Welcome to the 50 billionth website on Ancient Egypt! Just joking! (tho I have a nagging feeling I might not be off by much) Welcome to Thinis.com, my small contribution to the vast internet library of Ancient Egypt. I have to admit that it is a bit daunting creating another site on Ancient Egypt, but as my love for creating websites almost rivals my love for Ancient Egypt I decided to take the plunge. Thinis.com was created to provide information, speculation and theories centering upon the Pre and Early Dynastic Periods of Ancient Egypt - my particular area of obsession.

I must admit that my first launch into Ancient Egypt's history (which was many years ago...too many to count now without getting depressed) landed me smack dab in the middle of the pyramids of the Old Kingdom. Rather like those Giza Aliens some like to force onto the Ancient Egyptians. (Take me to your stone quarry??) That quickly provided a stepping stone into an age that I have found utterly fascinating and intriguing since my discovery of it - the Pre and Early Dynastic Periods. It is my personally held belief that this particular period is the one most oftentimes forgotten. Not quite as glamorous as the New Kingdom and not as inclined towards architectural largesse as the Old Kingdom (Excuse me, King Khufu? There's a Dr. Freud here to see you...), it seems the poor cousin in comparison.

However, I believe that upon closer inspection one would find an age that laid the foundations for the Egyptian state, art, religion and architecture. (But then, I'm biased) All joking aside, it is an age of wonder at the very least. It is the move of hunter/gatherers into settlements, it is the formation of prominent tribal units and chieftains, it is the foundation of the first cities and it is the foundation of a united land. It is the very beginnings of the Egypt we have come to know and love. It provides an insight into the vast faculties of man and how they were able to progress, to provide a community and in the end, a kingdom that would last for 3,000 years. Not bad in my book.

But with the good comes the bad, or at least the very difficult. It is its very early origins that creates the dilemma faced by most explorers of this period. Hieroglyphs were not as widely used as in later periods, buildings were created out of mud-bricks and those were oftentimes scavenged by farmers, mummification (in its full form) was not practiced, reliefs do not cover the surfaces of the tombs. Those sources that are so highly relied upon in later eras are all but non-existant (and in some cases actually non-existant) in the earlier periods. This, thrown into the pot of Archaic Egypt, creates a period which has some of the most important tales to tell, but is speechless and in some cases, downright mute. And this is why I love the Pre and Early Dynastic Periods.

That said, I've created Thinis.com with the hope of sharing my love of this period, despite the many frustrations it can provide. Accuracy has been strived for, but for the most part I'm only as good as what sources I can find and filter thru - I will admit to speculating and theorizing at times, but I'm afraid this is an alien-free zone. ("Take me to your mud-bricks" doesn't seem to have quite the same ring..) Enjoy and any questions/comments/suggestions are always welcome (see email address at bottom of page) and, as a gentle reminder, this site - like most sites on the net - will be perpetually under construction so be watchful of falling mud-bricks, slinging pottery shards and disgruntled mummies.