A Preliminary Survey of Rock Art and Early Powers in the Lower Nile Valley during the Late 4th Millennium BC

This paper is investigating the use of rock art by local/regional powers in the Lower Nile Valley in the late 4th millennium bc. It situates the rock art record in its historical and archaeological settings and proposes methodological options (which are, in some cases, still theoretical) to elucidate it further in its social context. Two research questions are addressed: the first one discusses the existence of rock art commissioned by authorities and the criteria that could help identify them. The second deals with the ways in which rock art may express political power. The iconographic and technical aspects of rock art are discussed. This preliminary survey suggests that rock art specialists appeared at the end of the Predynastic period and that rock art may have been a strategic element in the competition between the polities that were rising in the Lower Nile Valley at that time. The author initiated in October 2023 a two-years research project called PowerArt to tackle research questions that are introduced in the paper. Discussions are based on both published and unpublished data related to specific Upper Egyptian rock art sites (Sheikh Uthman, Wadi Hilal (Elkab), Wadi Abu Subeira, Sheikh Mohamed, Nag el-Hamdulab), but also on the data obtained from their direct observation in the field. The methodological aspects of the project, most of which is still theoretical at this stage, are introduced in a specific section of the paper. At the end of the day, this paper offers a general introduction to the PowerArt project. It focusses on its first phases which consists of situating the predynastic rock art record in its historical and archaeological settings, establishing a methodology for further elucidation of this record in its social context and providing food for thought for future studies dedicated to Nilotic rock art.