Sheikh Muftah culture

The Sheikh Muftah culture is attested in the western desert of Egypt and flourished in the 3rd millennium BCE, from about 3200–2000 BCE. They were most likely nomads.

The economical base of the culture was cattle and goat herding. Hunting animals, mainly gazelles, is also attested but seems to be rarer. Their pottery was mainly found at different sites near the oases of Dakhla and Kharga. Ceramics imported from the Nile valley are also common.

Archaeology

Few man-made structures were found at the excavated sites. The only remains are fireplaces and pits.[1] The Sheikh Muftah culture people used stone tools.

Pottery vessels

Typical artifacts of the Sheikh Muftah culture are pottery vessels, made of clay that is found at the oases, and of another clay also known from contemporary Egyptian pottery. Most vessels are simple bowls – decorated pottery is rare.[2]

Clayton Rings

A very typical object type found are small stone rings, called Clayton rings. The Rings are found spread over a vast area in the Al Dakhla Desert.[3] The rings were made during Egypt's first dynasties (c. 3100–2600BC), that is the Early Bronze Age.[4] Their function is unknown. The rings are named after the explorer Pat Clayton.[5]

Egyptian intrusion

From the middle 3rd millennium BCE onwards the oases occupied by the Sheikh Muftah culture came under Egyptian control. It seems that Egyptians and people of the Sheikh Muftah culture lived close by each other: Some Sheikh Muftah culture sites are found very close to Egyptian settlements.

See also

References
  1. McDonald, Mary M.A.; Churcher, Charles S.; Thanheiser, Ursula; Thompson, Jennifer; Teubner, Ines; Warfe, Ashten R. (December 2001). The mid-Holocene Sheikh Muftah cultural unit of Dakhleh Oasis, south central Egypt: A preliminary report on recent fieldwork. Nyame Akuma (Report). Vol. 56. pp. 4–10.
  2. Hendricks, Stan; Förster, Frank; Eyckerman, Merel (2013). "The Pharaonic pottery of the Abu Balls Trail: 'Filling stations' along a desert highway in southwestern Egypt". In Förster, Frank; Riemer, Heiko (eds.). Desert Road Archaeology in Egypt and Beyond. Cologne, DE. pp. 341–343. ISBN 9783927688414.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  3. "IMAGE: Map of the Western Desert of Egypt with distribution of Clayton rings and disks in association with distribution of Sheikh Muftah pottery; the location of Sheikh Muftah sites in the oases and a possible Sheikh Muftah area of influence are also highlighted (after Riemer 2009, figure 1)" – via ResearchGate.
  4. https://oi-idb-static.uchicago.edu/multimedia/88/oimp33.pdf
  5. "A desert enigma: Clayton rings".
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