The Sheikh Muftah culture is attested in the western desert of

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

and flourished in the 3rd millennium BCE, from about 3200–2000 BCE. They were most likely nomads. The economical base of the culture was

cattle Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, cloven-hooved, herbivores. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus ''Bos''. Adult females are referred to as cows and adult mal ...

and

goat The goat or domestic goat (''Capra hircus'') is a domesticated species of goat-antelope typically kept as livestock. It was domesticated from the wild goat (''C. aegagrus'') of Southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the a ...

herding. Hunting animals, mainly

gazelle A gazelle is one of many antelope species in the genus ''Gazella'' . This article also deals with the seven species included in two further genera, ''Eudorcas'' and ''Nanger'', which were formerly considered subgenera of ''Gazella''. A third f ...

s, is also attested but seems to be rarer. Their pottery was mainly found at different sites near the

oases In ecology, an oasis (; ) is a fertile area of a desert or semi-desert environment'ksar''with its surrounding feeding source, the palm grove, within a relational and circulatory nomadic system.” The location of oases has been of critical imp ...

of Dakhla and

Kharga The Kharga Oasis (Arabic: , ) ; Coptic: ( "Oasis of Hib", "Oasis of Psoi") is the southernmost of Egypt's five western oases. It is located in the Western Desert, about 200 km (125 miles) to the west of the Nile valley. "Kharga" or ...

. Ceramics imported from the Nile valley are also common.

Archaeology

Few man-made structures were found at the excavated sites. The only remains are fireplaces and pits. The Sheikh Muftah culture people used stone tools.

Pottery vessels

Typical artifacts of the Sheikh Muftah culture are pottery vessels, made of clay that is found at the oases, and of another clay also known from contemporary Egyptian pottery. Most vessels are simple bowls – decorated pottery is rare.

Clayton Rings

A very typical object type found are small stone rings, called ''Clayton rings''. The Rings are found spread over a vast area in the Al Dakhla Desert. The rings were made during Egypt’s first dynasties (c. 3100–2600BC), that is the Early Bronze Age. Their function is unknown. The rings are named after the explorer

Pat Clayton Patrick Andrew Clayton DSO MBE (16 April 1896 – 17 March 1962) was a British surveyor and soldier. He was the basis for the character of Peter Madox in ''The English Patient''. Career Clayton was born in Croydon, London, in April 1896 and, af ...

Egyptian intrusion

From the middle 3rd millennium BCE onwards the oases occupied by the Sheikh Muftah culture came under Egyptian control. It seems that Egyptians and people of the Sheikh Muftah culture lived close by each other: Some Sheikh Muftah culture sites are found very close to Egyptian settlements.

References

{{reflist, 22em Ancient peoples Neolithic cultures of Africa

Archaeology

Pottery vessels

Clayton Rings

Egyptian intrusion

See also

References