The ancient Egyptian civilization first emerged along the banks of the Nile River approximately eight thousand years ago. The first settled agricultural communities appeared around 6,000 BCE. The Egyptian people depended on the Nile River for their survival.

Libya is located to the west of Egypt, in the north of the Saharan Desert, on the North African shores of the Mediterranean. Libya was an important rival to Egypt throughout Egyptian history, but especially during the latter years. Libya actually conquered Egypt during the Third Intermediate Period and ruled as the twenty-second and twenty-third dynasties.

WMF Petrie, a well known Egyptologist, developed Sequence Dating among his other systematic methods for archaeology. Sequence dating uses pottery and ceramics found in archaeological layers to date the relative age of a settlement as compared to others in the region. Throughout the Predynastic period, handles and decorations on pottery evolved to become more ornamental, and so it is possible do deduce the relative age of a culture based on how decorative its pottery was. 

The main results of the beginning of agriculture were the crops of wheat, barley, and herbs. This phenomenon of agriculture replaced the prior theme of hunting and gathering. This allowed the people to supplement their diets and spend more time of the development of culture and civilization rather than spending all their time hunting and gathering. 

A hieroglyph is an ancient form of writing in which pictures represent words, syllables, or sounds. Hieroglyphs emerged during the Neolithic Era and have served as a means for archaeologists to learn about ancient Egypt. These pictures can be found on artifacts, on rocks, and on the walls of pyramids.

Over the course of its existence, Ancient Egypt grew to encompass not only the entire Nile Valley and Delta, but also nearly the entire north-east of the African continent, finally stopping only at the edge of the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile River Valley was the definitive and central location of the Empire – oftentimes, it is referred to as the veritable heart of the Egyptian civilization. The Nile Valley was crucial because of its unique concentration of many valuable natural resources, including animals, fish, stone, gold, minerals, and fertile soil – all of which were absolutely necessary to the survival of the Egyptian people. In some ways, the Nile River Valley is comparable to the Fertile Crescent of Mesopotamia, for it was in the Nile Valley in which North-East Africa’s first stable living settlements and sustainable agricultural practices initially emerged.

Most major Ancient Egyptian structures—from pyramids and temples to courthouses and palaces—were built in close proximity to the Nile River. While at first glance, this structural clustering might seem arbitrary or random, this phenomenon was not at all accidental. The Ancient Egyptians wisely turned the Nile’s immense length and steady current to their advantage by using the River as their primary means of transporting building materials. Not only was this method much faster than any of the other contemporary options, but it also allowed for the relatively easy transport of especially heavy materials, including the limestone, granite, and sandstone used to construct pyramids, temples, and sculptures.

The archaeological site at Merimde Beni Salama is important because it provides evidence used to date the formation of agricultural settlements in ancient Egypt. The ruins at Merimde Beni Salama date to approximately 5,000 BCE. Merimde Beni Salama is the earliest known agricultural settlement in ancient Egypt, so it tells us that the ancient Egyptians began practicing agriculture at least as early as 5,000 BCE.

The Merimde culture is a Neolithic society that flourished in Lower (northern) Egypt approximately 5,000 BCE. The Merimde culture are one of the earliest groups of people in ancient Egypt who have left some archaeological record behind and thus are very important to informing our understanding of predynastic Egypt.

Many predynastic communities arose in ancient Egypt around the cult worship of one or more Egyptian deities. The association between a society and a particular deity was important for the construction of a communal identity. The city-state of Nekhen (also called Hierakonpolis) most likely developed around the cult worship of Horus.