Tasa-Badari

Ruins from Tasa-Badari

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:


·        Tell el-Maskhuta (Pithom)
·        Second Intermediate Period
·        Piya (744–714 BC)
·        Plutarch (c.46-120 CE)
·        Poultry in ancient Egypt
·        El Oman
·        Moerian