However, the bibliography and further readings are out of date the most recent I can find is for 2000. The website itself has not been updated since 2005 although some of the web pages seem to be older than this.
The information seems to be mainly informative for visitors and non-academics as they do not cite the sources used, as in, it does not say whose ideas have been used or who has actually written the information. We can assume that the information is accurate but it would not be able to be used directly for academic purposes to back up arguments although the bibliography could be used for further reading. The information would be “generally known” in the academic field. The web site would be a good starting point for somebody to get a general over view of the site.
After considering the information on this web page I would use it as a source in my bibliography but would check with more authoritative information to ensure it was correct. The information seems to be written by authoritative sources but I have no way to back up my arguments as there is no clear referencing or citing of the information. The web page is a good source to start my research and give me an overview of the excavations but I would need to ensure I was using this page alongside academic literature.
Is the settlement featured in the website you have worked on in Part 1 of this TMA a city? Discuss the characterisation of the site you have worked on in Part 1 of this TMA with reference to the various criteria used to define a city.
The settlement I will be discussing is the site at Hierakonpolis (Nekhen) located in Upper Egypt. The site at Hierakonpolis extends between the predynastic period of 4000 - 3100 BC also known as the Nagada I - III cultural sequence ( 1957). Using V. Gordon Childs 10 point criteria I will discuss whether the settlement at Hierakonpolis can be called a city.
The location of the settlement at Hierokonopolis differs from previous settlements as it was on the river banks of the Nile extending along approx 205 km and 3.5 km in width. Other settlements were situated on low desert escarpments paralleling the floodplain.
The settlement grew in prominence mainly during Naqada II (3500– BC). The population of Hierakonopolis has been estimated between 5000 - 10 000 inhabitants which ahs been attributed to the agricultural potential of the area. (Hoffman).This hypothesis is supported by the (chap 10 pg 371) several thousand pre-dynastic graves found in the area and 50 sites of pre-dynastic, occupation and industry excavated ( Hoffman 1982: 123-127). Childe states that cities are larger and more heavily populated than previous settlements.
Differentiation in population – not all producing food
The excavation team have identified a potters house and workshop. The carbon-14 date for this establishment is about 3590 BC, placing it in the early Nagada II period. The locality given to this discovery is Burnt House hk29. It is the oldest house to have been discovered preserved.
An Industrial brewery has been identified (locality hk24). The Carbon dating showed the brewery was used around 3,500 BC, making it the oldest brewery known in the world able to produce 300 gallons a day.
System of writing
Hieroglyphic writing has been identified at the settlement at hk64 a campsite that may have had military connections. The writing was revealed to be religious texts examples are the referencing of Hathor "The Gold, she appears in glory". The Narmer palette was thought to be one of the earliest known examples of hieroglyphics 1890s, which has been dated to c.3200 BC.
Symbolic art
Trade
Pottery found at the temple is examples of trade. The shapes, red washed jars and fine black polished ovoid pots are not are unknown or rare in Egypt and pottery from Delta and Canaan has also been found giving evidence for commercial trade.
Hierakonpolis was also conveniently located for potential trade with southern areas like Nubia. Midant-Reynes 2000, p.47)
Temple
The temple discovered at Hierakonpolis in 1985 has been shown to dominate the settlement and can also be described as a religious centre. The temple was dedicated to of Horus, the patron god of Egypt. There has been a wide variety of fauna found at the temple site as well as pottery. Radiocarbon dates from the site place activity in the Nagada IIcd/ Gerzean phase of the Predynastic, c. 3400 BC.
First of all, what is a city? In 1950, the eminent prehistorian V. Gordon Childe published an article describing 10 ‘abstract criteria, all deducible from archaeological data [that] serve to distinguish even the earliest cities from any older or contemporary village’ (Childe, 1950, pp.9–16). Summarised, they are: 1size– cities are more extensive and more dense than previous settlements 2 there is differentiation in the population of a city – not everyone produces their own food – there are craftsmen, officials, priests, etc. 3 there is payment of tax to a deity or king, who concentrated the surplus wealth of the community 4 there are monumental public buildings 5 those people not producing food are supported by the rulers, who held the surplus 6 systems of recording and practical science are needed 7 there is a system of writing 8 there is the development of symbolic art 9thereis trade– the importation of raw materials 10 the specialist craftsmen become members of a community that is defined by residence and not kinship. As noted on p.196 of HP, these points describe a city rather than explain how and why it developed, but they do provide a useful checklist of the qualities found in cities. They have been much criticised and refined since they were first presented, but they still provide a rough guide that can be applied all around the world. The word ‘urbanism’ is often used as a shorthand for describing the way of life of people living in cities, and so Childe’s10 criteria can be described as features of urbanism.
Exercise
Now listen to Track 3 on the audio CD. As you listen, note down any features of urbanism that don’tseemtobeincludedwithinChilde’s 10 criteria.
Discussion
Perhaps surprisingly, after more than 50 years Childe’s criteria still seem to be useful. The examples you have heard discussed do, however, introduce several further features. There is a general insistence on social complexity – although all of Childe’s criteria are themselves aspects of complexity. More emphasis has also been placed on the role of individuals –leaders –in the formation of cities and on the role of religion in the formation of states and cities. There is a greater emphasis on the place of a city within a settlement hierarchy and its relationship to the surrounding territory, often described as a state. This point was introduced by Michael Smith in his description of the functional definition of cities. Unlike Childe’s criteria, which describe features found in cities, Smith describes ‘urban functions’that operate from the city out into the surrounding territory –the state.
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Hoffman, M. A.; Egypt Before the Pharaohs; New York: Barnes & Noble
Midant-Reynes, Beatrix in Shaw, Ian (ed.) 2000
The Naqada Period
In The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt
Oxford University Press
