6000-4000 BC Neolithic

From 12000 BC North Africa underwent a series of climate changes. Following an arid phase which forced people closer to river and lakes, Egypt became more humid. Archaeological evidence shows that from 6000 BC onwards Neolithic culture was firmly rooted in the Nile Valley.

Neolithic settlements occur in the Western Delta of the River Nile, the Faiyum depression (a semi-oasis to the west of the river) and along the river well into the Sudan. Houses were often oval structures with lower walls of clay and chopped straw and upper walls and roofs of branches and reeds. Many types of flint-flake tools, axes and arrow-heads have been found as well as evidence of sunken silos of reed or pottery used for storing wheat and barley. The Neolithic Egyptians ate domesticated cattle, sheep, goats and pig, a rich supply of fish, and hunted animals including hares and hippopotami.

The significant development of the Neolithic Period was the Badarian Culture of Upper Egypt. The Badarians produced fine pottery, particularly highly polished red vessels with black tops achieved by inverting the pots in ash. Notable objects found in Badarian oval pit-tombs in the desert include siltstone palettes for grinding pigments for eye make-up, ostrich eggs converted into containers, and figurines, mainly of women, made from clay or ivory.