The earliest strata of Megiddo and the first major metropolises of Egypt, at Hierakonpolis and Tel el-Farkah, may be traced back to the Chalcolithic / Early Bronze I (EB I) period. Although Egypt was divided into rival chiefdoms, the outlines of pharaonic Egypt may nevertheless be discerned in its architecture and artifacts. Mesopotamian influence is also evident in Egypt during this early period due to the vast trade network which emanated from the Mesopotamian megalopolis of Uruk. Merchants left their homes in southern Mesopotamia for distant lands in search of minerals, wood, and other goods. Their colonies have been located as far north as central Anatolia and as far east as the Iranian plateau while a considerable number of Urukian artifacts have been found in the elite tombs of Egypt. However, Urukian merchants do not appear to have penetrated into the southern Caucasus. There on the high plains and mountain valleys of Armenia, Georgia, and Azerbaijan another civilization took root. Known as the Kura Araxes culture, it would leave its mark on the metallurgy and pottery of the period.

Chronology

A note on the Chalcolithic

Although the Chalcolithic (Greek, “copper stone”) is usually treated as a separate, transitional period between the bronze and stone ages, I am treating it together with the Early Bronze I. The criteria for distinguishing between them is not clear and cultures which are often assigned to the Chalcolithic, most notably the Ghassulian, overlap with the EB I sufficiently to treat them together anyway.

In the Standard Chronology (SC) the Chalcolithic is generally assigned the 6th to 4th millennia (5500 to 3300 BC) while the Early Bronze I is assigned to the end of the 4th millennium BC (3300-3000 BC). These dates are by no means settled and vary from region to region. I’ve adopted a lower chronology for this course which drastically lowers the dates for the Chalcolithic and assigns the years 3000-2750 BC to the Early Bronze I. My reasons for doing so will, I hope, become evident as we continue.

Outline

The following is brief summary of the topics covered in this section.

Places

• Uruk
• Susa
• Shengavit
• Teleilat el-Ghassul
• Megiddo
• Hierakonpolis

Artifacts

• a tall alabaster vase from Uruk
• the earliest writing tablets
• a silver bull figurine from Iran
• a spectacular hoard of copper objects discovered in a remote cave in Israel
• a beautiful flint knife from Egypt depicting a Sumerian ensi!
• large and finely cut cylinder seals from Uruk
• and pottery, lots of beautiful pottery!

Architecture

• one of the earliest and best preserved temples of Uruk
• the round houses of Shengavit with their elaborate hearths
• a fresco discovered at Hierakonpolis that shows an intriguing battle scene
• the “elephant shrine” of Upper Egypt
• the first “broadroom” temple at Megiddo and its inscribed stone pavement

Political and cultural events

• the beginnings of pharaonic Egypt
• the rise of Uruk and the formation of that city’s vast trading network
• the mysterious Ghassulians
• the earliest strata of Megiddo

Technologies

• writing
• stone-cutting
• the fast-wheel
• agriculture
• cylinder seal

Main arguments

• The climate has not been static for the past 10,000 years, as is often claimed. Regions uninhabitable today supported flourishing communities during the first half of the Early Bronze period.
• C14 dating tends to produce a chronology that is too high.
• The span of years assigned to the Ghassulian culture should be shortened by half and lowered by a millennium.