Author Description

The predynastic necropolis of Kom el-Khilgan (Eastern Delta) was the subject of four excavation campaigns from 2002 to 2004 carried out within the framework of the IFAO. Several test-pits were conducted which uncovered a funeral complex of great interest for a better understanding of major cultural changes that occurred in Egypt during the fourth millennium. Two hundred and thirty nine tombs were excavated, which can clearly be allocated to two distinct groups differentiating by their burial practice and funeral equipment. The first belongs to the Lower Egyptian Culture and can be dated to the first half of the 4th millennium, the second to the Naqada Culture (Upper Egypt), which occupied the second half of the 4th millennium to the emergence of the State about 3000 BC. This book is divided into two parts: the complete catalogue of the tombs, described by the anthropologists who excavated them, and a synthesis that proposes in conclusion to reconsider in the light of the observations made at Kom el-Khilgan, the question of the "Naqadian expansion", which is nowadays much discussed.