Abstract
The impact of palaeoclimatic changes and fluctuation of Nile floods on Ancient Egyptian Civilization.
M.A. Hamdan1, F.A. Hassan2, R.J. Flower2
1 Department of Geology, Cairo University, Egypt
2 Cultural Heritage Program, French University in Egypt
3Department of Geography, University College London, UK
The results of two drilling programs carried out in Fayium Depression and Abu Sir -Saqqara area indicate that a short and abrupt low Nile event occurred at the end of the Old Kingdom. The cores drilled in the center of the Fayium Depression indicates that deposits from the Old Kingdom lake were missing, suggesting that the lake had dried up and the Old Kingdom deposits were winnowed away. The Abu Sir - Saqqara cores show the existence of about two meters aeolian sand, and calcareous soil overlying Nile flood silt with Old Kingdom pottery. The cores also suggest shifting of the ancient Egyptian Capital from an area close to the plateau to its current location at Memphis due to accumulation of windblown sand.
Geoarchaeological investigation and 14C dating reveal that during a short time span (2200-2050BC), there was a natural disaster led to collapse of number of ancient civilizations took place around the Mediterranean: the very low Nile River floods led to the collapse of the Old Kingdom Civilization in Egypt, decline of the Akkadian Empire in Mesopotamian, the end of the Harappan Civilization in Indus Valley and the collapse of the Early Minoan civilization in Crete. This natural disaster caused by short and abrupt global cold and draught condition that could be illustrated by several paleoclimatic clues both in Egypt and allover the World. For example, the African lakes, in Ethiopia, Uganda, Ghana, Rwanda and Burundi recorded their lowest level during the period 2250 to 2050 BC. The draught also recorded in Kilimanjaro Ice Core, where it contains unusual thick black dust band that is dated around 2200 BC. Sever draught is also indicated by a marine core from Gulf of Oman, which contains high concentration of wind-borne dolomite from Mesopotamian sources closely dated to the collapse of the Old Kingdom Civilization.
