Egypt is a country in North Africa, on the Mediterranean Sea, and is among the oldest civilizations on earth. The name 'Egypt' comes from the Greek Aegyptos which was the Greek pronunciation of the Egyptian name 'Hwt-Ka-Ptah' (which means "House of the Spirit of Ptah", who was a very early God of the Ancient Egyptians). In the early Old Kingdom, Egypt was simply known as 'Kemet' which means 'Black Land' so named for the rich, dark soil along the Nile River where the first settlements began. Later, the country was known simply as Misr which means 'country', a name still in use by Egyptians for their nation in the present day. Egypt thrived for thousands of years (from c. 8,000 BCE to c. 525 BCE) as an independent nation whose culture was famous for great cultural advances in every area of human knowledge, from the arts to science to technology and religion. The great monuments which Egypt is still celebrated for reflect the depth and grandeur of Egyptian culture which influenced so many ancient civilizations, among them Greece and Rome. Evidence of overgrazing of cattle, on the land which is now the Sahara Desert, has been dated to about 8,000 BCE. This evidence, along with artifacts discovered, points to a thriving agricultural civilization in the region at that time. As the land was mostly arid even then, hunter-gathering nomads sought the cool of the water source of the Nile River Valley and began to settle there sometime prior to 5500 BCE. Organized farming began in the region c. 5000 BCE and communities known as the Badari Culture began to flourish alongside the river. The Badari were followed by the Amratian, the Gerzean, and the Naqada cultures, all of which contributed significantly to the development of what became Egyptian civilization. The written history of the land begins at some point between 5000 and 3200 BCE when Hieroglyphic Script is developed by the Naqada Culture (who also established the faience industry sometime prior to 5500 BCE around Abydos). By 3500 BCE mummification of the dead was in practice at the city of Hierakonpolis. The city of Xois is recorded as being already ancient by 3100-2181 BCE as inscribed on the famous Palermo Stone. As in other cultures world-wide, the small agrarian communities became centralized and grew into larger urban centers.