Merimde Beni Salama
Merimde · Merimda · Beni Salama
Neolithic Merimde culture (4800–4300 BCE)·Lower Egyptian Neolithic (Merimde)·🇪🇬 Beheira Governorate (Western Delta), Egypt
About
About Merimde Beni Salama
Merimde Beni Salama is Egypt's largest Neolithic village, 4800–4300 BCE Merimde culture, 44 ha mound with 1.5 m stratigraphy, oval houses 5×3 m wattle-and-daub, burial in settlement, lithics, polished axes and earliest Egyptian sickle blades for emmer cultivation. Eiwanger DAI excavations 1977–82. Pottery black-burnished and straw-tempered. Proves Lower Egyptian Neolithic preceding Badari–Naqada divide, denied as 'Maadi–Buto' older model.
Why it mattersLargest Egyptian Neolithic settlement; Lower–Upper Egypt Neolithic divergence proof.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Merimde–Fayum vs Levantine origin
- 02Desert vs Delta fishing economy
Theories
- 01IndependentDelta Neolithic vs Levantine diffusion (Eiwanger)
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- 4800 BCE village founded
- Period
- Neolithic Merimde culture (4800–4300 BCE)
- Culture
- Lower Egyptian Neolithic (Merimde)
- Builders
- Delta Neolithic farmers
- Purpose
- Delta Neolithic farming settlement with storage and burial
- Excavation
- Excavated
4800 BCE
Village founded
4500 BCE
Oval houses peak
4300 BCE
Abandoned
1977
Eiwanger DAI excavations
On the ground
Structures & features
30.3340° N · 30.9250° E · 15 m · 2 mapped features
Oval House Cluster
house5×3 m wattle houses cluster
30.3350° N · 30.9260° EBurial Area
burialIntramural burials within settlement
30.3330° N · 30.9240° E
Gallery