Editing History of Egypt (section)

== Predynastic Egypt (pre-3150 BC) ==
{{Main|Prehistoric Egypt|Population history of Egypt}}
[[File:Predynastic collage (new version).jpg|thumb|Artifacts of Egypt from the prehistoric period, from 4400 to 3100 BC. First row from top left: a [[Badari culture|Badarian]] ivory figurine, a [[Naqada culture|Naqada II]] jar, a [[Bat (goddess)|Bat]] figurine. Second row: a [[diorite]] vase, a [[Gebel el-Arak Knife|flint knife]], a [[cosmetic palette]].]]
There is evidence of [[petroglyphs]] along the [[Nile]] terraces and in desert oases. In the 10th millennium BC, a culture of [[hunter-gatherer]]s and [[fishing|fishermen]] was replaced by a [[cereal|grain]]-grinding culture. [[African humid period|Climate changes and/or overgrazing around 6000 BC began to desiccate the pastoral lands of Egypt]], forming the [[Sahara]]. Early tribal peoples migrated to the Nile River, where they developed a settled agricultural [[Economic system|economy]] and more centralized society.<ref>Midant-Reynes, Béatrix. ''The Prehistory of Egypt: From the First Egyptians to the First Kings''. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers.</ref>

By about 6000 BC, a [[Neolithic]] culture had taken root in the Nile Valley.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.worldtimelines.org.uk/world/africa/nile_valley/6000-4000BC |title=The Nile Valley 6000–4000 BC Neolithic |publisher=The British Museum |year=2005 |access-date=21 August 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090214084636/http://www.worldtimelines.org.uk/world/africa/nile_valley/6000-4000BC |archive-date=14 February 2009 |df=dmy-all }}</ref> During the Neolithic era, several predynastic cultures developed independently in [[Upper and Lower Egypt]]. The [[Badari culture]] and the successor [[Naqada culture|Naqada]] series are generally regarded as precursors to [[Ancient Egypt|dynastic Egypt]]. The earliest known Lower Egyptian site, [[Merimde culture|Merimde]], predates the Badarian by about seven hundred years. Contemporaneous Lower Egyptian communities coexisted with their southern counterparts for more than two thousand years, remaining culturally distinct, but maintaining frequent contact through trade. The earliest known evidence of [[Egyptian hieroglyphs|Egyptian hieroglyphic]] inscriptions appeared during the predynastic period on Naqada III pottery vessels, dated to about 3200 BC.<ref>[[Kathryn A. Bard|Bard, Kathryn A.]], Ian Shaw, ed. ''The Oxford Illustrated History of Ancient Egypt''. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000. p. 69.</ref>