Naqada II refers to the second Pre-dynastic archaeological stage centered around the Naqada region of Upper Egypt. It was formerly also called Gerzeh culture, after discoveries at Gerzeh (also Girza or Jirzah), a small prehistoric Egyptian cemetery located along the west bank of the Nile but much farther north, where Flinders Petrie first characterized this period in the 19th century. Gerzeh is situated only several miles due east of the oasis of Faiyum, but was only peripheral to the Naqada culture. Depending on the sources, the Naqada II period is dated from c. 3,500 BC to c. 3,325 BC, from c. 3,650 BC to c. 3,300 BC, or from 3,500 to 3,200 BC. Naqada II had many types of potteries, which were categorized chronologically by Petrie from SD ("Sequence Date") 38 to 62. It is coeval with the Uruk period in Mesopotamia.
Naqada II is the second of three phases of the prehistoric Naqada cultures, and was preceded by Naqada I (also known as the "Amratian culture"), and followed by Naqada III (also known as the "protodynastic" or "Semainian culture").
