First Agriculture in Egypt

According to a New York time's article written by JOHN NOBLE WILFORD untitled "Archaeologists found evidence of a farm settlement from 5200 B.C." and published February 12, 2008:

"The rise of agriculture occurred at various times around the world, beginning 10,000 to 11,000 years ago in Mesopotamia and adjacent lands in the Middle East. Some artifacts suggested that the people at the settlement had trade links with the Red Sea, a possible clue that this was the route by which agriculture was introduced to Egypt, possibly from the region of present-day Iraq."

The key word here is possibly. Is it not also possible the trade route came from the south in what later would become Nubia? The second key phrase is "some artifacts." This implies other artifacts. Where did they come from?

Unfortunately, much of specific Nubian sites are now under water--but the questions above need to be addressed.

The article gives a brief history of the archeology of the find: "The discovery was made by a team led by Willeke Wendrich of the University of California, Los Angeles, and Rene Cappers of the University of Groningen in the Netherlands. They said the research, supported in part by the National Geographic Society, expanded on findings in 1925 by British archaeologists, who uncovered a wood sickle with a serrated flint blade and grain storage pits. The remains of the Neolithic, or Late Stone Age, settlement were buried under a thick layer of sand at an oasis about 50 miles southwest of Cairo, in a desert region called the Faiyum. The excavations last fall uncovered multiple layers of farm remains and hearths, indicating occupation over at least 1,000 years."