Nubia
The Nile River flows through a region that became known as Nubia, stretching from the confluence of the Blue and White Niles near Khartoum in central Sudan to the First Cataract south of Aswan in southern Egypt. Archaeological evidence attests to long histories of fishing-hunting-gathering throughout this valley before 6000 BC. Affad 23 is an archaeological site located in the Affad region of southern Dongola Reach in northern Sudan which hosts well-preserved remains of prehistoric camps some 50,000 years old. In southern Nubia near modern Khartoum from the ninth to the sixth millennia cal BC, Khartoum Mesolithic fisher-hunter-gatherers produced sophisticated pottery. By 5000 BC, people who inhabited what is now called Nubia participated in the Neolithic Revolution. The Sahara became drier and people began to domesticate sheep, goats, and cattle. Saharan rock reliefs depict scenes thought to suggest the presence of a cattle cult typical of those seen throughout parts of Eastern Africa and the Nile Valley even to this day. Megaliths discovered at Nabta Playa are early examples of what seems to be one of the world's first astronomical devices predating Stonehenge by almost 2,000 years.
The Classic Kerma culture named for its royal capital at Kerma was one of the earliest urban centers in the Nile region and oldest city in Africa outside of Egypt. From the Middle Kerma phase the first Nubian kingdom to unify much of the region arose around 1650 BC. Kings of Kerma were powerful enough to organize labor for monumental town walls and large mud brick structures such as the Eastern and Western Deffufas measuring 50 by 25 by 18 meters. Kerma culture was militaristic as attested by many archers' burials and bronze daggers swords found in their graves. At one point Kerma came very close to conquering Egypt: Egypt suffered a serious defeat at the hands of the Kingdom of Kush. According to Davies head of the joint British Museum and Egyptian archaeological team the attack was so devastating that if the Kerma forces had chosen to stay and occupy Egypt they might have permanently eliminated the Egyptians and brought the nation to extinction. After a long campaign Egypt also conquered the Kingdom of Kerma in Upper Nubia and held both areas until 1070 BC under Pharaoh Thutmose I around 1500 BC.
The Napatan Empire ushered in the age of Egyptian archaism or a return to a historical past embodied by a concentrated effort at religious renewal and restoration of Egypt's holy places. Piye personally led the attack on Egypt and recorded his victory in a lengthy hieroglyphic filled stele called the Stele of Victory. Taharqa's reign was a prosperous time in the empire with a particularly large Nile river flood and abundant crops and wine. His army undertook successful military campaigns as attested by the list of conquered Asiatic principalities from the Mut temple at Karnak. In 679 BC Sennacherib's successor King Esarhaddon campaigned in Khor destroyed Sidon and forced Tyre into tribute in 677, 676 BC. Taharqa conspired with Levantine kingdoms against Assyria: in 701 BC Taharqa and his army aided Judah and King Hezekiah in withstanding a siege by King Sennacherib of the Assyrians. The Kushites had influence over their northern neighbors for nearly 100 years until they were repelled by the invading Assyrians who permanently forced the Kushites out of Egypt around 590 BC.
Due to pressure from Assyrians and Egyptians Meroë became the southern capital of the Kingdom of Kush. The town's importance gradually increased from the beginning of the Meroitic Period especially from the reign of Arakamani c. 280 BC when the royal burial ground was transferred to Meroë from Napata. Meroë was the base of a flourishing kingdom whose wealth was centered around a strong iron industry and international trade with India and China. Metalworking is believed to have happened in Meroë possibly through bloomeries and blast furnaces. Kandake often Latinised as Candace was the Meroitic term for the sister of the king of Kush who due to matrilineal succession would bear the next heir making her a queen mother. In 25 BC the Kush kandake Amanirenas attacked the city of Syene known as Aswan today within the territory of the Roman Empire. Emperor Augustus destroyed the city of Napata in retaliation. Pliny writes that the Queen of the Ethiopians bore the title Candace and indicates that the Ethiopians had conquered ancient Syria and the Mediterranean.
Around 350 AD the area was invaded by the Kingdom of Aksum and the Meroitic kingdom collapsed. Three smaller Christian kingdoms replaced it: the northernmost was Nobatia capital Pachoras now modern-day Faras Egypt between the first and second cataract of the Nile River; in the middle was Makuria capital Old Dongola and southernmost was Alodia capital Soba. Christianity had been introduced to the region by the fourth century: Bishop Athanasius of Alexandria consecrated Marcus as bishop of Philae before his death in 373 AD. John of Ephesus records that a Miaphysite priest named Julian converted the king and his nobles of Nobatia around 545 AD. By the seventh century Makuria expanded and became the dominant power in the region. It was strong enough to halt the southern expansion of Islam after the Arabs had taken Egypt. After several failed invasions the new Muslim rulers agreed to a treaty with Dongola called Baqt to allow peaceful coexistence and trade contingent on the Nubians making an annual payment consisting of slaves and other tributes to the Islamic Governor at Aswan. The influx of Arab traders introduced Islam to Nubia and it gradually supplanted Christianity.
In the early-1970s many Egyptian and Sudanese Nubians were forcibly relocated to make room for Lake Nasser after dams were constructed at Aswan. Nubian villages can be found north of Aswan on the west bank of the Nile and on Elephantine Island. Many Nubians now live in large cities like Cairo and Khartoum. In 2014 a male infant skeleton was recovered during an excavation in what is present-day Wadi Halfa from the Christian Period 500-1400 AD located near the Second Cataract of the Nile in the Republic of the Sudan. Sirak et al. 2021 obtained and analyzed the whole genomes of 66 individuals from the site of Kulubnarti situated in northern Nubia between the 2nd and 3rd cataract near the modern Egyptian border and dated to the Christian period between 650 and 1000 AD. The samples' genetic profile was found to be a mixture between West Eurasian and Sub Saharan Dinka-related ancestries with approximately 60% West Eurasian related ancestry that likely came from ancient Egyptians but ultimately resembles that found in Bronze or Iron Age Levantines and approximately 40% Dinka-related ancestry.
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Common questions
What is the geographical extent of Nubia?
Nubia stretches from the confluence of the Blue and White Niles near Khartoum in central Sudan to the First Cataract south of Aswan in southern Egypt. This region encompasses the Nile River valley where archaeological evidence attests to long histories of fishing-hunting-gathering before 6000 BC.
When did the Classic Kerma culture arise as a unified kingdom?
The first Nubian kingdom to unify much of the region arose around 1650 BC during the Middle Kerma phase. Kings of Kerma organized labor for monumental town walls and large mud brick structures such as the Eastern and Western Deffufas measuring 50 by 25 by 18 meters.
How did the Kingdom of Kush influence Egypt between 701 BC and 590 BC?
Taharqa conspired with Levantine kingdoms against Assyria and aided Judah and King Hezekiah in withstanding a siege by King Sennacherib of the Assyrians in 701 BC. The Kushites had influence over their northern neighbors for nearly 100 years until they were repelled by the invading Assyrians who permanently forced the Kushites out of Egypt around 590 BC.
What was the significance of Meroë as the capital of the Kingdom of Kush from 280 BC onwards?
Meroë became the southern capital of the Kingdom of Kush from the reign of Arakamani c. 280 BC when the royal burial ground was transferred there from Napata. The town served as the base of a flourishing kingdom whose wealth was centered around a strong iron industry and international trade with India and China.
Which three Christian kingdoms replaced the Meroitic kingdom after 350 AD?
Three smaller Christian kingdoms replaced the collapsed Meroitic kingdom: Nobatia with its capital Pachoras now modern-day Faras Egypt, Makuria with its capital Old Dongola, and Alodia with its capital Soba. Christianity had been introduced to the region by the fourth century before Islam gradually supplanted it following the Baqt treaty.