Sheikh Muftah Culture: A transition between prehistoric and historical times in the Dakhla Oasis (Egypt)

Ancient Egyptian history comprises three intermediate periods which combine the characteristics of the preceding and succeeding periods and have left many influences and traces which have affected the succeeding periods. Likewise, the prehistoric period also has some transitions without giving a complete picture, but it has strongly influenced the subsequent periods and left many puzzling features and thousands of questions to be answered. One of the most enigmatic and influential units of Egyptian prehistory is the 'Sheikh Muftah Unit', which is scattered throughout the Dakhla Oasis and beyond, with many gaps in information regarding the stratigraphic sequence of the unit, environmental conditions and population adaptation. On the eastern side of Dakhla Oasis, north of the pharaonic Egyptian complexes of Ain Asil near Balat, an exceptionally large and well-preserved site of the Late Sheikh Muftah Group was discovered. This is the last archaeologically recognised indigenous community in the oasis, characterised by its distinctive pottery. This site exemplifies how this unit functions as a transitional unit in Dakhla Oasis between Prehistoric and Historic periods. As a result, the main focus of this paper's research is on studying and interpreting the most prominent features of this cultural unit, as well as how climatic conditions affected how the original Sheikh Muftah culture lived in the oasis and its surroundings, and how it became a transitional unit between prehistoric and historic times at Dakhla Oasis?