Published in Origini n. XXXIX/2016. Rivista annuale del Dipartimento di Scienze dell'Antichità – "Sapienza" Università di Roma | Preistoria e protostoria delle civiltà antiche – Prehistory and protohistory of ancient civilizations | In Egypt, the beginning of food production and the beginning of social stratification followed one another in a closer chronological succession than anywhere else in the world and should be analysed as parts of the same process of economic and social transformation. Contrasting environmental conditions favoured the adoption of either agricultural or pastoral practices in contiguous areas along the Nile valley, with diametrically opposed settlement strategies and social behaviours being developed in each area. This peculiar duality produced a markedly conflictual, though symbiotic, economic system that is likely to have affected not only the immediate cultural response, but also the long-term history of those societies, ultimately evolving into the peculiar construction of social hierarchy of dynastic Egypt.