Maʿādī, Al-

▪ ancient site, Egypt

      predynastic Egyptian (Egypt, ancient) site located just south of present-day Cairo in Lower Egypt. The settlement at Al-Maʿādī was approximately contemporary with the Amratian (Amratian culture) and Gerzean (Gerzean culture) cultures of Upper Egypt. Al-Maʿādī was apparently a village with a separate cemetery; the settlement was characterized by oval huts, ring-base vases, globular, rimmed-neck vessels, and large storage jars similar to those found at Gerzean sites. Copper was occasionally used, and Upper Egyptian stone vase types have been found. In addition to Al-Maʿādī's connections with the culture of Upper Egypt, its position on the southern leg of the Syro-Egyptian trade route also brought it under the cultural influence of Palestine.

* * *