H Winker's 1938 book contains copies of more than 100 boats on rock walls near Kanais Temple,which Seti erected to commenerate the reopening of the Naqada-Red Sea trade route.Numerous types of water craft are depicted.Subsequently other vessels were found on rock walls along the ancient route,[ie;G Fuchs].
Petrie et al suggested that invaders from Mesopotamia [?] came along the route and founded the pre-dynastic lineage of the Horus KIngs.Post 4000 BCE sea level reached its maximum and annual rainfall was greater than it is today.Most wadis along the route would have contained substantial volumes of water,when the Nile River flooded.
The proliferation of rock art and the wide variety of boats is not compatible with an invasion theory.Rapid penetration of enemy territory is a military prerequisite for a surprise attack.The rank and file would not have had time to excerise their artistic talents.
The route might have been a vital,predominately water,trade link,with tow tracks across high land.A 1.8m tall engraving shows 70 people hauling a high prowed boat.The Norse used sled runners on flat bottomed boats in the ninth century ADE to access the Black Sea,[D Johnson,2002].This commercial [?] conduit might have been operational for a long time and could have been functional during the Badarian era.
As the Red Sea waters receded and rainfall declined,the gradual
fall in the water levels of the wadis would have forced merchant mariners to abandon the trade link.This could explain the hiatus in Lapis Lazuli importation and the delay in the introduction of the wheel until the Hyksos invasion.
The wide spread distribution of the rock art is compatible with circa 1.0 Ka of commercial activity along a trade link with the east [Mesopotamia?].The above is a speculative reconstruction.