Naqada South Town (Khattara Settlement)
Naqada South · Khattara · Nubt South · Nagada South
Predynastic to Early Dynastic (4000–2686 BCE)·Naqada culture (Egyptian Predynastic)·🇪🇬 Qena Governorate, Khattara desert ridge south of Naqada (Nubt), west bank Nile near Qena Bend, Egypt
About
About Naqada South Town (Khattara Settlement)
Predynastic centre (Nubt) south settlement, Khattara ridge shows Naqada II town (3650–3300 BCE) 6 ha, elite cemetery South (SPA1, 150 graves with copper axes, stone vessels), chert blade workshop (sickle blades 20 kg debitage), and First Dynasty mastaba row later. Petrie's South Town. Protodynastic palace-façade tombs.
Why it mattersPredynastic state-formation sequence: town → elite cemetery → dynastic mastaba superposition.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01South vs North cemetery chiefdom rivalry
- 02Copper provenance
Theories
- 01Petrie–Kaiser Naqada seriation
- 02Hassan Khattara model
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- Naqada II 3650 BCE town; South cemetery 3500–3000 BCE
- Period
- Predynastic to Early Dynastic (4000–2686 BCE)
- Culture
- Naqada culture (Egyptian Predynastic)
- Builders
- Naqada (Nubt) elite
- Purpose
- Proto-Pharaonic town and elite cemetery demonstrating state emergence
- Excavation
- Partially excavated
4000 BCE
Badari base
3650 BCE
Naqada II town 6 ha
3400 BCE
South cemetery elite burials
3000 BCE
First Dynasty mastaba over cemetery
On the ground
Structures & features
25.9000° N · 32.7170° E · 78 m · 2 mapped features
South Cemetery SPA1
cemetery150 pit graves with copper axes, lapis and predynastic palette
25.9010° N · 32.7180° EChert Blade Workshop
workshopSickle blade workshop 40×30 m with 20 kg debitage and cores
25.8990° N · 32.7160° E