AMRATIAN CULTURE

also called Naqadah I culture Egyptian predynastic cultural phase, centred in Upper Egypt, its type-site being al-'Amirah near Abydos in Qina muhafazah (governorate). Numerous sites, dating to about 3600 BC, have been excavated and reveal an agricultural way of life similar to that of the preceding Badarian culture, but with advanced skills and techniques, including mud-brick structures in fair-sized towns. Pottery characteristic of this period includes black-topped red ware and a dark-red burnished ware, occasionally decorated in white slip with bold linear designshuman or animal figures; on an Amratian shard excavated at Naqadah the earliest known representation of the pharaonic red crown is drawn. Other important remains include disk-shaped maceheads, slate cosmetic palettes, well-made stone vases and ivory carvings, and numerous figurines of various materials.