Barbary sheep and three dogs between two rocky hills on C-Ware elliptica bowl, Gebelein (?), Naqada IA-IIB period
Cylinder seal impression with goat, sheep and temple, Khafajeh, 3350-2900 BC
Fragment of ivory from Tomb of Den, Umm el-Qaab (Abydos), 1st Dynasty period
Note the hand, zigzag line (rocks), and temple façade compared with the cylinder seal above.
Gebelein painted linen, Gebelein, ca. 3600 BC
Tag (P002208), Uruk, ca. 3350-3200 BC
AN |SZU2.EN~a| (cover.lord) DARA4~a1 (red) KU6~a (fish)
C-Ware bottle, Gebelein, Naqada IA-IIB period
According to the Sumerian king list, Etana, "a shepherd, who went up (or down) to An (𒀭) and made firm Kur Kur (𒆳𒆳)," became king.
Sumerian: kur (𒆳) = mountain
The name Gebelein means "two rocky hills" in Arabic
Sumerian: EN = the lord from Gebelein
Rod and ring
Gebelein painted linen, Gebelein
Cylinder seal with "ring-post," Nuzi (?), ca. 3300-2900 BC
Boat and bull
Skull of a bovine, Gebelein, 3900-3300 BC
Gebelein painted linen, Gebelein
Petroglyph of a boat and a bull at HK61A in Hierakonpolis
Cylinder seal impression with a boat and a bull, Uruk, ca. 3300-2900 BC
Gebel el-Arak Knife (front), Gebel el-Arak (?), ca. 3600-3300 BC
Tablet (P002557), Uruk, ca. 3350-3200 BC
Feasting
Together with the lithic evidence for butchery, the faunal assemblage—which contains the larger average size of cattle, young sheep and goat, and the Nile perch (up to 2 metres)— suggests that feasting took place at HK29A (Ceremonial Center) in Hierakonpolis.
Early Dynastic stone plaque with feasting scene, Nippur, Inana Temple
C-Ware sherd from HK6 Tomb 22 area at Hierakonpolis, Naqada IA–IIB period
Etymology
Mesopotamia = the land (suffix: -ia) in the middle (the ancient Greek: mesos) of the river (potamos; singular, not plural)
The river (potamos) = the Nile River (?)
When reading Herodotus' Histories in the original Greek, while he uses the proper noun "Neilos" (Νεῖλος), he frequently refers to it simply as "ho potamos" (ὁ ποταμός) within the context. Here, "ho" corresponds to the English definite article "the," and "potamos" means "river."
Hippopotamus = hippos (horse) + potamos (river)
It is worth noting that the hippopotamus was native to the Nile.
Map of Hierakonpolis (Image: P. Robinson)
Today Hierakonpolis appears as two separate archaeological zones. One is the low grass covered mound located in the midst of the cultivation. This is the remains of the town and temple mound of the Dynastic site of ‘Nekhen’. The other zone is the collection of inter-related localities stretching across the low desert representing the multi-component Predynastic occupation of Hierakonpolis.
Channel deposits found at the base of the nearly 9m deep borehole confirm the presence of a waterway in Predynastic times that made early ‘Nekhen’ an island; but by the Early Dynastic this channel had almost entirely filled in.
