Ok, these are a few notes I took on the Maadi culture. Please feel free to let me know if this needs corrections, as I am no specialist in Egyptian prehistory.

The Maadi culture existed in Northern Egypt during the second half of Naqada I and some time during Naqada II, until the latter expanded to the north. This culture's name comes from Maadi, a suburb of Cairo, where the first of a dozen of Maadi sites (all in Northern Egypt) has been discovered. They have all been brought to light recently, which is why some older books of reference regarding Ancient Egypt do not mention the Maadi culture at all -it simply hadn't been identified by then. Although it was first believed Maadi disappeared quickly, it seems now, thanks to the discovery of the first layers of the site of Buto, that it has been a process of progressive assimilation rather than a sudden one.

What is stunning to one familliar with the Naqada is that most of what we know from the Maadi comes from settlements, and not from the cemetries, even if one was discovered at Maadi itself. There, one of the most fascinating findings was that of houses similar to those of Southern Palestine, made of mud-bricks, a rare occurance in Egypt at the time, as far as we know. This kind of permanent settlement also is another proof that the people must have been sedentary. This adds to the high rate of domestic animals and plants remains.

Another import from Palestine is the flint technology, which is not based only on the pressure-flake, but also "large circular scrapers knapped from large nodules with smooth surfaces". There were also what appear to be the ancestors of the latter 'razors' that were part of the funerary equipment during the Old Kingdom. Also, the use of metal was similar than in the Near East, even if it was for objects that were typical of Northern Egypt cultures and the techniques were different. After analysis, it was revealed that the copper came indeed from the Sinai peninsula.

That the region where the Maadi culture was subject to many influences is attested by the pottery. The typical Maadi poterry is rarely decorated, except in a few settlements, where the decoration by impression reminds of that of the Saharo-Sudanese pottery, and is characterized by a globular form, flat base and narrow neck. The Upper Egyptain culture is present through its black-topped red ware. Finally, the footed pottery, decorated en mamelons, filled with import products is another proof of the relations with the Near East.

Based on The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt, by Ian Shaw