Discovered by G. Brunton, the paucity of data made it impossible to determine whether Tasa was a separate culture, a preliminary phase, or a mutation of the
Badarian culture (c.4300-3700 BCE). Its originality was manifested in the simple pottery (deep bowls and pots) of brown and grey-black; black or brownish-black polished beakers, decorated with incised lines filled with a white paste, constitute a special group.
Tasa may have occupied part of central and southern Egypt to the
Armant (Erment) region, whereas the Badari essentially occupied the northern part of
Upper Egypt (Matmar-Qau); some sites in the South, in the Wadi
Hammamat, and on the Red Sea coast may indicate that the Badarian were relatively-mobile. The economy was based on crops (wheat and barley), animal husbandry (goats, cattle, and sheep), and hunting. In Hemmamiya are found pear-shaped grain silos (3 meters/10 feet deep), lined with mats or baskets, and nearby are 'huts, fireplaces, and animal enclosures. The best-known artifactual inventory comes from the graves,of the extramural cemeteries, where, besides pottery, hollow-based arrowheads were found, as well as saw-edged sickle blades, stone axes, bone needles, pins, awls, and combs; ivory bracelets, beads, rings, vessels, spoons, and combs; cosmetic palettes, shell and stone beads, ear and nose studs, amulets, and clay boat models.
Copper was rare but the presence of turquoise and seashells indicates trade contacts along the Red Sea coast. The origin of the Badarian culture is unknown, but some features can be traced to Palestine (ceramic decoration called "rippling," crop cultivation, animal husbandry), the Western Desert oases (flint-tool techniques, animal husbandry), and Nubia (pottery decorations, animal husbandry). The Badarians seem to have combined various local traditions in forming the first stage of Upper Egyptian culture.
Recent Pages:
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Tell el-Maskhuta (Pithom)·
Second Intermediate Period·
Piya (744–714 BC)·
Plutarch (c.46-120 CE)·
Poultry in ancient Egypt·
El Oman·
Moerian
