Changes

During the early phases of agricultural development in the ancient Near East, Egypt was a society of small-scale hunter gatherers living not only in the Nile valley but also what are today the desert regions of North Africa and the deserts to the east and west of the Nile. At around 8000 BC, the climate had shifted from very dry conditions to much wetter conditions due to the global retreat of the great ice sheets and glaciers (Figure 1). The Sahara Desert, among the driest regions in the world today, was a savannah like environment more similar to the Serengeti than the harsh desert of today. People were able to roam in this region, living on hunting of even big game such as animals, possibly including elephants and wildebeests. Lakes and open woodlands were also found. The Nile certainly exists but was not only a more lush region and but it was also swampy as it was also influenced by summer monsoon rains that are more northerly than they are today. This also made the Mediterranean have more water flow into it, influencing rainfall conditions in Asia. In general, the relatively wet period was a conducive for hunting and gathering in north Africa and Egypt. Farming would have existed mostly in the Middle East, but it would not have been a major economic focus in Egypt between 8000-5000 BC. Domestic animals do appear more at around 6000 BC, including cattle, suggesting herders were also beginning to develop. Herders were likely not only using the Nile but also going out to what are desert regions to graze their animals. The relatively wet conditions made the desert regions also more attractive for herds. If the Nile was more humid, it could have also been full of malaria and more disease prone, possibly pushing away some early settlers.<ref>For more on the wet Early Holocene period that influenced northern Africa and Egypt, see: Kuper, R. (2006). Climate-Controlled Holocene Occupation in the Sahara: Motor of Africa’s Evolution. <i>Science</i>, 313(5788), 803–807. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1130989 </ref>