Black Genesis: The Prehistoric Origins of Ancient Egypt

have been placed by humans, possibly as a gnomon with both solar and phallic allusions.
Figure 4.16. Isolated standing stone north of Jebel Uwainat, oriented slightly off zenith and possibly a prehistoric
gnomon.
Bagnold Circle gives all indications of being from the Neolithic epoch. It is probably a vestige left by traveling
pastoralists whose temporary settlements dot the desert region that lead from the circle to Gilf Kebir and, in all
likelihood, had their permanent abode in the wadis and plateaus of the Gilf Kebir and Jebel Uwainat mountains. The
similarities of both the stones and the astronomical alignments of the Bagnold Circle and the Calendar Circle at Nabta
Playa strongly suggest that we are dealing with the same Late Neolithic people whose images are present in the rock art
of Gilf Kebir and, more prolifically, at Jebel Uwainat. Further, at Jebel Uwainat, the engraved arrow that we discovered
and that quite plausibly was intended to mark the summer solstice sunset was probably associated with the same extended
cultural group. More explorations are necessary to find the human remains of these astro-ceremonialists and navigators
of the Egyptian Sahara, but these findings contribute another important aspect to our story of how their knowledge of
astronomy, desert navigation, rudimentary agriculture, and domestication of cattle were important elements in the
creation of the pharaonic state when, around 3400 BCE, the Sahara became super-arid and forced these mysterious desert
dwellers to migrate eastward into the Nile Valley.
Figure 4.17. Elevated horizontal rock face at the northern edge of Jebel Uwainat, with engraved linear features and
arrow pointing to the summer solstice sunset
So, with such thoughts in mind, we set out on what was a scorchingly hot and rugged drive to Gilf Kabir. We will
pick up this story at the end of chapter 5. Meanwhile we ask: Who were these mysterious people that populated the
Egyptian Sahara in such remote antiquity? How did they look? Can we refer to them as Egyptians? Perhaps most
intriguing of all, where had they come from in the first place?