Connections between the Solar Cycle and Religious Performance in Predynastic Egypt: Analyzing Rock Art from Khor Abu Subeira South 1, Aswan, Egypt

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2025: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

This paper provides a detailed interpretation of the rock art site Khor Abu Subeira South 1 (KASS1), Egypt during a transitional stage in the political and social development of ancient Egypt. The various thematic programs in use at the site indicate that the site transforms from its initial use as a hunting ground to a location used for ritual performance by the early Naqada IIC period. Using time lapse photography, the author identifies human modification of the landscape (rock art) that uniquely and purposefully interacts with natural phenomena (light and shadow) that serves to 1) highlights key phases of the solar cycle, and 2) create a stage for ritual (performance) in perpetuity by the Naqada II elite (3650 – 3300 BC).

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 90th Annual Meeting, Denver, CO (2025)   •
• SAA 2025: Individual Abstracts

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 53816