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A-Group
KATE LISZKA

The term A-Group, introduced by George

Andrew Reisner in 1910, designates an archaeological tradition located primarily between
the first and second cataracts in Egypt and
Sudan, dating to ca. 37502800 BCE. Scholars
have written a cultural history of the A-Group
based on the presence, absence, and movement
of this tradition.
The cultural history has been divided
into three archaeological phases, whose dates
have been established based on Egyptian
imports found in A-Group tombs. A-Group
archaeological remains migrate southward
over time. The Early A-Group (ca. 37303250)
is contemporary with the Egyptian Naqada
IIId1. Remains have been found from Nag
el-Qarmila to Sayala. The Classic or Middle
A-Group (ca. 32503150) equates to Naqada
IId2IIIa2. Remains were found from Kubaniya
southward. The Late or Terminal A-Group
(ca. 31502800) equals Naqada IIIb to early
2nd Dynasty. Sites are primarily located from
the first cataract to the Semna Gorge. However,
A-Group evidence also existed at Kerma,
a pottery depot existed in the Western/Sahara
Desert at Bir Sahara, and trading or redistribution centers existed at Khor Daoud, Elephantine, and possibly Sayala. These sites
indicate that some bearers of A-Group material
culture participated in longdistance trade (see
ELEPHANTINE, PHARAONIC; KERMA). Numerous
Egyptian imports also indicate A-Group trading practices. Settlements and cemeteries of
the Late A-Group reflect a stratified, prosperous
society.
Extensive A-Group cemeteries demonstrate
that this archaeological tradition should be
associated with indigenous Nubians, who
interacted heavily with the Egyptians and who
used no written records of their own. They lived
in small communities, practicing agriculture
and animal husbandry. The archaeological traditions of the A-Group and the contemporary

Naqada culture (i.e., early Egyptians) share

similar origins (ca. 3700), but grow distinct
over time. The A-Group is recognized primarily
by its diagnostic ceramics. These include delicate, handmade vessels, often with a polished
red-slip exterior and black-slipped interior.
Painted and incised geometric designs, often
mimicking basketwork, are common. Blacktopped red wares are known, similar to Naqada
vessels, but are distinguished through a cattledung temper found in most A-Group ceramics
(see POTTERY, PHARAONIC EGYPT).
A-Group tombs are oval or subrectangular
pits, sometimes with an adjoining chamber.
Bodies are typically interred in fetal position,
on their right sides with their faces pointed
west. They are buried with grave-goods including pottery, jewelry, seated female figurines,
numerous Egyptian imports, and objects that
indicate longdistance trade like ostrich eggs,
mollusk shells, and exotic hides. No superstructures are known for the tombs. The quality and abundance of the grave-goods denote
social stratification; the tombs at Qustul in the
Late Phase are the wealthiest discovered
A-Group tombs.
A-Group
settlements
include
some
house structures that resemble seasonal/
temporary campsites, which may indicate
semi-nomadism. Yet houses at centers like
Dakka, Qustul, Afia, and others have up to
six rooms and are constructed with sandstone
rubble in the Late Phase, which indicates a
sedentary lifestyle for some bearers of
A-Group culture.
Around 2800, A-Group archaeological
remains disappear, and no indigenous population is archaeologically visible in Lower Nubia
until the rise of the C-Group (ca. 2400) (see
C-GROUP). Scholars have attributed this disappearance to Egyptian military raids, supported
by (1) the Gebel Sheikh Suleiman depiction of
Egyptians removing bound prisoners; (2) the
Egyptian name for Lower Nubia, The Land of
the Bow (t-sty), determined with a bound
prisoner; and (3) the fortification of Buhen in
the 2nd Dynasty. Some scholars argue that

The Encyclopedia of Ancient History, First Edition. Edited by Roger S. Bagnall, Kai Brodersen, Craige B. Champion, Andrew Erskine,
and Sabine R. Huebner, print pages 229230.
2013 Blackwell Publishing Ltd. Published 2013 by Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
DOI: 10.1002/9781444338386.wbeah15018

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Egyptian raids removed so many cattle and
people from Lower Nubia that they destroyed
the A-Group economy, causing their disappearance. Sometimes scholars cite the Palermo
Stone (see KING LISTS, PHARAONIC EGYPT), which
notes that Sneferu took from Nubia 7,000
captives and 200,000 cattle and herds (see
SNEFERU). Nevertheless, 120 years separate the
disappearance of the A-Group archaeologically
from the reign of Sneferu. The cause(s) of the
A-Groups disappearance has not yet been
determined.
SEE ALSO: Early Dynastic Period, Egypt;
Naqada (Nagada); Nubia; Predynastic
Period, Egypt.

REFERENCES AND SUGGESTED READINGS

Davies, W. V. (1993) Egypt and Africa: Nubia
from prehistory to Islam. London.
Gatto, M. and Giuliani, S. (2007) Survey between
Aswan and Kom Ombo. Egyptian Archaeology
30: 69.
Midant-Reynes, B. (2000) The prehistory of Egypt:
from the first Egyptians to the first pharaohs.
Malden, MA.

Nordstrom, H.-A. (1972) Neolithic and A-Group

Sites: Scandinavian Joint Expedition to Sudanese
Nubia, 3. Stockholm.
Nordstrom, H.-A. (2004) The Nubian A-Group:
perceiving a social landscape. In T. Kendall,
ed., Proceedings of the Ninth International
Conference of the International Society of Nubian
Studies: 13444. Boston.
Rampersad, S. (2000) The origin and relationships
of the Nubian A-Group. Ottawa.
Rampersad, S. (2003) A re-analysis of A-Group
habitation and settlement patterns. Beitrage zur
Sudanforschung 8: 89105.
Raue, D. (2008) Who was who in Elephantine of
the third millennium BC? British Museum Studies
in Ancient Egypt and Sudan 9: 114.
Reisner, G. A. (1910) The Archaeological Survey
of Nubia: report for 19071908. Cairo.
Takamiya, I. H. (2004) Egyptian pottery distribution
in A-Group cemeteries, Lower Nubia: toward an
understanding of exchange systems between the
Naqada Culture and the A-Group culture. Journal
of Egyptian Archaeology 90: 3562.
Torok, L. (2009) Between two worlds: the frontier
region between ancient Nubia and Egypt
3700 BC500 AD. Leiden.
Trigger, B. (1965) History and settlement in Lower
Nubia. New Haven.