Maadi

an Aeneolithic settlement of ancient farmers (second half of the fourth millennium B.C.) near Cairo, Egypt. It was investigated in the 1930’s by the Egyptian archaeologist M. Amer and the Austrian scholar O. Menghin. Among the items found were traces of wheat and barley; the bones of domestic and wild animals and of fish; shells; copper (smelted from Sinai copper ores) axes, gravers, fish hooks, and awls; flint tools; stone maces, mortars, vessels, distaffs, pallets, beads, and pendants; implements made of bone; and various types of pottery. Characteristic dwellings were pit houses, light wind shelters, and huts made of sun-dried brick or reed matting plastered with mud.