Fayoum Culture

Early Periods of Occupation

Located in a large depression filled through glacial processes, the Fayoum was originally fed by a branch of the Nile, thus linking its rise and fall to the annual inundation levels. The earliest remains from occupations of the Fayoum date to 10,000 BC. Early inhabitants of the Fayoum (ca. 6500–5500 BC) combined fishing, hunting, and foraging, all made possible by the swamps and forests supported by the lake. This formed the basis for the Quarunian industry, known for flakes, blades, fishing, and large-mammal hunting, including gazelles, hartebeest, fish, and hippos. Grain grinding was practiced but not an integral part of the local diet. Nile fish caught in receding floodwaters facilitated fishing during the late spring each year.

Around 5500 BC, the people of the Fayoum were either replaced, displaced, or converted to the Neolithic culture, when they started farming wheat, grains, and barley, as well as domesticating sheep and cattle. The earliest evidence for an agricultural economy in Egypt can be found at the site of Mirimde Bene Salame, with cereals likely introduced to Egypt from southwest Asia, as well as domesticated sheep, goats, and some species of cattle.

Other possible origins include the northeast Jordan valley or Sudan or Saharan cultures such as those found in Bir Kiseiba or Nabta Playa. Even though the Fayoum people are culturally related to the Bir Kiseiba and Nabta people, resources locally available allowed them to hunt, fish, and gather for a much longer people of time. Numerous hearths (ca. 5500–4500 BC) appeared along the lake edges, yet excavations have not uncovered permanent occupations, due to potential seasonal inhabitation in reed huts.

The Fayoum B and Fayoum A cultures occurred during this time, also known as the “Fayoum Neolithic” (ca. 5200–4000BC). Numerous grain silos were observed at Kom K, with Kom W as the largest settlement from this period. Material culture observed includes pottery and concave-base arrowheads. Around 4000 BC, the Fayoum became a marginal area, due to human dependence on resources affected by seasonal changes in lakeshore levels. The Nile Valley became more reliable, with increased land to farm, and sites located along the Nile becoming trade and exchange routes.

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