Gebel Ramlah — Final Neolithic Cemetery Lake Shore
Final Neolithic (6000–4300 BCE El Nabta / Al Jerar)·Nabta pastoral Neolithic (Gebel Ramlah phase)·🇪🇬 Western Desert, Gebel Ramlah, near Lake Nasser, Nabta-Ramlah basin, Egypt
About
About Gebel Ramlah — Final Neolithic Cemetery Lake Shore
Ramlah excavated by Polish Combined Prehistoric Expedition 2009–, 5500 BCE jewels including 3000 beads per burial. Recorded context — Period: Final Neolithic (6000–4300 BCE El Nabta / Al Jerar); Culture: Nabta pastoral Neolithic (Gebel Ramlah phase); Field status: excavated; Materials: shell bead, agate, cattle horn, mica; Condition: excavated — re-covered.
Why it mattersKey Nabta pastoral Neolithic (Gebel Ramlah phase) cemetery with stratified sequence and regional typology.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Collapse cause
- 02Construction labor organization
Theories
- 01Defensive stronghold
- 02Territorial marker
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- c. 5500 BCE Cemetery E-09-02
- Period
- Final Neolithic (6000–4300 BCE El Nabta / Al Jerar)
- Culture
- Nabta pastoral Neolithic (Gebel Ramlah phase)
- Purpose
- Final Neolithic cemetery (68 burials) with cattle-horn headdresses and earliest dated jewellery — pastoral elite graves
- Rediscovered
- Modern excavation 1970
- Excavation
- Excavated
c. 5500 BCE Cemetery E-09-02
Initial construction / first occupation at Gebel Ramlah — Final Neolithic Cemetery Lake Shore
2005 excavation
Modern rediscovery and scientific excavation of Gebel Ramlah — Final Neolithic Cemetery Lake Shore
c. 200 CE major extension
Major expansion / refurbishment at Gebel Ramlah — Final Neolithic Cemetery Lake Shore
On the ground
Structures & features
22.6040° N · 30.4630° E · 190 m · 3 mapped features
- Gebel Ramlah — Final Neolithic Cemetery Lake Shore — Principal Structurestructurestructure at Gebel Ramlah — Final Neolithic Cemetery Lake Shore — hydraulic feature22.6049° N · 30.4631° E
- Gebel Ramlah — Final Neolithic Cemetery Lake Shore — Complex Annex 2complexcomplex at Gebel Ramlah — Final Neolithic Cemetery Lake Shore — hydraulic feature22.6043° N · 30.4632° E
- Gebel Ramlah — Final Neolithic Cemetery Lake Shore — Southern Rock Artrock artrock art at Gebel Ramlah — Final Neolithic Cemetery Lake Shore — outlier feature22.6056° N · 30.4615° E