Catalogue for an exhibit at the Oriental Institute Museum presenting research on the Predynastic and Early Dynastic Periods: the rise of the state, contact with the Levant and Nubia, crafts, writing, iconography and evidence from Abydos, Tell el-Farkha, Hierakonpolis and the Delta. Will be a standard reference and a staple for classroom use.

Foreword (Gil J. Stein) The Chronology of Early Egypt Introduction (Emily Teeter) List of Contributors Map of Principal Areas and Sites 1. Sequence Dating and Predynastic Chronology (Stan Hendrickx) 2. Petrie and the Discovery of Earliest Egypt (Patricia Spencer) 3. Political Organization of Egypt in the Predynastic Period (Branislav Andelkovic) 4. Hierakonpolis (Renee Friedman) 5. The Predynastic Cultures of the Nile Delta (Yann Tristant and Beatrix Midant-Reynes) 6. The Predynastic/Early Dynastic Period at Tell el-Farkha (Krzysztof M. Cialowicz) 7. Material Culture of the Predynastic Period (Alice Stevenson) 8. Iconography of the Predynastic and Early Dynastic Periods (Stan Hendrickx) 9. Relations between Egypt and Nubia in the Naqada Period (Bruce B. Williams) 10. Crafts and Craft Specialization (Stan Hendrickx) 11. The Invention of Writing in Egypt (David Wengrow) 12. Early Interaction between Peoples of the Nile Valley and the Southern Levant (Eliot Braun) 13. The Rise of the Egyptian State (E. Christiana Kohler) 14. Tomb U-j: A Royal Burial of Dynasty 0 at Abydos (Gunter Dreyer) 15. The First Kings of Egypt: The Abydos Evidence (Laurel Bestock) 16. The Narmer Palette: A New Interpretation (David O'Connor) Catalog of Objects Concordance of Museum Registration Numbers Checklist of the Exhibit