This volume, publishing the proceedings of the Fifth International Conference on Predynastic and Early Dynastic Egypt (Cairo, 2014), presents the results of the latest research and discoveries in the field which are leading to a better understanding of the origins of the Ancient Egyptian civilization. The 39 articles are organised under five major headings: Settlements and Domestic Activities; Mortuary Archaeology; Technology: Pottery and Lithic Production; Iconography and Writing; Rock Art. Each contribution provides new insights into the variety of factors contributing to the rise of the distinct form of the early Egyptian state. Recent discoveries from major sites such as Hierakonpolis, Abydos, and Buto, are the subject of different articles, but also other sites, such as Abu Rawash and the Naqada region, are discussed.

This catalogue for an exhibit at Chicago's Oriental Institute Museum presents the newest research on the Predynastic and Early Dynastic Periods in a lavishly illustrated format. Essays on the rise of the state, contact with the Levant and Nubia, crafts, writing, iconography and evidence from Abydos, Tell el-Farkha, Hierakonpolis and the Delta were contributed by leading scholars in the field. The catalogue features 129 Predynastic and Early Dynastic objects, most from the Oriental Institute's collection, that illustrate the environmental setting, Predynastic and Early Dynastic culture, religion and the royal burials at Abydos. This volume will be a standard reference and a staple for classroom use.

This fantastic volume explores the mysterious origins of the Egyptian civilization, looking at its relationship to ancient Samaria and subsequent history. “Egyptian Civilization - Its Sumerian Origin and Real Chronology” is highly recommended for those with an interest in ancient Egypt, especially the historical development of theories and evidence relating thereto. Laurence Austine Waddell (1899 – 1938) was a British Explorer, professor of Tibetan, and Indian army surgeon. Other notable works by this author include: “Among the Himalayas”, “The Birds of Sikkim” (1893), and “Some Ancient Indians Charms from the Tibetan” (1895). Many vintage books such as this are increasingly scarce and expensive. It is with this in mind that we are republishing this volume now in an affordable, modern, high-quality edition complete with a specially-commissioned new biography of the author.

The premise for this book is best summarized in the words of its author, who writes: "Plutarch, in his Life of Solon, informs us that Psenophis and Sonchis -- one a priest of Heliopolis, and the other of Sais -- told the Athenian legislator that 9,000 years before his visit to Egypt, on account of the submergence of the Island of Atlantis (Land of Mu of the Mayas) all communications had been interrupted with the Western countries. If the Egyptians learned the art of writing from the Mayas, as no doubt they did, it must have been in times anterior to the cataclysm. In this we would find the explanation of why identical characters are being found on the most ancient monuments of Egypt and those of Mayach, having the same meaning and containing the relation of the same cosmogonical traditions."

Early Dynastic Egypt spans the five centuries preceding the construction of the Great Pyramid at Giza. This was the formative period of ancient Egyptian civilization, and it witnessed the creation of a distinctive culture that was to endure for 3,000 years. This book examines the background to that great achievement, the mechanisms by which it was accomplished, and the character of life in the Nile valley during the first 500 years of Pharaonic rule. The results of over thirty years of international scholarship and excavation are presented in a single highly illustrated volume. It traces the re-discovery of Early Dynastic Egypt, explains how the dynasties established themselves in government and concludes by examining the impact of the early state on individual communities and regions.