(Please read from the start)
It’s not clear what those female statuettes are. But I would like to ask anon to keep them in mind because we are going to combine them with the next peculiar objects = the boats. We’ve already seen a palette shaped as a boat (page 121). Remember that one? And we’ve already seen the boat on the handle of the Gebel Al-Arak knife, totally different representation with obvious canopy (page 137).
I was looking for boats in pre-dynastic Egypt and I found them in 2 places/items:
1 – Rock Carvings: In the Upper-Egypt Kingdom, East to the Nile, there are a series of valleys, called Wadi in Arabic (apparently), with loads of Rock carvings; with many themes, but the 2 dominant ones were: Animals with hunting scenes and Boat scenes.
For pictures see here: https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo/blemyan.html
I’m mainly going to talk about the carving in Wadi Umm Salam.
The notables:
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The animals: Apart their variety is the form of the giraffes: they look like the ones we know and NOT like the “supposed” ones on the palettes.
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The Boats: They have oars for rowing, and some have a canopy, a few had sails, but a small amount had that “structure” thing on them, like what we have with the “ship” palette. Some interpret these boats as used for ceremonial purposes because on some of them we have a person standing with raised arms: the same posture as the figurines we saw in page 142. They see those “Structures” as boat altars. While others see the boats as a means of transport, instead of using horses or camel; insinuating that in Upper-Egypt Boats were considered the main means of transport back then. I want to get anons attention on the fact that Upper-Egypt had many ties and was influenced by Tropical Africa, not just by the usage of the Koteka but also by the usage of Boats. Giving me thoughts of the Early Upper-Egyptians came from the Inner Nile region via Boats, just like how the Sumerians came down on the Euphrates River from the Armenian Plateau via the Kuphar. I know it’s not a very solid proof of the Early Egyptians doing that, but the smell is there, with second degree proofs in the Kotekas and the boat usage.
http://www.eastern-desert.com/wadi_umm_salam.html
“the rock-art. Umm Salam overwhelmingly has predynastic images, and none of the horse and camel riders. Although predynastic in character, it differs from other southern wadis in having only one 'frond' boat-and that uniquely contains two plumed 'arms raised' figures.”
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The “strange” geometric shapes: There are “strange” looking geometric shapes on the rocks that no one understands what they mean or what they represent. Some tried to explain these as maps or constellations. It’s open for debate.
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Page 143 –