This is a great question! There is always continual new research found in the domain of pre-dynastic Egypt and pre-Uruk period Mesopotamia. The first major point of note is that several decades ago, it was quite common to highlight the relationship between pre-dynastic Egypt and Mesopotamia. However, this relationship was presented from a very diffusionist perspective. Early Egyptologists held the racist belief that Ancient Egypt had a “dynastic race” of ruling elites who came from Mesopotamia for the purpose of separating the native Egyptian population from the apparent monumental achievements of the ancient rulers. This view has been completely discredited by later Egyptologists, and the main extent of discussions on Egyptian-Mesopotamian relationships in popular history centered around the creation of writing. For several years, it has been debated that Egyptian hieroglyphs find their ultimate origin from influence coming from Mesopotamia. Recent evidence has made a strong case that Egyptian writing was an entirely indigenous invention that developed over time in the region of Upper Egypt and Lower Nubia, but that’s a topic that’s long enough for its own post. Because of these historiographic developments, and the general state of popular media, its likely that Egyptian-Mesopotamian relationships have largely gone unnoticed, but they did have a thriving relationship of interchange during this period.

Whole books have been written on this topic, so I will just touch on the primary pieces of evidence we have for contact between Egypt and Mesopotamia during the Pre-Dynastic and Early-Dynastic periods. There is also a lot to be said regarding the development of kingship in Egypt and Mesopotamia, but I will let someone else comment upon that if they wish.

Evidence concerning Egyptian-Mesopotamian contact can be found on the most famous Early Dynastic artifact in Egypt, the Narmer Palette. The palette features many indigenous Egyptian motifs, but in the center are two creatures called Serpopards. These mythological creatures are believed to have originated from Mesopotamia, and representations of them can be found in Uruk and Elam. While Egyptians and Mesopotamians briefly shared this creature in their art (the Egyptians soon stopped using it after the creation of the Narmer palette), they understood them with different meanings. The Egyptians used the Serpopards to represent the taming of disorder and the binding of the Two Lands of Egypt, whereas Mesopotamians saw them as representative of attributes relevant to their own local gods.

Another major piece of evidence concerning Egyptian-Mesopotamian contact a few centuries before the Narmer Palette is the Gebel el-Arak Knife. This knife, likely originating from Abydos, bears many iconographic hallmarks from Mesopotamia, such as the image of a strong man separating two lions. The knife likely was crafted in Egypt, but its imagery strongly suggests a cultural contact between individuals from Egypt and Mesopotamia around 3500-3200 BCE.

Mesopotamian style pottery and pottery bearing evidence of origin from Mesopotamia also provides evidence for long-distance trade between Egypt and Mesopotamia in the Early Dynastic period. This style of pottery found in Early Dynastic contexts was one of the main pieces of evidence that early Egyptologists used for their “dynastic race” hypothesis.

Cylinder seals, a common template for writing in Mesopotamia that survived into the Persian period have also been found in Early Dynastic Egypt. These finds dating to around 3100-2600 BCE bore early forms of Egyptian hieroglyphs and were used as evidence for the Mesopotamian influence upon the origins of hieroglyphs in Egypt.

Related to all of these finds are the plethora of raw materials that were brought into Egypt through long-distance trade that either had to travel through Mesopotamia or were situated within Mesopotamia’s periphery. Lapis Lazuli, a precious mineral that was primarily found in modern day Afghanistan can be found in Pre-Dynastic and Early-Dynastic contexts in Ancient Egypt, as well as the extensive cedar trade that Egypt engaged in with Byblos in modern day Lebanon.

While Egypt is very much an African culture, originating from a Northeast African pastoralist complex, it had extensive contact and cultural interchange with its neighbors to the east. This contact helped Egyptians negotiate their identity in contrast to their neighbors and allowed them access to many luxury goods and raw materials.

Further Reading:

Before the Pyramids, by Emily Teeter

Egypt, Canaan, and Israel in Ancient Times, by D.B. Redford

Constructing Context: the Gebel el-Arak Knife, by Holly Pitman

The Archaeology of Early Egypt, by David Wengrow