and blue-glazed steatite. These objects reveal both local craft traditions and links with neighbouring regions. The range of goods, together with the quality of the pottery, gives the A-Group a material culture more elaborate than the label “semi-nomadic” might suggest.