{{Short description|Region in northern Sudan and southern Egypt}}
{{about|the region in Africa||||Nubia (disambiguation)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2025}}
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| caption1 = {{center|Statues of several Nubian rulers of the late [[25th Dynasty]]–early [[Napata|Napatan period]], 7th century BC. From left to right: [[Tantamani]], [[Taharqa]] (rear), [[Senkamanisken]], again [[Tantamani]] (rear), [[Aspelta]], [[Anlamani]], again [[Senkamanisken]]. [[Kerma Museum]].<ref>{{cite web|last1=Elshazly |first1=Hesham |title=Kerma and the royal cache |url=https://www.academia.edu/3714044 |language=en}}</ref>}}
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'''Nubia''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|n|j|uː|b|i|ə}} {{respell|NEW|bee|uh}}; [[Nobiin language|Nobiin]]: Nⲟ̅ⲩ̅ⲃⲁ; {{Langx|ar|النُوبَة|translit=an-Nūba}}) is a region along the [[Nile]] river encompassing the area between the confluence of the [[Blue Nile|Blue]] and [[White Nile|White]] Niles (near [[Khartoum]] in central [[Sudan]]) and the [[Cataracts of the Nile|First Cataract]] (south of [[Aswan]] in southern [[Egypt]]).<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last1=Appiah |first1=Anthony |last2=Gates |first2=Henry Louis |title=Africana: The Encyclopedia of the African and African American Experience |date=2005 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-517055-9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TMZMAgAAQBAJ&q=nubia+%22historical+region%22&pg=RA3-PA257}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last1=Kamrin |first1=Janice |last2=Oppenheim |first2=Adela |title=The Land of Nubia |url=https://www.metmuseum.org/about-the-met/curatorial-departments/egyptian-art/temple-of-dendur-50/nubia |access-date=31 July 2020 |website=[[Metropolitan Museum of Art]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Raue |first=Dietrich |title=Handbook of Ancient Nubia |date=2019 |publisher=Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG |isbn=978-3-11-042038-8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mXWcDwAAQBAJ&q=%22nubia%22+%22cataract%22+%22region%22+%22extending%22&pg=PA39}}</ref> It was the seat of one of the earliest [[civilization]]s of [[ancient Africa]], the [[Kerma culture]], which lasted from around 2500 BC until its conquest by the [[New Kingdom of Egypt]] under [[Pharaoh]] [[Thutmose I]] around 1500 BC. Egyptian heirs subsequently ruled much of Nubia for the next four centuries.

Nubia was home to several empires, most prominently the [[Kingdom of Kush]]. This kingdom conquered Egypt in the eighth century BC under [[Piye]], ruling as its [[Twenty-fifth Dynasty of Egypt|25th Dynasty]]. From the 3rd century BC to the 3rd century AD, northern Nubia was invaded and annexed by Egypt, then under the rule of the [[Ptolemaic Kingdom|Greeks]] and later the [[Roman Empire|Romans]]; this territory was known in the [[Greco-Roman world]] as the [[Dodekaschoinos]].

The collapse of Kush in the 4th century AD was preceded by an invasion from the [[Kingdom of Aksum]] and followed by the rise of three Christian kingdoms: [[Nobatia]], [[Makuria]], and [[Alodia]]. Makuria and Alodia endured for roughly a millennium. Their eventual decline precipitated both the partition of Nubia in the 16th century—into a northern half conquered by the [[Ottoman Empire]] and a southern half by the Sennar sultanate—and a rapid process of [[Islamization]] and partial [[Arabization]] of the [[Nubian people]]. Nubia was later reunited under the [[Khedivate of Egypt]] in the 19th century. Today, the region is divided between Egypt and Sudan.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.newindianexpress.com/lifestyle/travel/2025/Dec/14/the-united-colours-of-nubia|title=The United Colours of Nubia|first=Veidehi|last=Gite|date=14 December 2025|website=The New Indian Express|access-date=22 June 2026}}</ref>

Ancient [[Nubians]] pioneered early [[antibiotic]]s  and established a system of geometrics which served as the basis for initial [[sundials|sunclocks]]. Nubians also exercised a [[Trigonometry|trigonometric]] methodology comparable to their Egyptian counterparts.<ref>{{Cite journal |author=Armelagos, George |date=2000 |title=Take Two Beers and Call Me in 1,600 Years: Use of Tetracycline by Nubians and Ancient Egyptians |url=https://digitallibrary.amnh.org/items/482bd90a-de71-49b3-9bbc-d8ff0ab974b3 |journal=Natural History |volume=109 |issue=5 |pages=50–3 |s2cid=89542474}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|title=Gnomons at Meroë and Early Trigonometry|first=Leo|last=Depuydt|date=1 January 1998|journal=The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology|volume=84|pages=171–180|doi=10.2307/3822211|jstor=3822211}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://archive.archaeology.org/online/news/nubia.html|title=Neolithic Skywatchers|date=27 May 1998|first=Andrew|last=Slayman|website=Archaeology Magazine Archive|access-date=17 April 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110605234044/http://www.archaeology.org/online/news/nubia.html|archive-date=5 June 2011|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vO5FCVIxz2YC&q=nubia&pg=PA744|title=A History of Ancient Mathematical Astronomy|last=Neugebauer|first=O.|date=2004-09-17|publisher=Springer Science & Business Media|isbn=978-3-540-06995-9|language=en}}</ref>

The interdisciplinary study of ancient Nubia, combining [[archaeology]], history, and philology, is known as [[Nubiology]].

{{History of Nubia}}

==Linguistics==
{{Main|Nubian languages}}
The term "Nubian" has come to be applied to a set of possibly [[Eastern Sudanic languages|Eastern Sudanic]] languages which were prominent in what is now the Republic of Sudan, especially in regions along the Nile, during the early modern period. Historically, varieties of the Nubian languages spoken in this area included [[Nobiin]] (descended from [[Old Nubian]]), [[Dongolawi]], and [[Kenzi language|Kenzi]]. Other Nubian languages include(d) [[Midob language|Midob]], spoken mostly in North [[Darfur]], [[Birgid language|Birgid]], a now [[extinct language]] once spoken north of [[Nyala, Sudan|Nyala]], also in Darfur, and the various [[Hill Nubian languages|Hill Nubian]] languages spoken in the [[Nuba mountains]] region of Sudan.

Though the Nubian languages were historically prominent in the region, they were not the only ones used, and there exists some dispute as to the linguistic identities of various groups once resident in the region. The language of the ancient [[Kerma culture]] based in southern and central Nubia (also called [[Upper Nubia]]), is uncertain, with some researchers suggesting that it belonged to the [[Cushitic languages|Cushitic]] branch of the [[Afroasiatic languages]],<ref name="Bechaus-Gerst">{{cite book |first1=Marianne |last1=Bechaus-Gerst |first2=Roger |last2=Blench |editor= Kevin MacDonald |title=The Origins and Development of African Livestock: Archaeology, Genetics, Linguistics and Ethnography – "Linguistic evidence for the prehistory of livestock in Sudan" (2000) |date=2014 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-135-43416-8 |page=453 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-t5QAwAAQBAJ |access-date=15 September 2014}}</ref><ref name="Lbant">{{cite book |last1=Behrens |first1=Peter |title=Libya Antiqua: Report and Papers of the Symposium Organized by UNESCO in Paris, 16 to 18 January 1984 – "Language and migrations of the early Saharan cattle herders: the formation of the Berber branch" |date=1986 |publisher=Unesco |isbn=92-3-102376-4 |page=30 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=p_hwAAAAMAAJ |access-date=14 September 2014}}</ref> though more recent research generally tends to support an Eastern Sudanic (thus, [[Nilo-Saharan languages|Nilo-Saharan]]) affiliation.{{citation needed|date=August 2026}} Other peoples of northern Nubia (also called [[Lower Nubia]]), such as the [[C-Group culture]] and the [[Blemmyes]]{{relevance inline|reason=Reference to the Blemmyes kept due to original insertion  by someone else and not-technically-incorrect nature, but relevance of Blemmyes, often associated with the Eastern Desert, to a section on inhabitants of Nubia, the riverine area, at this point in time is questioned.|date=August 2026}} are thought to have spoken a [[Cushitic languages|Cushitic language]] before the arrival of Eastern Sudanic from Upper Nubia.<ref name="Rilly2010">{{cite web| vauthors = Rilly C | title = Recent Research on Meroitic, the Ancient Language of Sudan | date = 2010 |url = http://www.ityopis.org/Issues-1_files/ITYOPIS-I-Rilly.pdf}}</ref><ref name="Rilly200162">{{cite journal | vauthors = Rilly C | title = The Wadi Howar Diaspora and its role in the spread of East Sudanic languages from the fourth to the first millennia BCE | journal = Faits de Langues | volume = 47 | date = January 2016 | pages = 151–163 |url = https://brill.com/view/journals/fdl/47/1/article-p151.xml | doi = 10.1163/19589514-047-01-900000010 | s2cid = 134352296 | url-access = subscription }}</ref><ref name="Rilly2008">{{cite book | vauthors = Rilly C | title = Between the Cataracts. Proceedings of the 11th International Conference for Nubian Studies Warsaw University 27 August-2 September 2006. Part 1. Main Papers | chapter = Enemy brothers. Kinship and relationship between Meroites and Nubians (Noba) | publisher = Polish Centre for Mediterranean Archaeology | date = 2008 |chapter-url = https://www.academia.edu/36487671 | doi = 10.31338/uw.9788323533269.pp.211-226 | isbn = 978-83-235-3326-9 }}</ref><ref name="Cooper">{{cite journal | vauthors = Cooper J | title = Toponymic Strata in Ancient Nubian placenames in the Third and Second Millennium BCE: a view from Egyptian Records | journal = Dotawo: A Journal of Nubian Studies | volume = 4 | date = 2017 | url = https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:7d8a387b-f850-4d56-8105-f84a30bf121a/download_file?file_format=pdf&safe_filename=Cooper%252C%2BToponymic%2BStrata%2Bin%2BAncient%2BNubian%2BPlacenames%252C%2BDotawo%2B4.pdf&type_of_work=Journal+article | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200523123606/https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:7d8a387b-f850-4d56-8105-f84a30bf121a/download_file?file_format=pdf&safe_filename=Cooper%252C%2BToponymic%2BStrata%2Bin%2BAncient%2BNubian%2BPlacenames%252C%2BDotawo%2B4.pdf&type_of_work=Journal+article | archive-date = 23 May 2020 }}</ref>

==Geography==
{{See also|Aethiopia|Archaeological expeditions to Nubia|Nile boat}}

Nubia was divided into three major regions: Upper, Middle, and Lower Nubia, in reference to their locations along the [[Nile]]. "Lower" referred to regions downstream (further north) and "upper" to regions upstream (further south). [[Lower Nubia]] lay between the First and the Second [[cataracts of the Nile|Cataracts]] within the current borders of Egypt, Middle Nubia lay between the Second and the Third Cataracts, and [[Upper Nubia]] lay south of the Third Cataract.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Edwards |first1=David |title=The Nubian Past |date=2004 |publisher=Routledge |location=Oxon |isbn=978-0-415-36988-6 |pages=2,90,106}}</ref>

==History==
===Prehistory (before 6000–3500 BC)===

[[File:Megaliths Aswan Nubia museum.JPG|thumb|Megaliths from Nabta Playa displayed in the Aswan Nubian museum]]

Archaeological evidence attests to long histories of fishing-hunting-gathering, and later herding, throughout the Nile Valley.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Garcea |first=Elena A.A. |title=The Prehistory of the Sudan |series=SpringerBriefs in Archaeology |date=2020  |url=https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-030-47185-9 |language=en |doi=10.1007/978-3-030-47185-9 |isbn=978-3-030-47187-3 |s2cid=226447119 |issn=1861-6623|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

[[Affad 23]] is an [[archaeological site]] located in the [[Affad Basin|Affad]] region of southern Dongola Reach in northern [[Sudan]],<ref name="Osypiński">{{cite journal |last1=Osypiński |first1=Piotr |last2=Osypińska |first2=Marta |last3=Gautier |first3=Achilles |date=2011 |title=Affad 23, a Late Middle Palaeolithic Site With Refitted Lithics and Animal Remains in the Southern Dongola Reach, Sudan |journal=Journal of African Archaeology |volume=9 |issue=2 |pages=177–188 |doi=10.3213/2191-5784-10186 |issn=1612-1651 |jstor=43135549 |oclc=7787802958 |s2cid=161078189}}</ref> which hosts "the well-preserved remains of prehistoric camps (relics of the oldest open-air [[hut]] in the world) and diverse [[hunting]] and [[Hunter-gatherer|gathering]] loci some 50,000 years old".<ref name="Osypiński II">{{cite web |last1=Osypiński |first1=Piotr |date=2020 |title=Unearthing Pan-African crossroad? Significance of the middle Nile valley in prehistory |url=https://projekty.ncn.gov.pl/opisy/480275-en.pdf |publisher=National Science Centre}}</ref><ref name="Osypińska">{{cite book |last1=Osypińska |first1=Marta |title=From Faras to Soba: 60 years of Sudanese–Polish cooperation in saving the heritage of Sudan |date=2021 |publisher=Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology/University of Warsaw |isbn=978-83-953362-5-6 |page=460 |chapter=Animals in the history of the Middle Nile |oclc=1374884636 |chapter-url=https://depot.ceon.pl/bitstream/handle/123456789/21580/Katalog%20wystawy%20From%20Faras%20to%20Soba%20-%20ONLINE%20o2.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y}}</ref><ref name="Osypińska II">{{cite book |last1=Osypińska |first1=Marta |title=From Faras to Soba: 60 years of Sudanese–Polish cooperation in saving the heritage of Sudan |last2=Osypiński |first2=Piotr |date=2021 |publisher=Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology/University of Warsaw |isbn=978-83-953362-5-6 |pages=187–188 |chapter=Exploring the oldest huts and the first cattle keepers in Africa |oclc=1374884636 |chapter-url=https://depot.ceon.pl/bitstream/handle/123456789/21580/Katalog%20wystawy%20From%20Faras%20to%20Soba%20-%20ONLINE%20o2.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y}}</ref>

In southern Nubia (near modern Khartoum) from the ninth to the sixth millennia cal BC, Khartoum Mesolithic fisher-hunter-gatherers produced sophisticated pottery.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Salvatori |first=Sandro |date=1 December 2012 |title=Disclosing Archaeological Complexity of the Khartoum Mesolithic: New Data at the Site and Regional Level |journal=African Archaeological Review |language=en |volume=29 |issue=4 |pages=399–472 |doi=10.1007/s10437-012-9119-7 |s2cid=254195716 |issn=1572-9842}}</ref>

By 5000 BC, the 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.<ref name="OConnor">{{cite book |last1=O'Connor |first1=David |title=Ancient Nubia: Egypt's Rival in Africa |date=1993 |publisher=University Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology |location=University of Pennsylvania, USA |isbn=0-924171-28-6 |pages=1–112}}</ref> Saharan [[Sabu-Jaddi|rock reliefs]] depict scenes that have been 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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.anth.ucsb.edu/faculty/stsmith/research/nubia_history.html|title=Dr. Stuart Tyson Smith|work=ucsb.edu|access-date=24 September 2007|archive-date=18 March 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190318232400/http://www.anth.ucsb.edu/faculty/stsmith/research/nubia_history.html}}</ref> Nubian rock art depicts hunters using bows and arrows in the Neolithic period, which is a precursor to Nubian archer culture in later times.

Megaliths discovered at [[Nabta Playa]] are early examples of what seems to be one of the world's first [[Astronomy|astronomical]] devices, predating [[Stonehenge]] by almost 2,000 years.<ref>[http://www.planetquest.org/learn/nabta.html PlanetQuest: The History of Astronomy] – Retrieved on 29 August 2007</ref> This complexity as expressed by different levels of authority within the society there likely formed the basis for the structure of both the Neolithic society at Nabta and the [[Old Kingdom of Egypt]].<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20110806140123/http://www.comp-archaeology.org/WendorfSAA98.html Late Neolithic megalithic structures at Nabta Playa] – by Fred Wendorf (1998)</ref>

American anthropologist Joseph Vogel wrote that: <blockquote>"The period when [[sub-Saharan Africa]] was most influential in Egypt was a time when neither Egypt, as we understand it culturally, nor the Sahara, as we understand it geographically, existed. Populations and cultures now found south of the desert roamed far to the north. The culture of [[Upper Egypt]], which became dynastic Egyptian civilization, could fairly be called a Sudanese transplant."<ref>{{cite book |last1=Vogel |first1=Joseph |title=Encyclopedia of precolonial Africa: archaeology, history, languages, cultures, and environments |date=1997 |publisher=AltaMira Press |location=Walnut Creek, Calif. |isbn=0-7619-8902-1 |pages=465–472}}</ref></blockquote>

British Africanist [[Basil Davidson]] outlined that "The ancient Egyptians belonged, that is, not to any specific Egyptian region or Near Eastern heritage but to that wide community of peoples who lived between the Red Sea and the Atlantic Ocean, shared a common "Saharan-Sudanese culture", and drew their reinforcements from the same great source, even though, as time went by, they also absorbed several wanderers from the Near East".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Davidson |first1=Basil |title=Africa in history: themes and outlines |date=1991 |publisher=Collier Books |location=New York |isbn=0-684-82667-4 |pages=15 |edition=Rev. and expanded}}</ref>

[[Biological anthropology|Biological anthropologists]] Shomarka Keita and A.J. Boyce have stated that the "Studies of crania from [[Upper Egypt|southern predynastic Egypt]], from the formative period (4000-3100 B.C.), show them usually to be more similar to the crania of ancient Nubians, Kushites, Saharans, or modern groups from the [[Horn of Africa]] than to those of dynastic northern Egyptians or ancient or modern southern Europeans."<ref>{{cite book |last1=Keita, Shomarka and Boyce, A.J. |title="The Geographical Origins and Population Relationships of Early Ancient Egyptians", In Egypt in Africa, Theodore Celenko (ed).|date=December 1996 |publisher=Indiana University Press |isbn=978-0-253-33269-1 |pages=20–33}}</ref>

Archaeological evidence has attested that population settlements occurred in Nubia as early as the Late Pleistocene era and from the 5th millennium BC onwards, whereas there is "no or scanty evidence" of human presence in the Egyptian Nile Valley during these periods, which may be due to problems in site preservation.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Gatto |first1=Maria C. |title=The Nubian Pastoral Culture as Link between Egypt and Africa: A View from the Archaeological Record |url=https://www.academia.edu/545582}}</ref> Several scholars have argued that the African origins of the Egyptian civilization derived from pastoral communities which emerged in both the Egyptian and Sudanese regions of the Nile Valley in the fifth millennium BC.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Wengrow |first1=David |last2=Dee |first2=Michael |last3=Foster |first3=Sarah |last4=Stevenson |first4=Alice |last5=Ramsey |first5=Christopher Bronk |title=Cultural convergence in the Neolithic of the Nile Valley: a prehistoric perspective on Egypt's place in Africa |journal=Antiquity |date=March 2014 |volume=88 |issue=339 |pages=95–111 |doi=10.1017/S0003598X00050249 |s2cid=49229774 |language=en |issn=0003-598X|doi-access=free }}</ref><ref name="academia.edu">{{cite book |last1=Smith |first1=Stuart Tyson |chapter=Gift of the Nile? Climate Change, the Origins of Egyptian Civilization and Its Interactions within Northeast Africa |title=Across the Mediterranean – Along the Nile: Studies in Egyptology, Nubiology and Late Antiquity Dedicated to László Török. Budapest |date=1 January 2018 |pages=325–345 |url=https://www.academia.edu/43275151}}</ref>

Archaeologist Bruce Williams has advanced the view that Nubian elites participated with the early Egyptian rulers in the development of the pharaonic civilization.<ref name="jstor.org">{{cite journal |last1=Williams |first1=Bruce |title=Forebears of Menes in Nubia: Myth or Reality? |journal=Journal of Near Eastern Studies |date=1987 |volume=46 |issue=1 |pages=15–26 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/544188 |issn=0022-2968}}</ref> Williams also clarified in 1987 that his discovery of the Qutsul incense burner proposed no claim of a Nubian origin or genesis for the pharaonic monarchy, but that excavations had shown Nubian linkages and contributions.<ref name="jstor.org"/> He maintained that detailed, archaeological evidence had found cemeteries of tombs situated in [[Qustul]], Nubia, which were described to be vastly wealthier and greater in size than the Abydos tombs of the first dynastic rulers.<ref name="jstor.org"/>

Dietrich Wildung (2018) examined Eastern Saharan pottery styles and Sudanese stone sculptures and suggested these artifacts were transmitted across the Nile Valley and influenced the pre-dynastic Egyptian culture in the Neolithic period.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Budka |first1=Julia |last2=Pischikova |first2=Elena |last3=Griffin |first3=Kenneth |title=Thebes in the First Millennium BC: Art and Archaeology of the Kushite Period and Beyond |date=2018 |location=London |isbn=978-1-906137-59-5 |pages=300–380}}</ref>

===Pre-Kerma; A-Group (3500-3000 BC)===
[[File:Nubian A group.jpg|thumb|"[[Nubian A-Group|A-Group]]" style, Nubian pottery, [[Musee du Louvre]]]]
====Upper Nubia====
The poorly known "[[pre-Kerma]]" culture existed in Upper (Southern) Nubia on a stretch of fertile farmland just south of the [[Cataracts of the Nile#The Six Cataracts|Third Cataract]].

====Lower Nubia====
[[File:Qustul_Incense_Burner,_Qustal,_Nubia,_Cemetery_L,_tomb_24,_A-Group,_3200-3000_BC,_limestone_-_Oriental_Institute_Museum,_University_of_Chicago_-_DSC08007.JPG|thumb|[[Qustul]] incense burner, 3200–3000 BC]]
Around 3500 BC, the second "Nubian" culture, termed the Early [[A-Group culture]], arose in Lower Nubia.<ref>{{cite book|editor1-last=Shaw|editor1-first=Ian|editor2-last=Jameson|editor2-first=Robert|title=A Dictionary of Archaeology|date=2002|publisher=Wiley|isbn=978-0-631-23583-5|page=433}}</ref> A-Group Nubians were semi-nomadic herders and rudimentary agriculturalists who also practised extensive fishing, hunting and gathering.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Galland |first1=M. |display-authors=etal |date=2016 |title=11,000 years of craniofacial and mandibular variation in Lower Nubia |journal=Sci Rep |volume=6 |issue=31040 |article-number=31040 |bibcode=2016NatSR...631040G |doi=10.1038/srep31040  |doi-access=free|pmc=4977491 |pmid=27503560}}</ref> Evidence of agriculture first appeared in the Terminal A-Group period, circa 3200–3000 BC (contemporary with [[Naqada III|Naqada IIIB]]).<ref name=":12" /><ref name="OConnor" />{{rp|6}} The A-Group culture also traded with the Egyptians and exported gold.<ref name="Emberling">{{cite book |last1=Emberling |first1=Geoff |editor1-last=Kim |editor1-first=Julienne |title=Nubia: Ancient Kingdoms of Africa |date=2011 |publisher=The Institute for the Study of the Ancient World |location=New York University |isbn=978-0-615-48102-9 |pages=5–57}}</ref> This trade is supported archaeologically by large amounts of Egyptian commodities deposited in A-Group graves. The imports consisted of gold objects, copper tools, [[faience]] amulets and beads, seals, slate palettes, stone vessels, and a variety of pots.<ref>{{Cite book|chapter-url=https://www.academia.edu/2386738|chapter=Hierarchy and heterarchy – the earliest cross-cultural trade along the Nile|title=Connecting South and North. Sudan Studies from Bergen in Honour of Mahmoud Salih|access-date=8 June 2016|last1=Hafsaas|first1=Henriette|date=January 2009}}</ref> During this time, the Nubians began creating distinctive black-topped, red pottery. The A-Group population have been described as ethnically "very similar" to the pre-dynastic [[Egyptians]] in physical characteristics.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Mohktar |first1=Gamal |title=General History of Africa volume 2: Ancient Civilizations of Africa: (Unesco General History of Africa |date=1981|publisher=Heinemann Educational Books |location=London |isbn=978-0-435-94805-4 |page=148}}</ref>

A-Group dwellings consisted mostly of reed huts and rock shelters, with most settlements taking the form of temporary settlements or campsites.<ref name=":22" /> Afyeh in [[Lower Nubia]] is the site of a unique A-group settlement where the remains of houses with stone foundation slabs have also been found.<ref name=":13">{{cite book |last=Bard |first=Kathryn |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ovU1BgAAQBAJ |title=An introduction to the archaeology of Ancient Egypt |date=2015 |publisher=Blackwell |isbn=9780470673362 |pages=110}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Stevenson |first=Alice |date=2012 |title=Social Complexity set in Stone? The A-Group Site of Afyeh |url=https://www.academia.edu/1815892 |url-status=dead |journal=Sudan & Nubia |publisher=The Sudan Archaeological Research Society |volume=16 |pages=13–19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241227151141/https://www.academia.edu/1815892 |archive-date=2024-12-27 |access-date=2024-02-29}}</ref>

Around 3100 BC, the A-group transitioned from the Early to Classical phases. "Arguably, royal burials are known only at Qustul and possibly Sayala."<ref name="Emberling" />{{rp|8}} During this period, the wealth of A-group kings rivaled Egyptian kings. Royal A-group graves contained gold and richly decorated pottery.<ref name="Haynes">{{cite book |last1=Haynes |first1=Joyce |title=Nubia: Ancient Kingdoms of Africa |date=1992 |publisher=Museum of Fine Arts |isbn=0-87846-362-3 |location=Boston, Massachusetts, USA |pages=8–59}}</ref>{{rp|19}} Some scholars believe Nubian A-Group rulers and early Egyptian [[pharaoh]]s used related royal symbols; similarities in A-Group Nubia and Upper Egypt rock art support this position. Scholars from the University of Chicago Oriental Institute excavated at [[Qustul]] (near Abu Simbel in Sudan), in 1960–64, and found artifacts which incorporated images associated with Egyptian pharaohs.

Archeologist Bruce Williams studied the artifacts and concluded that "Egypt and Nubia A-Group culture shared the same official culture", "participated in the most complex dynastic developments", and "Nubia and Egypt were both part of the great East African substratum".<ref>{{cite book|last=Williams|first=Bruce|title=Before the Pyramids|publisher=Oriental Institute Museum Publications|year=2011|isbn=978-1-885923-82-0|location=Chicago, Illinois|pages=89–90}}</ref> Williams also wrote that Qustul "could well have been the seat of Egypt's founding dynasty".<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Nubia Salvage Project &#124; The Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago|url=https://oi.uchicago.edu/museum-exhibits/special-exhibits/nubia-salvage-project-1|website=oi.uchicago.edu}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=O'Connor|first1=David Bourke|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=E9nfgKRMxVoC&q=qustul&pg=PA104|title=Ancient Egyptian Kingship|last2=Silverman|first2=David P|year=1995|publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-90-04-10041-1|access-date=28 May 2016}}</ref> David O'Connor wrote that the Qustul incense burner provides evidence that the A-group Nubian culture in Qustul marked the "pivotal change" from [[predynastic Egypt|predynastic]] to dynastic "Egyptian monumental art".<ref>{{cite book|last=O'Connor|first=David|title=Before the Pyramids|publisher=Oriental Institute Museum Publications|year=2011|isbn=978-1-885923-82-0|location=Chicago, Illinois|pages=162–163}}</ref> However, "most scholars do not agree with this hypothesis",<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Shaw|first1=Ian|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-h4gJAlx8o0C&pg=PA63|title=The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt|date=23 October 2003|isbn=978-0-19-160462-1|page=63|publisher=OUP Oxford |access-date=28 May 2016}}</ref> as more recent finds in Egypt indicate that this iconography originated in Egypt instead of Nubia, and that the Qustul rulers adopted or emulated the symbols of Egyptian pharaohs.<ref>{{cite book|author=D. Wengrow|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=W9OFBw7yGZkC&q=qustul%2C+burner&pg=PA167|title=The Archaeology of Early Egypt: Social Transformations in North-East Africa …|date=25 May 2006|isbn=978-0-521-83586-2|page=167| publisher=Cambridge University Press |author-link1=David Wengrow|access-date=28 May 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Peter Mitchell|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4QGV7Eiy3PsC&q=qustul%2C+baines&pg=PA69|title=African Connections: An Archaeological Perspective on Africa and the Wider World|year=2005|isbn=978-0-7591-0259-0|page=69| publisher=Rowman Altamira |access-date=28 May 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=László Török|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=irbP2hHqDAwC&q=qustul%2C+grave&pg=PA577|title=Between Two Worlds: The Frontier Region Between Ancient Nubia and Egypt …|year=2009|isbn=978-90-04-17197-8|page=577| publisher=BRILL |access-date=28 May 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Bianchi|first1=Robert Steven|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ui9Qwtp-LV4C&q=Qustul+burner&pg=PA38|title=Daily Life of the Nubians|year=2004|publisher=Bloomsbury Academic |isbn=978-0-313-32501-4|access-date=28 May 2016}}</ref>

According to [[David Wengrow]], the A-Group polity of the late 4th millenninum BC is poorly understood since most of the archaeological remains are submerged underneath Lake Nasser.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Wengrow |first1=David |title="Ancient Egypt and Nubian: Kings of Flood and Kings of Rain" in Great Kingdoms of Africa, John Parker (eds) |date=2023 |publisher=THAMES & HUDSON |location=[S.l.] |isbn=978-0-500-25252-9 |pages=1–40}}</ref> [[Frank Yurco]] also remarked that depictions of pharonic iconography such as the royal crowns, Horus falcons and victory scenes were concentrated in the Upper Egyptian [[Naqada culture]] and A-Group Nubia. He further elaborated that "Egyptian writing arose in Naqadan [[Upper Egypt]] and A-Group Nubia, and not in the Delta cultures, where the direct [[Western Asia]]n contact was made, further vitiates the Mesopotamian-influence argument".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Frank J.Yurco |title="The Origin and Development of Ancient Nile Valley Writing," in Egypt in Africa, Theodore Celenko (ed). |date=1996 |publisher=Indianapolis Museum of Art |location=Indianapolis, Ind. |isbn=0-936260-64-5 |pages=34–35}}</ref>

The archaeological cemeteries at Qustul are no longer available for excavations since the flooding of [[Lake Nasser]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Lobban |first1=Richard A. Jr. |title=Historical Dictionary of Medieval Christian Nubia |date=20 October 2020 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=978-1-5381-3341-5 |page=163 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5-z4DwAAQBAJ&dq=Qustul+has+been+flooded+by+Lake+Nasser.&pg=PA163 |language=en}}</ref> The earliest representations of pharaonic iconography have been excavated from Nag el-Hamdulab in [[Aswan]], the extreme southern region of Egypt which borders the Sudan, with an estimated dating range between 3200 and 3100 BC.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Hendrickx |first1=Stan |last2=Darnell |first2=John Coleman |author2-link=John Coleman Darnell |last3=Gatto |first3=Maria Carmela |title=The earliest representations of royal power in Egypt: the rock drawings of Nag el-Hamdulab (Aswan) |journal=[[Antiquity (journal)|Antiquity]] |date=December 2012 |volume=86 |issue=334 |pages=1068–1083 |doi=10.1017/S0003598X00048250 |s2cid=53631029 |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/antiquity/article/abs/earliest-representations-of-royal-power-in-egypt-the-rock-drawings-of-nag-elhamdulab-aswan/5DB2326AD5659EF652D1F77C2B713729 |language=en |issn=0003-598X|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

====Egypt and Nubia====
Writing developed in Egypt around 3300 BC. In their writings, Egyptians referred to Nubia as "[[Ta-Seti]]", or "The Land of the Bow," as the Nubians were known to be expert archers.<ref name="Emberling 2011 8">{{cite book|last=Emberling|first=Geoff|title=Nubia: Ancient Kingdoms of Africa|year=2011|publisher=Institute for the study of the ancient world|location=New York|isbn=978-0-615-48102-9|page=8}}</ref> More recent and broader studies have determined that the distinct pottery styles, differing burial practices, different grave goods, and site distribution all indicate that the Naqada people and the Nubian A-Group people were from different cultures.{{citation needed|reason=Which "more recent and broader studies"? You cannot reference studies and not cite.|date=August 2026}}

[[Kathryn Bard]] states that "Naqada cultural burials contain very few Nubian craft goods, which suggests that while Egyptian goods were exported to Nubia and were buried in A-Group graves, A-Group goods were of little interest further north."<ref>''An Introduction to the Archaeology of Ancient Egypt'', by [[Kathryn A. Bard]], 2015, p. 110</ref> According to anthropologist Jane Hill, there is no evidence that the pharaohs of the [[First Dynasty of Egypt]] buried at [[Abydos, Egypt|Abydos]] were of Nubian origin.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Hill|first=Jane A.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jytmAAAAMAAJ&q=%22of+nubian+origin%22|title=Cylinder Seal Glyptic in Predynastic Egypt and Neighboring Regions|date=2004|publisher=Archaeopress|isbn=978-1-84171-588-9|language=en}}</ref> However, several [[biological anthropology|biological anthropological]] studies have shown the Badarian and Naqada people to be closely related to the Nubian and other, [[tropical]] African populations.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Zakrzewski |first1=Sonia R. |title=Population continuity or population change: Formation of the ancient Egyptian state |journal=American Journal of Physical Anthropology |date=April 2007 |volume=132 |issue=4 |pages=501–509 |doi=10.1002/ajpa.20569 |pmid=17295300 |bibcode=2007AJPA..132..501Z |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ajpa.20569 |language=en|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Keita |first1=S. O. Y. |title=Studies of ancient crania from northern Africa |journal=American Journal of Physical Anthropology |date=September 1990 |volume=83 |issue=1 |pages=35–48 |doi=10.1002/ajpa.1330830105 |pmid=2221029 |bibcode=1990AJPA...83...35K |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/ajpa.1330830105 |language=en |issn=0002-9483|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>Tracy L. Prowse, Nancy C. Lovell. {{Deprecated archive|url=https://archive.today/20121217220119/http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/abstract/57896/ABSTRACT?CRETRY=1&SRETRY=0|title=Concordance of cranial and dental morphological traits and evidence for endogamy in ancient Egypt}}, [[American Journal of Physical Anthropology]], Vol. 101, Issue 2, October 1996, Pages: 237–246</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Godde |first1=Kane |title=A biological perspective of the relationship between Egypt, Nubia, and the Near East during the Predynastic period (2020) |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/337001806 |access-date=16 March 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Keita |first1=S. O. Y. |title=Early Nile Valley Farmers From El-Badari: Aboriginals or "European"AgroNostratic Immigrants? Craniometric Affinities Considered With Other Data |journal=Journal of Black Studies |date=November 2005 |volume=36 |issue=2 |pages=191–208 |doi=10.1177/0021934704265912 |s2cid=144482802 |url=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0021934704265912 |language=en |issn=0021-9347|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Ehret |first1=Christopher |title=Ancient Africa: A Global History, to 300 CE |date=20 June 2023 |publisher=Princeton University Press |location=Princeton |isbn=978-0-691-24409-9 |pages=83–85 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Q5KjEAAAQBAJ&q=ancient+africa:+a+global+history,+to+300+ce+christopher+ehret |language=en}}</ref> Also, the proto-dynastic kings emerged from the Naqada region.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Cambridge history of Africa |date=1975–1986 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge |isbn=978-0-521-22215-0 |pages=500–509}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=The Oxford history of ancient Egypt |date=2003 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford |isbn=0-19-280458-8 |pages=479 |edition=New}}</ref>{{Relevance inline|reason=This article is about NUBIA. Why does the reader care of the origin point of proto-dynastic [[Ancient Egypt|Egyptian]] kings?|date=August 2026}}{{non-sequitur|date=August 2026}}

In the view of Egyptian scholar and editor of UNESCO [[General History of Africa]] Volume II (1981), Gamal Mokhtar, Upper Egypt and Nubia held "similar [[ethnicity|ethnic]] composition" with comparable material culture.<ref name="unesdoc.unesco.org">{{cite book |last1=Mokhtar |first1=Gamal |title=General history of Africa, II: Ancient civilizations of Africa |pages=20–25|url=https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000184265}}</ref> Mokhtar described a notable difference between the communities with Upper Egyptians having adopted a [[hieroglyphics|system of writing]] earlier due to the exigencies of the Nile Valley whilst their Nubian counterparts were more reticent due to their higher reliance on mobile, [[livestock|stock-raising]] as an expressed feature of their economy.<ref name="unesdoc.unesco.org"/>

===Early Kerma (3000–2400 BC)===
A uniform culture of nomadic herders, called the [[Gash group]], existed from 3000 to 1500 BC to the east and west of Nubia.<ref name="OConnor" />{{rp|8}}

In Lower Nubia, the A-group moved from the Classical to the Terminal phase. At this time, kings at Qustul likely ruled all of Lower Nubia and demonstrated the political centralization of Nubian society.<ref name="OConnor" />{{rp|21}} The A-Group culture came to an end sometime between 3100 and 2900 BC, when it was apparently destroyed by the First Dynasty rulers of Egypt.<ref name="OrientInst">{{cite web|title=Ancient Nubia: A-Group 3800–3100 BC|url=https://oi.uchicago.edu/museum-exhibits/nubia/ancient-nubia-group-3800%E2%80%933100-bc|access-date=1 July 2016|publisher=The Oriental Institute}}</ref> There are no records of settlement in Lower Nubia for the next 600 years. Old Kingdom Egyptian dynasties (4th to 6th) controlled uninhabited Lower Nubia and raided Upper Nubia.

===Early Kerma; C-Group (2400–1550 BC)===
====Upper Nubia====
[[File:Kerma_1.jpg|thumb|Kerma style pottery (2500–1500 BC)]]
The pre-Kerma developed into the Middle phase Kerma group. Some A-group people (transitioning to C-group) settled the area and co-existed with the pre-Kerma group.<ref name="OConnor" />{{rp|25}} Like other Nubian groups, the two groups made an abundance of red pottery with black tops, though each group made different shapes.<ref name="OConnor" />{{rp|29}} Traces of the C-group in Upper Nubia vanish by 2000 BC and Kerma culture began to dominate Upper Nubia.<ref name="OConnor" />{{rp|25}} The power of an independent Upper Nubia increased around 1700 BC and Upper Nubia dominated Lower Nubia.<ref name="OConnor" />{{rp|25}} An Egyptian official, Harkhuf, mentions that Irtjet, Setjet, and Wawat all combined under a single ruler. By 1650 BC, Egyptian texts started to refer to only two kingdoms in Nubia: Kush and Shaat.<ref name="OConnor" />{{rp|32,38}} Kush was centred at Kerma and Shaat was centred on Sai island.<ref name="OConnor" />{{rp|38}} Bonnet posits that Kush actually ruled all of Upper Nubia, since "royal" graves were much larger in Kush than in Shaat, and Egyptian texts other than the Execration lists only refer to Kush (and not Shaat).<ref name="OConnor" />{{rp|38–39}}

====Lower Nubia====
[[C-Group culture|C-group Nubians]] resettled Lower Nubia by 2400 BC.<ref name="OConnor" />{{rp|25}} As trade between Egypt and Nubia increased, so did wealth and stability. Nubia was divided into a series of small kingdoms. There is debate over whether the C-group people,<ref>{{multiref2| {{Cite book|chapter-url=https://www.academia.edu/2394005|chapter=The C-Group people in Lower Nubia, 2500 – 1500 BC. Cattle pastoralists in a multicultural setting|via=academia.edu|access-date=8 June 2016|last1=Hafsaas|first1=Henriette|date=January 2006 | title= The Lower Jordan River Basin programme publications and global moments of the Levant | volume =10 | place= Bergen }}|{{cite book | chapter= The C-Group People in Lower Nubia: Cattle Pastoralists on the Frontier between Egypt and Kush | date=2021 |last1=Hafsaas|first1=Henriette |doi=10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190496272.013.10 | title= The Oxford Handbook of Ancient Nubia |pages=157–177|publisher= Oxford University Press| editor1=  Geoff Emberling |editor2= Bruce Beyer Williams}}}}</ref> who flourished from 2500 BC to 1500 BC, were another internal evolution or invaders. O'Connor states, "a transition from A group into a later culture, the C-group, can be traced," and the C-group culture was typical of Lower Nubia from 2400 to 1650 BC.<ref name="OConnor" />{{rp|25}} Although they lived in proximity to each other, Nubians did not acculturate much to Egyptian culture. Notable exceptions include C-group Nubians during the 15th Dynasty, isolated Nubian communities in Egypt, and some bowmen communities.<ref name="OConnor" />{{rp|56}} C-Group pottery is characterized by all-over incised geometric lines with white infill and impressed imitations of basketry. Lower Nubia was controlled by Egypt from 2000 to 1700 BC and Upper Nubia from 1700 to 1525 BC.

From 2200 to 1700 BC, the [[Pan Grave culture]] appeared in Lower Nubia.<ref name="Haynes" />{{rp|20}} Some of the people were likely the [[Medjay]] (''mḏꜣ'',<ref>Erman & Grapow, ''Wörterbuch der ägyptischen Sprache'', 2, 186.1–2</ref>) arriving from the desert east of the Nile river. One feature of the Pan Grave culture was shallow grave burial. The Pan Grave and C-Group definitely interacted: Pan Grave pottery is characterized by more limited incised lines than the C-Group's and generally has interspersed undecorated spaces within the geometric schemes.<ref>de Souza, A.M. 2019. "New Horizons: The Pan-Grave Ceramic Tradition in Context. London: Golden House"</ref>

====Egypt in Nubia====
{{multiple image
| perrow            = 2
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| caption_align     = center
| align             = right
| direction         = horizontal
| image1            = Nubian Archers.jpg
| caption1          = [[11th Dynasty]] model of Nubian archers in the Egyptian army, from a tomb in [[Asyut]] (c. 2130–1991 BC).
| image2            = Mesehtisoldiers.JPG
| caption2          = 11th Dynasty model of Egyptian soldiers from the tomb of Mesehti.
}}

In 2300 BC, Nubia was first mentioned in [[Old Kingdom of Egypt|Old Kingdom]] Egyptian accounts of trade missions. The Egyptians referred to Lower Nubia as Wawat, Irtjet, and Setju, while they referred to Upper Nubia as Yam. Some authors believe that Irtjet and Setju could also have been in Upper Nubia.<ref name="OConnor" />{{rp|32}} They referred to Nubians dwelling near the river [[C-Group culture]] as Nehasyu, a term the C-group likely used for themselves as an ethnonym later borrowed by the Egyptians as a term for anyone south of Egypt.<ref name="OConnor" />{{rp|26}}<ref>{{cite web|url=https://digitalcommons.fairfield.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1042&context=djns|title=Toponymic Strata in Ancient Nubia Until the Common Era|author=Julien Cooper|date=2015|website=Digitalcommons.fairfield.edu|access-date=2026-06-22}}</ref>

From [[Aswan]], the southern limit of Egyptian control at the time, Egyptians imported gold, incense, ebony, copper, ivory, and exotic animals from tropical Africa through Nubia. Relations between the Egyptians and Nubians showed peaceful cultural interchange, cooperation, and mixed marriages. Nubian bowmen that settled at Gebelein during the First Intermediate Period married Egyptian women, were buried in Egyptian style, and eventually could not be distinguished from Egyptians.<ref name="OConnor" />{{rp|56}}

Older scholarship noted that some Egyptian pharaohs may have had Nubian ancestry.<ref name="The making of Egypt">{{cite book|author-last=Petrie|author-first=Flinders|url=https://archive.org/details/Petrie1939/page/n86/mode/1up|title=The making of Egypt|year=1939|location=London|author-link=Flinders Petrie}} p.155</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Bromiley|first=Geoffrey William|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yklDk6Vv0l4C&q=%2212th+dynasty%22+%22nubian%22&pg=PA194|title=The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia|date=1979|publisher=Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing|isbn=978-0-8028-3782-0|language=en}}</ref> Richard Loban expressed the view that [[Mentuhotep II]] of the 11th Dynasty "was quite possibly of Nubian origin" and cited historical evidence which mentioned that [[Amenemhat I|Amenemhet I]], founder of the 12th Dynasty, "had a Ta Seti or Nubian mother".<ref>{{Cite book|last=Lobban|first=Richard A.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jF2jq5JrkS4C&q=%2212th+dynasty%22+%22nubian+origin%22&pg=RA1-PA345|title=Historical Dictionary of Ancient and Medieval Nubia|date=9 December 2003|publisher=Scarecrow Press|isbn=978-0-8108-6578-5|language=en}}</ref><ref name="Rowman & Littlefield">{{cite book |last1=Lobban |first1=Richard A. Jr. |title=Historical Dictionary of Ancient Nubia |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pRUYEAAAQBAJ&dq=amenemhat+textual+evidence+nubian+mother&pg=PA28 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |language=en |date=10 April 2021|isbn=978-1-5381-3339-2 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Morris|first=Ellen|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jyRgDwAAQBAJ&q=%22amenemhet+I%22+%22nubian+origin%22&pg=PA72|title=Ancient Egyptian Imperialism|date=6 August 2018|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|isbn=978-1-4051-3677-8|language=en}}</ref> Dietrich Wildung has argued that Nubian features were common in Egyptian iconography since the pre-dynastic era and that several pharaohs such as [[Khufu]] and [[Mentuhotep II]] were represented with these Nubian features.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Wildung |first1=Dietrich |title=About the autonomy of the arts of ancient Sudan. In M. Honegger (Ed.), Nubian archaeology in the XXIst Century. |pages=105–112}}</ref>

[[File:Guardian Figures Middle Kingdom (12th Dynasty) ca. 1919–1885 BCE. Egyptian Museum, Cairo, JE 44951. Metropolitan Museum of Art, 14.3.17.jpg|thumb|left|Pair of guardian statuettes, depicting Middle Kingdom pharaohs, presumably [[Senusret I]] or [[Amenemhat II]], with the white crown of Upper Egypt (left), the other with the red crown of [[Lower Egypt]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Guardian Figure |url=https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/543864 |publisher=Metropolitan Museum of Art |date=2025}}</ref> The 12th dynasty had origins in [[Ta-Seti]], Upper Egypt/[[Lower Nubia]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Lobban |first1=Richard A. Jr. |title=Historical Dictionary of Ancient Nubia |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pRUYEAAAQBAJ&dq=amenemhat+textual+evidence+nubian+mother&pg=PA28 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |language=en |date=10 April 2021|isbn=9781538133392 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Van de Mieroop |first1=Marc |title=A history of ancient Egypt |date=2021 |location=Chichester, West Sussex |isbn=978-1119620877 |page=99 |edition=Second}}</ref>]]

Frank Yurco wrote that "Egyptian rulers of Nubian ancestry had become Egyptians culturally; as pharaohs, they exhibited typical Egyptian attitudes and adopted typical Egyptian policies". Yurco noted that some Middle Kingdom rulers, particularly some pharaohs of the [[Twelfth dynasty of Egypt|Twelfth Dynasty]], had strong Nubian features, due to the origin of the dynasty in the Aswan region of southern Egypt. He also identified the pharaoh Sequenre Tao of the [[Seventeenth dynasty of Egypt|Seventeenth Dynasty]], as having Nubian features.<ref>F. J. Yurco, "The ancient Egyptians..", ''Biblical Archaeology Review'' (Vol 15, no. 5, 1989)</ref> Many scholars in recent years have argued that the mother of Amenemhat I, founder of the [[Twelfth dynasty of Egypt|Twelfth Dynasty]] was of Nubian origin.<ref>{{cite book |title=General History of Africa Volume II – Ancient civilizations of Africa (ed. G Moktar) |publisher=UNESCO |page=152}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Crawford |first1=Keith W. |title=Critique of the "Black Pharaohs" Theme: Racist Perspectives of Egyptian and Kushite/Nubian Interactions in Popular Media |journal=African Archaeological Review |date=1 December 2021 |volume=38 |issue=4 |pages=695–712 |doi=10.1007/s10437-021-09453-7 |s2cid=238718279 |language=en |issn=1572-9842|doi-access=free }}</ref><ref name="Rowman & Littlefield"/><ref name="Morris">{{cite book |last1=Morris |first1=Ellen |title=Ancient Egyptian Imperialism |date=6 August 2018 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |isbn=978-1-4051-3677-8 |page=72 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jyRgDwAAQBAJ&dq=Amenemhat+I+%22nubian+origin%22&pg=PA72 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Van de Mieroop |first1=Marc |title=A history of ancient Egypt |date=2021 |location=Chichester, West Sussex |isbn=978-1-119-62087-7 |page=99 |edition=Second}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Fletcher |first1=Joann |title=The story of Egypt: the civilization that shaped the world |date=2017 |location=New York |isbn=978-1-68177-456-5 |pages=Chapter 12 |edition=First Pegasus books paperback}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Smith |first1=Stuart Tyson |title=Ethnicity: Constructions of Self and Other in Ancient Egypt |journal=Journal of Egyptian History |date=8 October 2018 |volume=11 |issue=1–2 |pages=113–146 |doi=10.1163/18741665-12340045 |s2cid=203315839 |url=https://brill.com/view/journals/jeh/11/1-2/article-p113_6.xml |issn=1874-1665}}</ref>

After a period of withdrawal, the [[Middle Kingdom of Egypt]] conquered Lower Nubia from 2000 to 1700 BC.<ref name="OConnor" />{{rp|8, 25}} By 1900 BC, King Sesostris I began building a series of towns below the Second Cataract with heavy fortresses that had enclosures and drawbridges.<ref name="Haynes" />{{rp|19}} [[Senusret III|Sesotris III]] relentlessly expanded his kingdom into Nubia (from 1866 to 1863 BC) and erected massive river forts including [[Buhen]], [[Semna (Nubia)|Semna]], [[Shalfak]] and [[Toshka]] at [[Uronarti]] to gain more control over the trade routes in Lower Nubia. They also provided direct access to trade with Upper Nubia, which was independent and increasingly powerful during this time. These Egyptian garrisons seemed to peacefully coexist with the local Nubian people, though they did not interact much with them.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Hafsaas|first1=Henriette|chapter=Between Kush and Egypt: The C-Group people of Lower Nubia during the Middle Kingdom and Second Intermediate Period|chapter-url=https://www.academia.edu/2393840|title=Between the Cataracts|date=January 2010|access-date=8 June 2016}}</ref>

Medjay was the name given by [[ancient Egypt]] to nomadic desert dwellers from east of the Nile River. The term was used variously to describe a location, the Medjay people, or their role/job in the kingdom. They became part of the Egyptian military as scouts and minor workers before being incorporated into the Egyptian army.{{citation needed|date=August 2020}} In the army, the Medjay served as garrison troops in Egyptian fortifications in Nubia and patrolled the deserts as a kind of [[gendarmerie]],<ref>Bard, ''op.cit.'', p. 486</ref> or elite paramilitary police force,<ref name="Wilkinson"/> to prevent their fellow Medjay tribespeople from further attacking Egyptian assets in the region.<ref name="Wilkinson">Wilkinson, ''op.cit.'', p. 147</ref>

The Medjay were often used to protect valuable areas, especially royal and religious complexes. Although they are most notable for their protection of the royal palaces and tombs in [[Thebes, Egypt|Thebes]] and the surrounding areas, the Medjay were deployed throughout Upper and Lower Egypt; they were even used during [[Kamose]]'s campaign against the [[Hyksos]] and became instrumental in turning the Egyptian state into a military power.<ref>Shaw, ''op.cit.'', p. 201</ref><ref>Steindorff & Seele, ''op.cit.'', p. 28</ref> After the [[First Intermediate Period of Egypt]], the Medjay district was no longer mentioned in written records.<ref>Gardiner, ''op.cit.'', p. 76*</ref>

===Kerma; Egyptian Empire (1550–1100 BC)===
====Upper Nubia====
{{Main|Kerma culture}}

[[File:Western_Deffufa_-_Kerma.jpg|thumb|right|The Western Deffufa of Sudan]]
[[File:Daggers of bone and copper, 1750-1450 BCE, Kerma, British Museum EA55442.jpg|thumb|Daggers of bone and copper, 1750–1450 BC, Kerma, British Museum EA55442]]
From the Middle Kerma phase, the first Nubian kingdom to unify much of the region arose. 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.<ref>{{Cite journal |url=https://www.academia.edu/2380609 |title=The Kingdom of Kush: An African Centre on the Periphery of the Bronze Age World System |journal=Norwegian Archaeological Review |volume=42 |issue=1 |pages=50–70 |access-date=8 June 2016|last1=Hafsaas-Tsakos |first1=Henriette |year=2009 |doi=10.1080/00293650902978590 |s2cid=154430884 }}</ref><ref name="OConnor" />{{rp|50–51}} The Kerma group spoke either languages of the [[Cushitic languages|Cushitic]] branch<ref name="Bechaus-Gerst"/><ref name="Lbant"/> or, according to more recent research, [[Nilo-Saharan]] languages of the [[Eastern Sudanic]] branch.<ref name="Rilly2010"/><ref name="Rilly200162"/><ref name="Rilly2008"/><ref name="Cooper"/>

By 1650 BC (Classic Kerma phase), the kings of Kerma were powerful enough to organize the labour for monumental town walls and large mud brick structures, such as the Eastern and Western Deffufas (50 by 25 by 18 meters). They also had rich tombs with possessions for the afterlife and large [[human sacrifice]]s. [[George Andrew Reisner]] excavated sites at the royal city of Kerma and found distinctive [[Nubian architecture]], such as large pebble-covered tombs (90 meters in diameter), a large circular dwelling, and a palace-like structure.<ref name="OConnor" />{{rp|41}} Classic Kerma rulers employed "a good many Egyptians", according to the Egyptian Execration texts.<ref name="OConnor" />{{rp|57}}

[[File:Exposition Nubia, Land of the Black Pharaohs – Mirror. Kerma Period, 1700-1550 BC.jpg|thumb|Mirror. Kerma Period, 1700–1550 BC.]]
Kerma culture was [[militaristic]], as attested by many archers' burials and bronze daggers/swords found in their graves.<ref name="OConnor" />{{rp|31}} Other signs of Nubia's military prowess are the frequent use of Nubians in Egypt's military and Egypt's need to construct numerous fortresses to defend its southern border from the Nubians.<ref name="OConnor" />{{rp|31}} Despite assimilation, the Nubian elite remained rebellious during Egyptian occupation. There were numerous rebellions and "military conflict occurred almost under every reign until the 20th dynasty".<ref name="Torok" />{{rp|102–103}} At one point, Kerma came very close to conquering Egypt: Egypt suffered a serious defeat at the hands of the [[Kingdom of Kush]].<ref>Tomb Reveals Ancient Egypt's Humiliating Secret ''The Times'' (London, 2003)</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Elkab's hidden treasure|url=http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2003/649/he1.htm|newspaper=[[Al-Ahram]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090215024748/http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2003/649/he1.htm|archive-date=15 February 2009}}</ref>

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. During Egypt's Second Intermediate period, the Kushites reached the height of their Bronze Age power and completely controlled southern trade with Egypt.<ref name="OConnor" />{{rp|41}} They maintained diplomatic ties with the Thebans and Hyksos until the New Kingdom pharaohs brought all of Nubia under Egyptian rule from 1500 to 1070 BC.<ref name="OConnor" />{{rp|41}} After 1070 BC, there were continued hostilities with Egypt, which led Nubians to concentrate in Upper Nubia.<ref name="OConnor" />{{rp|58}} Within 200 years, a fully formed Kushite state, based at Napata, began to exert its influence on Upper (Southern) Egypt.<ref name="OConnor" />{{rp|58–59}}

====Lower Nubia====
When the Middle Kingdom Egyptians pulled out of the Napata region around 1700 BC, they left a lasting legacy that was merged with indigenous C-group customs. Egyptians remaining at the garrison towns started to merge with the C-group Nubians in Lower Nubia. The C-group quickly adopted Egyptian customs and culture, as attested by their graves, and lived together with the remaining Egyptians in garrison towns.<ref name="OConnor" />{{rp|41}} After Upper Nubia annexed Lower Nubia around 1700 BC, the Kingdom of Kush began to control the area. At this point, C-group Nubians and Egyptians began to proclaim their allegiance to the Kushite King in their inscriptions.<ref name="OConnor" />{{rp|41}} Egypt conquered Lower and Upper Nubia from 1500 to 1070 BC. However, the Kingdom of Kush survived longer than Egypt.

====Egypt in Nubia====
[[File:Nubian Prince Hekanefer bringing tribute for King Tut, 18th dynasty, Tomb of Huy.jpg|thumb|Nubian Prince [[Heqanefer]] bringing tribute for King [[Tutankhamun]], 18th dynasty, Tomb of Huy. Circa 1342 – c. 1325 BC]]
[[File:TurinPapyrus1.jpg|thumb|right|The Turin Papyrus Map, dating to about 1160 BC]]
After the Theban 17th Dynasty [[New Kingdom of Egypt]] (c. 1532–1070 BC) expelled the Canaanite Hyksos from Egypt, they turned their imperial ambitions to Nubia. By the end of [[Thutmose I]]'s reign (1520 BC), all of Lower Nubia had been annexed. After a long campaign, Egypt also [[Egyptian Invasion of Kerma|conquered the Kingdom of Kerma]] in Upper Nubia and held both areas until 1070 BC.<ref name="Torok" />{{rp|101–102}}<ref name="OConnor" />{{rp|25}} The Egyptian empire expanded into the Fourth Cataract, and a new administrative center was built at [[Napata]], which became a [[gold]] and incense production area.<ref>James G. Cusick (5 March 2015). Studies in Culture Contact: Interaction, Culture Change, and Archaeology. SIU Press. pp. 269–. {{ISBN|978-0-8093-3409-4}}.</ref><ref>Richard Bulliet; Pamela Crossley; Daniel Headrick (1 January 2010). The Earth and Its Peoples. Cengage Learning. pp. 66–. {{ISBN|0-538-74438-3}}.</ref> Egypt became a prime source of gold in the Middle East. The primitive working conditions for the slaves are recorded by [[Diodorus Siculus]].<ref>Anne Burton (1973). Diodorus Siculus, Book 1: A Commentary. BRILL. pp. 129–. {{ISBN|90-04-03514-1}}.</ref> One of the oldest maps known is of a gold mine in Nubia: the [[Turin Papyrus Map]] dating to about 1160 BC; it is also one of the earliest characterized road maps in existence.<ref>[[James R. Akerman]]; Robert W. Karrow (2007). Maps: Finding Our Place in the World. University of Chicago Press. {{ISBN|978-0-226-01075-5}}.</ref>

Nubians were an integral part of New Kingdom Egyptian society. Some scholars state that Nubians were included in the [[Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt|18th Dynasty of Egypt]]'s royal family.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Rawlinson |first1=George |title=History of Ancient Egypt, Vol. II |date=1881 |publisher=Longmans, Green, and Co. |location=London |page=209}}</ref> [[Ahmose-Nefertari]], "arguably the most venerated woman in Egyptian history",<ref name=gestoso>{{Cite journal|last=Gestoso Singer|first=Graciela|title=Ahmose Nefertari, the Woman in Black|url=https://www.academia.edu/414029|journal=Terrae Antiqvae}}</ref> was thought by some scholars such as [[Flinders Petrie]] to be of Nubian origin because she is most often depicted with black skin.<ref name="The making of Egypt"/><ref name="Mokhtar 1990 1–118">{{cite book|last=Mokhtar|first=G.|title=General History of Africa II: ''Ancient Civilizations of Africa''|year=1990|publisher=University of California Press|location=Berkeley, CA|isbn=978-0-520-06697-7|pages=1–118}}</ref>{{rp|17}}<ref>[[Martin Bernal]] (1987), ''Black Athena: Afroasiatic Roots of Classical Civilization. The Fabrication of Ancient Greece, 1785-1985, vol. I''. New Jersey, Rutgers University Press</ref> The mummy of [[Ahmose-Nefertari]]'s father, [[Seqenenre Tao]], has been described as presenting "tightly curled, woolly hair", with "a slight build and strongly Nubian features".<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Yurco|first=Frank J.|date=1989|title=Were the ancient Egyptians black or white?|url=http://cojs.org/were_the_ancient_egyptians_black_or_white-_frank_j-_yurco-_bar_15-05-_sep-oct_1989/|journal=Biblical Archaeology Review|volume=15|pages=24–29}}</ref> Some modern scholars also believe that in some depictions, her skin color is indicative of her role as a goddess of resurrection, since black is both the color of the fertile land of Egypt and that of the underworld.<ref name="gitton81">{{Cite journal|last=Gitton|first=Michel|title=Ahmose Nefertari, sa vie et son culte posthume |journal=École Pratique des Hautes Études, 5E Section, Sciences Religieuses |date=1973 |volume=85|issue=82|page=84|doi=10.3406/ephe.1973.20828|issn=0183-7451}}</ref><ref name="Tyldesley">Tyldesley, Joyce. Chronicle of the Queens of Egypt. Thames & Hudson. 2006. {{ISBN|0-500-05145-3}}</ref>{{rp|90}}<ref>Hodel-Hoenes, S & Warburton, D (trans), ''Life and Death in Ancient Egypt: Scenes from Private Tombs in New Kingdom Thebes'', Cornell University Press, 2000, p. 268.</ref><ref name=gestoso/><ref name=dh>{{cite book |last1=Dodson |first1=Aidan |author-link1=Aidan Dodson |last2=Hilton |first2=Dyan |date=2004 |title= The Complete Royal Families of Ancient Egypt |location=London |publisher= Thames & Hudson |isbn= 0-500-05128-3}}</ref>{{rp|125}} However, there is no known depiction of her painted during her lifetime (she is represented with the same light skin as other represented individuals in tomb TT15, before her deification); the earliest black skin depiction appears in tomb TT161, {{circa}} 150 years after her death.{{rp|11–12, 23, 74–5}}<ref name="dh"/>{{rp|125}} Egyptologist Barbara Lesko wrote in 1996 that Ahmose-Nefertari was "sometimes portrayed by later generations as having been black, although her coffin portrait gives her the typical light yellow skin of women."<ref>The Remarkable Women of Ancient Egypt, by Barbara S. Lesko; page 14; B.C. Scribe Publications, 1996; {{ISBN|978-0-930548-13-1}}</ref> In 2009, 
Egyptologist Elena Vassilika, noting that in a wooden statuette of the queen (now at the [[Museo Egizio]]) the face is painted black but the arms and feet are light in colour, argued that the reason for the black colouring in that case was religious and not genetic.<ref>{{cite book |last=Vassilika |first=Elena |title=I capolavori del Museo Egizio di Torino |date=2009 |publisher=Fondazione Museo delle antichità egizie di Torino |isbn=978-88-8117-950-3 |location=Florence |language=it}}</ref>{{rp|78–9}}
[[File:Ramses II charging Nubians.jpg|thumb|right|[[Ramesses II]] in his war chariot charging into battle against the Nubians. [[New Kingdom of Egypt|New Kingdom]] reliefs as seen in Rameses II temple, [[Beit el-Wali]], represented Nubians with dark reddish brown and jet black skin tones.<ref>{{cite book |last=Emberling |first=Geoff |title=Nubia: Ancient Kingdoms of Africa |year=2011 |publisher=The Institute for the Study of the Ancient World |location=New York |isbn=978-0-615-48102-9 |pages=22–23, 36–37}}</ref>]]
In 1098–1088 BC, Thebes was "the scene of a civil war-like conflict between the High Priest of Amun of Thebes, Amenhotep and the Viceroy of Kush [[Pinehesy|Panehesy]] (= the Nubian)". It was chaotic, and many tombs were plundered. Instead of sending soldiers to restore order, [[Ramesses XI]] put Panehesy in control of that area's military and appointed him Director of Granaries. Panehesy stationed his troops in Thebes to protect the city from thieves, but it resembled a military occupation of Thebes to the High Priest, which later led to the Civil War in Thebes.<ref name="Torok" />{{rp|104–105}} By 1082 BC, Ramesses XI finally sent help to the High Priest. Panehesy continued his revolt, and the city of Thebes suffered from "war, famine, and plunderings".<ref name="Torok" />{{rp|106}} Panehesy initially succeeded, and the High Priest fled Thebes. Panehesy pursued the High Priest as far as Middle Egypt before Egyptian forces pushed Panehesy and his troops out of Egypt and into Lower Nubia.<ref name="Torok" />{{rp|106}} Ramesses sent new leadership to Thebes: [[Herihor]] was named the new High Priest of Thebes (and effectively King of Southern Egypt) and Paiankh was named the new Viceroy of Kush. Paiankh recaptured former Egyptian holdings in Lower Nubia as far as the second Nile cataract, but could not defeat Panehesy in Lower Nubia, who ruled the area until his death.<ref name="Torok" />{{rp|106}} Herihor's descendants became rulers of Egypt's 21st and 22nd Dynasties.

===Napatan Empire (750–542 BC)===
{{Main|Kingdom of Kush}}

[[File:Pyramids_of_Nuri_(cropped).jpg|thumb|right|upright|Pyramids of Kushite rulers at [[Nuri]]]]
[[File:Pyramid of Taharqa at Nuri.jpg|thumb|Pyramid of Taharqa at Nuri, 51.75m in side length and possibly as much as 50m high, was the largest built in Sudan.[https://www.academia.edu/37204924/Taharqa_Routed_by_Assarhaddon_Memphis_Sacked_Kush_Ethiopia_Driven_from_Lower_Egypt_Part_VIII_2010_]]]
[[File:Pharaoh Taharqa of Ancient Egypt's 25th Dynasty.jpg|thumb|upright|Pharaoh Taharqa of Ancient Egypt's 25th Dynasty. Ashmolean Museum, Oxford UK]]

There are competing theories on the origins of the Kushite kings of the 25th Dynasty:<ref name=":0"/> some scholars believe they were Nubian officials that learned "state level organization" by administering Egyptian-held Nubia from 1500 to 1070 BC,<ref name="OConnor" />{{rp|59}} such as the rebel Viceroy of Kush, Panehesy, who ruled Upper Nubia and some of Lower Nubia after Egyptian forces withdrew.<ref name="Torok" />{{rp|110}} Other scholars believe they are descended from families of the Egyptianized Nubian elite supported by Egyptian priests or settlers.<ref name="britannica.com">{{Cite web|title=Sudan {{!}} History, Map, Flag, Government, Religion, & Facts|url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Sudan|access-date=23 July 2020|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Piye {{!}} king of Cush|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Piye|access-date=23 July 2020|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Middleton|first=John|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=R63ACQAAQBAJ&pg=PA269|title=World Monarchies and Dynasties|date=1 June 2015|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-317-45158-7|language=en}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last1=Fage|first1=John|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mXa4AQAAQBAJ&pg=PA35|title=A History of Africa|last2=Tordoff|first2=with William|date=23 October 2013|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-317-79727-2|language=en}}</ref> Children of elite Nubian families were sent to be educated in Egypt then returned to Kush to be appointed in bureaucratic positions to ensure their loyalty. During the Egyptian occupation of Nubia, there were temple towns with Egyptian cults, but "production and redistribution" was based mostly on indigenous social structures.<ref name="Torok" />{{rp|111}}

The El Kurru chiefdom likely played a major role in the development of the Kingdom of Kush due to its access to gold-producing areas, control of caravan routes,<ref name="Torok" />{{rp|112}} more arable land, and participation in international trade.<ref name="Torok" />{{rp|121}} "There can be no doubt that el-Kurru was the burial place of the ancestors of the Twenty-Fifth Dynasty."<ref name="Torok" />{{rp|112}} The early el-Kurru burials resemble Nubian Kerma/C-group traditions (contracted body, circular stone structures, burial on a bed).<ref name="Torok" />{{rp|121}} However, by 880–815 BC, Nubian burials at el-Kurru became more Egyptian in style with "mastabas, or pyramid on mastabas, chapels, and rectangular enclosures".<ref name="Torok" />{{rp|117,121–122}} Alara, the first el-Kurru prince, and his successor, [[Kashta]], were buried at el-Kurru.<ref name="Torok" />{{rp|123}}

Later documents mention Alara as the 25th Dynasty's founder and "central to a myth of the origins of the kingdom".<ref name="Torok" />{{rp|124–126}} Alara's sister was the priestess of Amun, which created a system of royal secession and an "ideology of royal power in which Kushite concepts and practice were united with contemporary Egyptian concepts of kingship".<ref name="Torok" />{{rp|144}} Later, Kashta's daughter, the Kushite princess Amenirdis, was installed as God's Wife of Amun Elect and later Divine Adoratrice (effectively governor of Upper Egypt), which signaled the Kushite conquest of Egyptian territories.<ref name="Torok" />{{rp|148}}

The Napatan Empire ushered in the age of Egyptian archaism, or a return to a historical past, which was embodied by a concentrated effort at religious renewal and restoration of Egypt's holy places.<ref name="Torok" />{{rp|169}} [[Piye]] expanded the [[Temple of Amun, Jebel Barkal|Temple of Amun at Jebel Barkal]]<ref name=Emberling /> by adding "an immense colonnaded forecourt".<ref name="Torok" />{{rp|163–164}} [[Shabaka]] restored the great Egyptian monuments and temples, "unlike his Libyan predecessors".<ref name="Torok" />{{rp|167–169}} [[Taharqa]] enriched Thebes on a monumental scale."<ref name="Torok" /> At Karnak, the Sacred Lake structures, the kiosk in the first court, and the colonnades at the temple entrance are all built by Taharqa and Mentuemhet. In addition to architecture, the Kingdom of Kush was deeply influenced by Egyptian culture.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Drury|first=Allen|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mQMuAQAAIAAJ|title=Egypt: The Eternal Smile: Reflections on a Journey|date=1980|publisher=Doubleday|isbn=978-0-385-00193-9|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Museums for Intercultural Dialogue - Statue of Iriketakana|url=http://www.unesco.org/culture/museum-for-dialogue/item/en/78/statue-of-iriketakana|access-date=2020-07-23|website=Unesco.org}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Cush (Kush)|url=https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/cush-kush|access-date=2020-07-23|website=Jewishvirtuallibrary.org}}</ref> By 780 BC, [[Amun]] was the main god of Kush and "intense contacts with Thebes" were maintained.<ref name="Torok" />{{rp|144}} Kush used the methods of Egyptian art and writing.<ref>{{Cite web|title=statue {{!}} British Museum|url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/Y_EA1770|access-date=23 July 2020|website=The British Museum|language=en}}</ref> The Nubian elite adopted many Egyptian customs and gave their children Egyptian names. Although some Nubian customs and beliefs (e.g. burial practices) continued to be practiced,<ref name="Torok" />{{rp|111}} Egyptianization dominated in ideas, practices, and iconography.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Shillington|first=Kevin|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WixiTjxYdkYC&pg=PA700|title=Encyclopedia of African History 3-Volume Set|date=4 July 2013|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-135-45669-6|language=en}}</ref> The cultural Egyptianization of Nubia was at its highest levels at the times of both Kashta and Piye.<ref name="ReferenceA">{{Cite web|title=Nubia {{!}} Definition, History, Map, & Facts|url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Nubia|access-date=23 July 2020|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|language=en}}</ref>

====Nubia in Egypt====
{{main|Twenty-fifth Dynasty of Egypt}}

[[File:Kushite heartland and Kushite Empire of the 25th dynasty circa 700 BCE.jpg|thumb|Kushite heartland, and Kushite Empire of the [[Twenty-fifth Dynasty of Egypt]], circa 700 BC.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Dive beneath the pyramids of Sudan's black pharaohs |journal=National Geographic |date=2 July 2019 |url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/2019/07/dive-ancient-pyramid-nuri-sudan/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190702180435/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/2019/07/dive-ancient-pyramid-nuri-sudan/ |archive-date=2 July 2019 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=The Kushite Conquest of Egypt |website=SudanHistory.org |date=2 July 2022 |url=https://sudanhistory.org/history_06_nubconegypt.htm/|language=en}}</ref>]]
[[File:Taharqa's_kiosk._Karnak_Temple.jpg|thumb|right|Taharqa's [[kiosk]] and column, Karnak temple]]
Kashta peacefully became King of Upper and Lower Egypt with his daughter Amenirdis as Divine Adoratrice of Amun in Thebes.<ref name="Torok" />{{rp|144–146}} Rulers of the 23rd Dynasty withdrew from Thebes to Heracleopolis, which avoided conflict with the new Kushite rulers of Thebes. Under Kashta's reign, the Kushite elite and professional classes became significantly Egyptianized.

The city-state of [[Napata]] was the spiritual capital of Kush and it was from there that [[Piye]] (spelled Piankhi or Piankhy in older works) invaded and took control of [[Egypt]].<ref>{{cite book|title=The Histories|author=Herodotus|publisher=Penguin Books|year=2003|isbn=978-0-14-044908-2|pages=[https://archive.org/details/histories00hero/page/106 106–107, 133–134]|url=https://archive.org/details/histories00hero/page/106}}</ref> Piye personally led the attack on Egypt and recorded his victory in a lengthy hieroglyphic filled [[stele]] called the "[[Stele of Piye|Stele of Victory]]".<ref name=Torok>{{cite book |author=Török, László |title=The Kingdom of Kush: Handbook of the Napatan-Meroitic Civilization |publisher=BRILL |location=Leiden |year=1998 |isbn=90-04-10448-8 |pages=132–133, 153–184}}</ref>{{rp|166}} Piye's success in achieving the double kingship after generations of Kushite planning resulted from "Kushite ambition, political skill, and the Theban decision to reunify Egypt in this particular way", and not Egypt's utter exhaustion, "as frequently suggested in Egyptological studies."<ref name=Emberling /> Due to archaism, Piye mostly used the royal titulary of Tuthmosis III, but changed the Horus name from "Strong bull appearing (crowned) in Thebes" to "Strong bull appearing in Napata" to announce that the Kushites had reversed history and conquered their former Thebaid Egyptian conquerors.<ref name="Torok" />{{rp|154}} He also revived one of the greatest features of the Old and Middle Kingdoms: pyramid construction. As an energetic builder, he constructed the oldest known pyramid at the royal burial site of [[El-Kurru]].

According to the revised chronology, [[Shebitku]] "brought the entire Nile Valley as far as the Delta under the empire of Kush and is 'reputed' to have had Bocchoris, dynast of Sais, burnt to death".<ref name=Mokhtar1>{{cite book |last=Mokhtar |first=G. |title=General History of Africa |year=1990 |publisher=University of California Press |location=California, USA |isbn=0-520-06697-9 |pages=161–163}}</ref><ref name="Torok" />{{rp|166–167}} [[Shabaka]] "transferred the capital to Memphis".<ref name="Torok" />{{rp|166}} Shebitku's successor, [[Taharqa]], was crowned in Memphis in 690 BC<ref name="Torok" /><ref name="Haynes" /> and ruled Upper and Lower Egypt as Pharaoh from Tanis in the Delta.<ref name=Welsby>{{cite book |last1=Welsby |first1=Derek A. |title=The Kingdom of Kush |date=1996 |publisher=British Museum Press |location=London, UK |isbn=0-7141-0986-X |pages=64–65 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="Mokhtar1" /> Excavations at el-Kurru and studies of horse skeletons indicate the finest horses used in Kushite and Assyrian warfare were bred in and exported from Nubia. Horses and chariots were key to the Kushite war machine.<ref name="Torok" />{{rp|157–158}}

Taharqa's reign was a prosperous time in the empire, with a particularly large Nile river flood and abundant crops and wine.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Welsby |first1=Derek A. |title=The Kingdom of Kush |date=1996 |publisher=British Museum Press |location=London, UK |isbn=0-7141-0986-X |pages=158 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="Torok" /> Taharqa's inscriptions indicate that he gave large amounts of gold to the temple of Amun at Kawa.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Welsby |first1=Derek A. |title=The Kingdom of Kush |date=1996 |publisher=British Museum Press |location=London, UK |isbn=0-7141-0986-X |pages=169 |language=en}}</ref> His army undertook successful military campaigns, as attested by the "list of conquered Asiatic principalities" from the Mut temple at Karnak and "conquered peoples and countries (Libyans, Shasu nomads, Phoenicians?, Khor in Palestine)" from Sanam temple inscriptions.<ref name="Torok" /> László Török mentions the military success was due to Taharqa's efforts to strengthen the army through daily training in long-distance running and Assyria's preoccupation with Babylon and Elam.<ref name="Torok" /> Taharqa also built military settlements at the Semna and Buhen forts and the fortified site of Qasr Ibrim.<ref name="Torok" />

Imperial ambitions of the [[Mesopotamian]]-based [[Assyrian Empire]] made war with the 25th Dynasty inevitable. Taharqa conspired with Levantine kingdoms against Assyria:<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Coogan|first1=Michael David|title=The Oxford History of the Biblical World|last2=Coogan|first2=Michael D.|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2001|isbn=0-19-513937-2|location=Oxford|page=53}}</ref> in 701 BC, Taharqa and his army aided [[Kingdom of Judah|Judah]] and King [[Hezekiah]] in withstanding a siege by King [[Sennacherib]] of the Assyrians (2 Kings 19:9; Isaiah 37:9).<ref name=Aubin>{{cite book|title=The Rescue of Jerusalem|date=2002|publisher=Soho Press, Inc.|isbn=1-56947-275-0|location=New York, NY|pages=x, 141–144|last1=Aubin|first1=Henry T.}}</ref> There are various theories (Taharqa's army,<ref>{{cite book|title=The Rescue of Jerusalem|date=2002|publisher=Soho Press, Inc.|isbn=1-56947-275-0|location=New York, NY|pages=x, 127, 129–130, 139–152|last1=Aubin|first1=Henry T.}}</ref> disease, divine intervention, Hezekiah's surrender, Herodotus' mice theory) as to why the Assyrians failed to take Jerusalem and withdrew to Assyria.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Rescue of Jerusalem|date=2002|publisher=Soho Press, Inc.|isbn=1-56947-275-0|location=New York, NY|pages=x, 119|last1=Aubin|first1=Henry T.}}</ref> Sennacherib's annals record Judah was forced into tribute after the siege and Sennacherib became the ruler of the region.<ref name="Roux">{{cite book |last=Roux |first=Georges |title=Ancient Iraq |location=London |publisher=Penguin |edition=Third |year=1992 |isbn=0-14-012523-X }}</ref> However, this is contradicted by Khor's frequent utilization of an Egyptian system of weights for trade and the twenty-year cessation in Assyria's pattern of repeatedly invading Khor (as Assyrians had before 701 and after Sennacherib's death).<ref>{{cite book|title=The Rescue of Jerusalem|date=2002|publisher=Soho Press, Inc.|isbn=1-56947-275-0|location=New York, NY|pages=x, 155–156|last1=Aubin|first1=Henry T.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=The Rescue of Jerusalem|date=2002|publisher=Soho Press, Inc.|isbn=1-56947-275-0|location=New York, NY|pages=x, 152–153|last1=Aubin|first1=Henry T.}}</ref> In 681 BC, Sennacherib was murdered by his own sons in [[Babylon]].

In 679 BC, Sennacherib's successor, King [[Esarhaddon]], campaigned in Khor, destroyed Sidon, and forced Tyre into tribute in 677–676 BC. Esarhaddon invaded Egypt proper in 674 BC, but according to Babylonian records, Taharqa and his army outright defeated the Assyrians.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Rescue of Jerusalem|date=2002|publisher=Soho Press, Inc.|isbn=1-56947-275-0|location=New York, NY|pages=x, 158–161|last1=Aubin|first1=Henry T.}}</ref> In 672 BC, Taharqa brought reserve troops from Kush, as mentioned in rock inscriptions.<ref name="Torok" /> Taharqa's Egypt still had influence in Khor during this period as Tyre's King Ba'lu "put his trust upon his friend Taharqa". Further evidence was [[Ashkelon]]'s alliance with Egypt and Esarhaddon's inscription asking "if the Kushite-Egyptian forces 'plan and strive to wage war in any way' and if the Egyptian forces will defeat Esarhaddon at Ashkelon".<ref>{{cite book|title=The Rescue of Jerusalem|date=2002|publisher=Soho Press, Inc.|isbn=1-56947-275-0|location=New York, NY|pages=x, 159–161|last1=Aubin|first1=Henry T.}}</ref> However, Taharqa was defeated in Egypt in 671 BC when Esarhaddon conquered Northern Egypt, captured Memphis, and imposed tribute before withdrawing.<ref name="Welsby" /> Pharaoh Taharqa escaped to the south, but Esarhaddon captured the Pharaoh's family, including "Prince Nes-Anhuret and the royal wives",<ref name="Torok" /> and sent them to Assyria. In 669 BC, Taharqa reoccupied Memphis and the Delta, and recommenced intrigues with the king of Tyre.<ref name="Welsby" />

Esarhaddon led his army to Egypt again and, after he died in 668 BC, command passed to [[Ashurbanipal]]. Ashurbanipal and the Assyrians defeated Taharqa again and advanced as far south as Thebes, but direct Assyrian control was not established.<ref name="Welsby" /> The rebellion was stopped and Ashurbanipal appointed [[Necho I]], who had been king of the city [[Sais, Egypt|Sais]], as his vassal ruler in Egypt. Necho's son, [[Psamtik I]], was educated at the Assyrian capital of [[Nineveh]] during Esarhaddon's reign.{{citation needed|date=December 2020}} As late as 665 BC, the vassal rulers of Sais, Mendes, and Pelusium were still making [[wikt:overture|overtures]]{{Efn|Definition 3|name=|group=}} to Taharqa in Kush.<ref name="Torok" /> The vassals' plot was uncovered by Ashurbanipal and all rebels but Necho of Sais were executed.<ref name="Torok" />

Taharqa's successor, [[Tantamani]], sailed north from Napata with a large army to Thebes, where he was "ritually installed as the king of Egypt".<ref name="Torok" />{{rp|185}} From Thebes, Tantamani began his reconquest and regained control of Egypt as far north as Memphis.<ref name="Torok" />{{rp|185}}<ref name="Welsby" /> Tantamani's dream stele states that he restored order from the chaos, where royal temples and cults were not being maintained.<ref name="Torok" />{{rp|185}} After conquering Sais and killing Assyria's vassal, Necho I, in Memphis, "some local dynasts formally surrendered, while others withdrew to their fortresses".<ref name="Torok" />{{rp|185}}

The Kushites influenced their northern neighbours for nearly 100 years until they were repelled by the invading Assyrians. The Assyrians installed the native [[Twenty-sixth Dynasty of Egypt|26th Dynasty of Egypt]] under [[Psamtik I]] and they permanently forced the Kushites out of Egypt around 590 BC.<ref name="David">{{cite book|last1=Edwards|first1=David|title=The Nubian Past|date=2004|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-0-415-36988-6|location=Oxon|pages=2, 75, 77–78}}</ref>{{rp|121–122}} The heirs of the Kushite empire established their new capital at [[Napata]], which was also sacked by the Egyptians in 592 BC. The Kushite kingdom survived for another 900 years after being pushed south to [[Meroë]]. The Egyptianized culture of Nubia grew increasingly Africanized after the fall of the 25th Dynasty until Queen [[Amanishakheto|Amanishakhete]] acceded in 45 BC.{{citation needed|date=August 2020}} She temporarily arrested the loss of Egyptian culture, but then it continued unchecked.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>

===Meroitic (542 BC–400 AD)===
{{Main|Meroë}}

[[File:Sudan Meroe Pyramids 2001.JPG|thumb|Aerial view at [[Nubian pyramids]], [[Meroe]]]]
[[File:Archaeological_Sites_of_the_Island_of_Meroe-114987.jpg|thumb|Apedemak Temple at [[Naqa]]]]
Due to pressure from Assyrians and Egyptians, [[Meroë]] (800 BC – {{circa|350 AD}}) became the southern capital of the [[Kingdom of Kush]].<ref name="Torok" /> According to partially deciphered Meroitic texts, the name of the city was Medewi or Bedewi. Meroë was in southern Nubia by the east bank of the Nile, about 6&nbsp;km north-east of the Kabushiya station near Shendi, Sudan, and about 200&nbsp;km northeast of [[Khartoum]]. Meroë is mentioned in the first century AD [[Periplus of the Erythraean Sea]]: "farther inland, in the country towards the west, there lies a city called Meroe". In the fifth century BC, Greek historian [[Herodotus]] described it as "a great city...said to be the mother city of the other Ethiopians."<ref name="Herodotus1949">{{cite book|author=Herodotus|author-link=Herodotus|title=Herodotus. Translated by J. Enoch Powell|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Xt0uMwEACAAJ|year=1949|publisher=Clarendon Press|location=Oxford|pages=121–122|translator=[[Enoch Powell]]}}</ref><ref name="Connah1987">{{cite book|last=Connah|first=Graham |title=African Civilizations: Precolonial Cities and States in Tropical Africa: An Archaeological Perspective|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=r07pQgAACAAJ|year=1987|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|isbn=978-0-521-26666-6|page=24}}</ref> Together, [[Musawwarat es-Sufra]], [[Naqa]], and Meroë formed the Island of Meroe.

The town's importance gradually increased from [[Kingdom of Kush|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]] ([[Jebel Barkal]]). Excavations revealed evidence of important, high-ranking Kushite burials from the Napatan Period (c. 800 – c. 280 BC) in the vicinity of the settlement called the Western cemetery. They buried their kings in small pyramids with steeply sloped sides that were based on New Kingdom Viceroy designs.<ref name="britannica.com" /> At its peak, the rulers of Meroë controlled the Nile Valley over a north–south straight-line distance of more than {{convert|1000|km|mi|abbr=on}}.<ref name="Adams1977">{{cite book|last=Adams|first=William Yewdale |title=Nubia: Corridor to Africa|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=f84VAQAAIAAJ |year=1977 |publisher=[[Princeton University Press]] |isbn=978-0-691-09370-3 |page=302}}</ref>

People of the Meroitic period preserved many ancient Egyptian customs, but were unique in many respects. The [[Meroitic language]] was spoken in Meroë and Sudan during the Meroitic period (attested from 300 BC) before becoming extinct around 400 AD. They developed their own form of writing by using Egyptian [[hieroglyphs]] before switching to a cursive alphabetic script with 23 signs.<ref>[http://www.digitalegypt.ucl.ac.uk/nubia/mwriting.html Meroë: writing], ''Digitalegypt.ucl.ac.uk''</ref> It was split into two types: Meroitic Cursive, which was written with a [[stylus]] and used for general record-keeping; and Meroitic Hieroglyphic, which was carved in stone or used for royal or religious documents. It is not well understood due to the scarcity of [[bilingual]] texts.{{Clarify|reason=What is "it"? Meroitic Hierogylphic?|date=November 2020}} The earliest inscription in Meroitic writing dates from between 180 and 170 BC. These hieroglyphics were found engraved on the temple of Queen [[Shanakdakhete]]. Meroitic Cursive is written horizontally, and is read from right to left like all Semitic orthographies.<ref name="Howf">{{cite book|last1=Fischer|first1=Steven Roger|author-link=Steven Roger Fischer |title=History of Writing |date=2004 |publisher=Reaktion Books |isbn=1-86189-588-7 |pages=133–134 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iYMXnSko5QwC}}</ref> The Meroitic people worshiped the Egyptian gods as well as their own, such as [[Apedemak]] and the lion-son of [[Sekhmet]] (or [[Bast (mythology)|Bast]]).

Meroë was the base of a flourishing kingdom whose wealth was centered around a strong [[iron]] industry and international trade with [[India]] and [[China]].<ref>{{citation | last1= Stofferahn | first1 = Steven | last2 = Wood | first2 = Sarah | editor-last = Rauh | editor-first = Nicholas K. | year = 2016 | orig-date = 2003 | title = Lecture 30: Ancient Africa [CLCS 181: Classical World Civilizations] | format = student lecture notes | location = West Lafayette, IN | publisher =Purdue University, School of Languages and Cultures | url = http://web.ics.purdue.edu/~rauhn/ancient_africa.htm | access-date = 28 February 2017 <!-- | The misspelling of the lead author Stofferahn's name at the primary source ("Lectures contributed by Steve Stofferan and Sarah Wood, Purdue University") is corrected based on his student record, see below. The deconstruction of this web source, including the student status of the authors, the faculty member (editor) responsible for its posting, and the latest year used (and likely date of original composition) are based on the [http://web.ics.purdue.edu/~rauhn/ related course information] (and links therein), the [http://docs.lib.purdue.edu/do/search/?q=author_lname%3A%22Stofferahn%22%20author_fname%3A%22Steven%20A%22&start=0&context=119483 student record of lead author], and the fact that of the individuals alluded to, only Prof. Rauh of the Purdue faculty is traceable to relevant scholarly publications. THIS CITATION SHOULD BE REPLACED — better, alternative peer-reviewed resources exist in this area, e.g. the books Prof. Rauh uses to construct his lectures.-->}}</ref> Metalworking is believed to have happened in Meroë, possibly through [[bloomery|bloomeries]] and [[blast furnace]]s.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Humphris|first1=Jane|last2=Charlton|first2=Michael F. |last3=Keen |first3=Jake |last4=Sauder |first4=Lee |last5=Alshishani |first5=Fareed |date=2018 |title=Iron Smelting in Sudan: Experimental Archaeology at The Royal City of Meroe |journal=Journal of Field Archaeology |volume=43 |issue=5 |page=399 |doi=10.1080/00934690.2018.1479085 |issn=0093-4690|doi-access=free }}</ref> The centralized control of production within the Meroitic empire and distribution of certain crafts and manufactures may have been politically important. Other important sites were Musawwarat es-Sufra and Naqa. [[Musawwarat es-Sufra]], which is now a UNESCO [[World Heritage Site]], was constructed in sandstone. Its main features were the Great Enclosure, the Lion Temple of [[Apedemak]] (14×9×5 meters), and the Great Reservoir. The Great Enclosure is the main structure of the site. Much of the large labyrinth-like building complex, which covers approximately 45,000&nbsp;m<sup>2</sup>, was erected in the third century BC.<ref>[http://www.musawwarat.com/about-musawwarat/the-great-enclosure/] {{dead link |date=June 2026}}</ref>

The scheme of the site is, so far, without parallel in Nubia and [[ancient Egypt]]. According to Hintze, "the complicated ground plan of this extensive complex of buildings is without parallel in the entire Nile valley".<ref>{{cite book|last=Hintze|first=Fritz|title=The Kingdom of Kush: The Meroitic Period|year=1978|publisher=The Brooklyn Museum|pages=89–93}}</ref> The maze of [[courtyard]]s includes three (possible) temples, passages, low walls that prevent any contact with the outside world, about 20 columns, ramps and two reservoirs.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://zamaniproject.org/index.php/musawwarat.html|title=Zamani Project|website=Zamaniproject.org|access-date=22 June 2026}}</ref><ref name="Bradt">[https://books.google.com/books?id=lvVao2vWnxUC&dq=Musawwarat+es-Sufra&pg=PA131 Google Books] Sudan: The Bradt Travel Guide pp. 131-2</ref> There is some debate about the purpose of the buildings, with earlier suggestions including a college, a hospital, and an elephant-training camp.<ref name="unesco">[https://whc.unesco.org/uploads/nominations/1336.pdf UNESCO] Nomination document p. 43</ref> The Lion Temple was constructed by [[Arnekhamani]] and bears inscriptions in Egyptian hieroglyphs, representations of elephants and lions on the rear inside wall, and reliefs of Apedemak depicted as a three-headed god on the outside walls.<ref>Gilda Ferrandino and Matteo Lorenzini; 3D Reconstruction of the Lion Temple at Musawwarat es Sufra: 3D model and domain ontologies; in: The Kushite World (2015). Proceedings of the 11th International Conference for Meroitic Studies;Vienna, 1–4 September 2008.</ref> The Great Reservoir is a [[hafir]] to retain as much as possible of the rainfall of the short, wet season. It is 250&nbsp;m in diameter and 6.3&nbsp;m deep.<ref>Claudia Näser; The Great Hafir at Musawwarat as-Sufra. Fieldwork of the Archaeological Mission of Humboldt University Berlin in 2005 and 2006. On: Between the Cataracts. Proceedings of the 11th Conference of Nubian Studies. Warsaw University, 27 August – 2 September 2006; In: Polish Centre of Mediterranean Aerchaeology University of Warsaw. PAM Supplement Series 2.2./1-2.</ref>

[[Kandake]], often Latinised as Candace, was the [[Meroitic language|Meroitic]] term for the sister of the king of Kush who, due to [[Matrilineality|matrilineal]] succession, would bear the next heir, making her a [[queen mother]]. According to scholar [[Basil Davidson]], at least four [[Kingdom of Kush|Kushite]] queens — [[Amanirenas]], [[Amanishakheto]], [[Nawidemak]] and [[Amanitore]] — probably spent part of their lives in ''Musawwarat es-Sufra''.<ref>Basil Davidson, ''Old Africa Rediscovered'', Prentice-Hall 1970.</ref> [[Pliny the Elder|Pliny]] writes that the "Queen of the [[Aethiopia|Ethiopians]]" bore the title ''Candace'', and indicates that the Ethiopians had conquered ancient [[Syria]] and the [[Mediterranean]].<ref name="Turner480482">{{cite book|last1=Turner|first1=Sharon|title=The Sacred History of the World, as Displayed in the Creation and Subsequent Events to the Deluge: Attempted to be Philosophically Considered, in a Series of Letters to a Son |volume=2|date=1834|publisher=Longman|pages=480–482|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hpc5AAAAcAAJ}}</ref> In 25 BC the Kush kandake [[Amanirenas]], as reported by [[Strabo]], 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.<ref name="Fluehr-Lobban1998">{{Cite book| chapter= Nubian Queens in the Nile Valley and Afro-Asiatic Cultural History | last = Fluehr-Lobban | first = Carolyn | title= Ninth International Conference for Nubian Studies | date = 20 August 1998 | access-date = 7 June 2018 | chapter-url = http://africanhistory.yolasite.com/resources/Nubian%20Queens.pdf | publisher= Museum of Fine Arts, Boston U.S.A}}</ref><ref name="Budge1911">{{cite book|last=Budge|first=Sir Ernest Alfred Wallis |author-link=E. A. Wallis Budge|title=Cook's handbook for Egypt and the Egyptian Sûdân | url=https://archive.org/stream/cookshandbookfo00budg#page/736/mode/2up|year=1911|publisher=T. Cook & Son|page=737}}</ref> In the New Testament biblical account, [[Ethiopian eunuch|a treasury official]] of "Candace, queen of the Ethiopians", returning from a trip to [[Jerusalem]], met with [[Philip the Evangelist]] and was baptized.<ref>{{bibleverse||Isaiah|53:7–8|131}}</ref><ref>{{bibleverse||Acts|8:39|ESV}}</ref>

====Achaemenid period====
[[File:Xerxes detail Ethiopian.jpg|thumb|''Kušiya'' soldier of the [[Achaemenid army]], circa 480 BC. [[Xerxes I]] tomb relief.]]
[[File:Marble head of Nubian denizen.jpg|thumb|upright|150px|Marble portrait of a Nubian ca. 120–100 BC<ref>{{Cite web |title=Head of a Man with Tight, Curly Hair |url=https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/objects/3790 |access-date=18 October 2025 |website=Brooklyn Museum |language=en-US}}</ref>]]

[[Herodotus]] mentioned an invasion of Kush by the [[Achaemenid]] ruler [[Cambyses II]], however, he mentions that "his expedition failed miserably in the desert".<ref name="Welsby" />{{rp|65–66}} Derek Welsby states "scholars have doubted that this Persian expedition ever took place, but... archaeological evidence suggests that the fortress of [[Dorginarti]] near the second cataract served as Persia's southern boundary."<ref name="Welsby" />{{rp|65–66}}<ref>{{cite book |last1=Dandamaev |first1=M. A. |title=A Political History of the Achaemenid Empire |date=1989 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=90-04-09172-6 |pages=80–81 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ms30qA6nyMsC&pg=PA80 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Curtis |first1=John |last2=Simpson |first2=St John |title=The World of Achaemenid Persia: History, Art and Society in Iran and the Ancient Near East |date=2010 |publisher=I.B.Tauris |isbn=978-0-85771-801-3 |page=222 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IoQAAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA222 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Brosius |first1=Maria |title=A History of Ancient Persia: The Achaemenid Empire |date=2021 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gJCUzQEACAAJ|isbn=978-1444350920}}</ref>

====Ptolemaic period====
The Greek [[Ptolemaic Kingdom]] under [[Ptolemy II Philadelphus]] invaded Nubia in 275 BC and annexed the northern twelve miles of this territory, subsequently known as the [[Dodekaschoinos]] ('twelve-mile land').<ref>[[Agatharchides]] ''FGrH'' 86 F20; [[Diodorus Siculus]] ''Bibliotheca'' 1.37.5</ref> Throughout the 160s and 150s BC, [[Ptolemy VI]] also reasserted Ptolemaic control over the northern part of Nubia.<ref>{{cite book |last=Török |first=László |title=Between Two Worlds: The Frontier Region Between Ancient Nubia and Egypt, 3700 BC-AD 500 |publisher=Brill |year=2009 |location=Leiden, New York, Köln | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=irbP2hHqDAwC |isbn=978-90-04-17197-8 |pages=400–404}}</ref><ref name=G325>{{harvnb|Grainger|2010|p=325}}</ref>

There is no record of conflict between the Kushites and Ptolemies. However, there was a serious revolt at the end of Ptolemy IV's reign, and the Kushites likely tried to interfere in Ptolemaic affairs.<ref name="Welsby" />{{rp|67}} It is suggested that this led to Ptolemy V defacing the name of Arqamani on inscriptions at Philae.<ref name="Welsby" />{{rp|67}} "Arqamani constructed a small entrance hall to the temple built by Ptolemy IV at Pselchis and constructed a temple at Philae to which Ptolemy contributed an entrance hall."<ref name="Welsby" />{{rp|66}} There is evidence of Ptolemaic occupation as far south as the [[Cataracts of the Nile|Second Cataract]], but recent finds at Qasr Ibrim, such as "the total absence of Ptolemaic pottery", have cast doubts on the effectiveness of the occupation.<ref name="Welsby" />{{rp|67}} Dynastic struggles led to the Ptolemies abandoning the area, so "the Kushites reasserted their control...with Qasr Ibrim occupied" (by the Kushites) and other locations perhaps garrisoned.<ref name="Welsby" />{{rp|67}}

====Roman period====
According to Welsby, after the Romans assumed control of Egypt, they negotiated with the Kushites at Philae and drew the southern border of Roman Egypt at Aswan.<ref name="Welsby" />{{rp|67}} [[Theodore Mommsen]] and Welsby state the Kingdom of Kush became a client Kingdom, which was similar to the situation under Ptolemaic rule of Egypt. Kushite ambition and excessive Roman taxation are two theories for a revolt supported by Kushite armies.<ref name="Welsby" />{{rp|67–68}} The ancient historians, [[Strabo]] and Pliny, give accounts of the conflict with Roman Egypt.
[[File:Relief of Arikankharer slaying his enemies (Worcester Art Mus 1922.145) 01.jpg|right|thumb|Meroitic prince Arikhankharer smiting his enemies, first century AD ([[Worcester Art Museum]], Worcester, MA)]]
Strabo describes a war with the [[Roman Empire|Romans]] in the first century BC. He stated that the Kushites "sacked Aswan with an army of 30,000 men and destroyed imperial statues...at Philae."<ref name="Welsby" />{{rp|68}} A "fine over-life-size bronze head of the emperor Augustus" was found buried in Meroë in front of a temple.<ref name="Welsby" />{{rp|68}} After the initial victories of [[Kandake]] (or "Candace") [[Amanirenas]] against Roman Egypt, the Kushites were defeated and [[Napata]] was sacked.<ref name="afraf.oxfordjournals.org">{{Cite web|url=http://afraf.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/reprint/XXVIII/CIX/55.pdf|format=PDF|title=African Affairs --  Sign In Page|website=Afraf.oxfordjournals.org|access-date=22 June 2026}}</ref> Napata's fall was not a crippling blow to the Kushites and did not frighten Amanirenas enough to prevent her from again engaging in combat with the Roman military. In 22 BC, a large Kushite force moved northward with the intention of attacking Qasr Ibrim.<ref name="jackson2002">{{cite book | title=At Empire's Edge: Exploring Rome's Egyptian Frontier | publisher=Yale University Press | author=Jackson, Robert B. | year=2002 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pkBctdZcn84C | isbn=0-300-08856-6}}</ref>
Alerted to the advance, Petronius again marched south and managed to reach Qasr Ibrim and bolster its defences before the invading Kushites arrived. Welsby states that after a Kushite attack on Primis (Qasr Ibrim),<ref name="Welsby" />{{rp|69–70}} the Kushites sent ambassadors to negotiate a peace settlement with Petronius, which succeeded on favourable terms.<ref name="afraf.oxfordjournals.org"/> Trade between the two nations increased, and the Roman-Egyptian border was extended to "Hiera Sykaminos (Maharraqa)."{{r|jackson2002}}{{rp|149}}<ref name="Welsby" />{{rp|70}} This arrangement "guaranteed peace for most of the next 300 years" and there is "no definite evidence of further clashes."<ref name="Welsby" />{{rp|70}}

During this time, different parts of the region were divided into smaller groups with individual leaders (or generals), each commanding small armies of mercenaries. They fought for control of what is now Nubia and its surrounding territories, leaving the entire region weak and vulnerable to attack. Meroë would eventually be defeated by the newly rising [[Kingdom of Aksum]] to the south, ruled by [[Ezana of Axum|King Ezana]]. A stele in [[Ge'ez language|Ge'ez]] of an unnamed ruler of [[Kingdom of Aksum|Aksum]] thought to be Ezana was found at the site of Meroë. From the description in [[Greek language|Greek]], he was "King of the [[Aksumite]]s and the [[Himyarite|Omerites]]" (i.e., King of [[Aksum]] and [[Himyar]]). Likely, this king ruled sometime around 330 AD. While some authorities interpret these inscriptions as proof that the Axumites destroyed the kingdom of [[Meroë]], others note that archeological evidence points to an economic and political decline in Meroë around 300 AD.<ref name="Munro-Hay1991">{{cite book|last=Munro-Hay|first=Stuart C. |title=Aksum: An African Civilisation of Late Antiquity|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RlRzAAAAMAAJ|year=1991|publisher=[[Edinburgh University Press]]|isbn=978-0-7486-0106-6|pages=79, 224}}</ref> Moreover, some view the stele as military aid from Aksum to Meroë to quell the revolt and rebellion. From that point on, the Romans referred to the area as [[Nobatia]].

===Christian Nubia===
{{Main|Makuria|Nobadia|Alodia}}

[[File:Autor_nieznany,_Biskup_Marianos_pod_opieką_Chrystusa_i_Matki_Boskiej._Malowidło_ścienne.jpg|thumb|upright|Wall painting from [[Faras]], first half of 11th c AD, [[National Museum, Warsaw|National Museum in Warsaw]]]]
<!--[[File:A post-Meroitic era Nubian royal crown from Ballana Tomb 118 by John Campana.jpg|thumb|The crown of a local [[Nubian kings|Nubian king]] who ruled between the collapse of the [[Meroitic period|Meroitic dynasty]] in 350 or 400 CE and the founding of the Christian kingdom of Nubia in 600 CE. It was found in Tomb 118 at [[Ballana]] in Lower Nubia by the British Egyptologist [[Walter Bryan Emery|W.B. Emery]]]]-->

Around 350 AD, the area was invaded by the [[Kingdom of Aksum]], and the Meroitic kingdom collapsed. Three smaller [[Christianity|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). King Silky of Nobatia defeated the [[Blemmyes]] and recorded his victory in a [[Greek language]] inscription carved in the wall of the temple of Talmis (modern [[Kalabsha]]) around 500 AD.

[[Christianity]] had been introduced to the region by the fourth century: Bishop [[Athanasius of Alexandria]] consecrated Marcus as bishop of [[Philae]] before he died in 373 AD. [[John of Ephesus]] records that a [[Miaphysite]] priest named Julian converted the king and his nobles of Nobatia around 545 AD. He also writes that the kingdom of Alodia was converted around 569. However, [[John of Biclarum]] wrote that the kingdom of Makuria converted to [[Catholicism]] the same year, suggesting that John of Ephesus might be mistaken. Further doubt is cast on John's{{Clarify|reason=Which John?|date=November 2020}} testimony by an entry in the chronicle of the [[Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Alexandria]] [[Eutychius of Alexandria]], which states that in 719 AD the church of Nubia transferred its allegiance from the [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Greek]] to the [[Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria|Coptic Orthodox Church]]. After the official Christianization of Nubia, the Isis cult of Philae remained for the sake of the Nubians.{{Citation needed|date=April 2025}} The edict of Theodosius I (390 AD) was not enforced at Philae. Later attempts to suppress the cult of Isis led to armed clashes between the Nubians and Romans. Finally, in 453 AD, a treaty recognizing the traditional religious rights of Nubians at Philae was signed.

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; it guaranteed that any runaway slaves were returned to Nubia.<ref name="Adams1993">{{Cite periodical <!-- Citation bot no -->| url=https://www.penn.museum/sites/expedition/medieval-nubia/?et_rid=586265644&s_campaign=arguable:newsletter |title =Medieval Nubia: Another Golden Age | work=Expedition Magazine |publisher=Penn Museum |volume=35 |issue=2 |date=1993 |first1=William Y |last1=Adams}}</ref> The treaty was kept for six hundred years.<ref name="Adams1993" /> Throughout this period, Nubia's main exports were dates and slaves, though ivory and gold were also exchanged for Egyptian ceramics, textiles, and glass.<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://oi.uchicago.edu/museum-exhibits/nubia/medieval-nubia?et_rid=586265644&s_campaign=arguable:newsletter | title=Medieval Nubia |website =the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago}}</ref> Over time, the influx of Arab traders introduced Islam to Nubia, and it gradually supplanted [[Christianity]]. After an interruption in the annual tribute of slaves, the Egyptian Mamluk ruler invaded in 1272 and declared himself sovereign over half of Nubia.<ref name="Adams1993" /> While there are records of a bishop [[Timothy of Faras|Timothy]] at [[Qasr Ibrim]] in 1372, his see included Faras. It is also clear that the cathedral of Dongola had been converted to a mosque in 1317.<ref>Hassan, ''Arabs'', 125.</ref>

The influx of [[Arabs]] and Nubians to Egypt and Sudan had contributed to the suppression of the Nubian identity following the collapse of the last Nubian kingdom around 1504. A vast majority of the Nubian population is currently Muslim, and the Arabic language is their main medium of communication in addition to their indigenous Nubian language. The unique characteristic of Nubians is shown in their culture (dress, dances, traditions, and music).

===Islamic Nubia===
{{main|Islamization of Sudan}}

{{further|Turco-Egyptian conquest of Sudan (1820–1824)#Invasion of Nubia}}

In the fourteenth century, the Dongolan government collapsed, and the region was divided and dominated by Arabs. Several Arab invasions into the region and the establishment of smaller kingdoms occurred over the next few centuries. Northern Nubia was brought under Egyptian control, while the south was controlled by the [[Kingdom of Sennar]] in the sixteenth century. The entire region came under Egyptian control during [[Muhammad Ali of Egypt|Muhammad Ali]]'s rule in the early nineteenth century, and later became a joint Anglo-Egyptian [[condominium (international law)|condominium]].

==21st-century archaeology==
The paleo-demography of Nubians from the [[Upper Paleolithic]] to the late 16th century BC were analyzed by Aleksandra Pudlo. Mesolithic period inhabitants were characterized as robust and tall, with strong alveolar prognathism. During the Neolithic, Nubians were less robust and shorter, retaining some prognathism, but having facial shape changes and a narrower nasal index. Over a period of 8,500 years, the features had shifted a considerable degree. The variety of morphological forms which occurred was considered a result of the combination of two distinct traits, with Pudlo concluding: "Nubians were hardly a homogeneous population. Neither the climate nor the specific geographic conditions in the region they inhabited were conducive to such homogeneity." The populations were possibly influenced by migration waves coming from the north, but these movements did not prevent repeated contacts of the people of Nubia with other regions further south in Africa.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Pudło |first=Aleksandra |date=1999 |title=Population of Nubia up to the 16th century BC |url=https://www.academia.edu/33460334 |journal=Anthropological Review |volume=62 |pages=57–66 |doi=10.18778/1898-6773.62.07 |issn=2083-4594|doi-access=free |hdl=10593/3408 |hdl-access=free }}</ref>

Findings were recorded in 2016 on Nubian remains over a period of 11,000 years: "Taken together, our results suggest a dramatic shift in cranial morphology between the Mesolithic and the A-group cultural group, with little perceptible change in cranial shape between A-group and the later farming groups. In the case of the mandible, we observe the largest morphological change between the Mesolithic and the A-group, but also see morphological differentiation between the early farmers (A and C-group) and the later farming groups (Pharaonic and Meroitic specimens)." Changes were attributed to factors such as in situ adaptation or influxes of people, as well as the migration of farmers. Nonetheless, authors concluded that further studies with larger samples and a combination of morphometric analyses and ancient DNA are needed.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Galland |first1=Manon |last2=Van Gerven |first2=Denis P. |last3=Von Cramon-Taubadel |first3=Noreen |last4=Pinhasi |first4=Ron |date=9 August 2016 |title=11,000 years of craniofacial and mandibular variation in Lower Nubia |journal=Scientific Reports |language=en |volume=6 |issue=1 |article-number=31040 |doi=10.1038/srep31040  |doi-access=free|pmid=27503560 |issn=2045-2322|pmc=4977491 |bibcode=2016NatSR...631040G }}{{Creative Commons text attribution notice|cc=by4|from this source=yes}}</ref>

In 2003, archaeologist [[Charles Bonnet (archeologist)|Charles Bonnet]] led a team of Swiss archaeologists to excavate near [[Kerma]] and discovered a cache of monumental black granite statues of the Pharaohs of the [[Twenty-fifth Dynasty of Egypt|25th Dynasty of Egypt]], now displayed at the [[Kerma Museum]]. Among the sculptures are ones belonging to the dynasty's last two pharaohs, [[Taharqa]] and [[Tantamani|Tanoutamon]], whose statues are described as "masterpieces that rank among the greatest in art history".<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2007/870/heritage.htm |title=Digging into Africa's past |access-date=26 April 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080411200251/http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2007/870/heritage.htm |archive-date=11 April 2008 }}</ref> Craniometric analysis of Kerma fossils that compared them to various other early populations inhabiting the [[Nile Valley]] and [[Maghreb]] found that they were morphologically close to [[Prehistoric Egypt|Predynastic Egyptians]] from [[Naqada culture|Naqada]] (4000–3200 BC).<ref name="MML">Marta Mirazón Lahr et al. (2010) "Human Skeletal Remains, Fazzan, Libya", ''The Society for Libyan Studies''</ref> Dental trait analysis of Kerma fossils found affinities with various populations inhabiting the [[Nile Valley]], [[Horn of Africa]], and [[Northeast Africa]], especially to other ancient populations from the central and northern Sudan. Among the sampled populations, the Kerma people were overall nearest to the [[Kingdom of Kush|Kush]] populations in [[Upper Nubia]], the [[A-Group culture]] bearers of [[Lower Nubia]], and [[Ethiopians]].<ref>{{cite web|last1=Haddow|first1=Scott Donald|title=Dental Morphological Analysis of Roman Era Burials from the Dakhleh Oasis, Egypt|url=http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/1370585/1/HADDOW_PHD_THESIS.pdf|publisher=Institute of Archaeology, University College London|access-date=2 June 2017}}</ref>

==Contemporary issues==
{{Further|Nubian people}}
Nubia was divided between Egypt and Sudan after colonialism ended and the [[Republic of Egypt]] was [[Egyptian Revolution of 1952|established]] in 1953, and the [[Republic of Sudan]] seceded from Egypt in 1956.

In the early-1970s, many Egyptian and Sudanese Nubians were forcibly relocated to make room for [[Lake Nasser]] after [[Aswan Dam|dams]] were constructed at [[Aswan]].<ref name="NubianFoundation">{{Cite web|url=http://nubianfoundation.org/about-nubia/|title=About Nubia|date=2018|website=Nubian Foundation|access-date=31 July 2019}}</ref> 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]].<ref name="NubianFoundation" />

== Ancient DNA ==

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. The results from the Principal Component Analysis (PCA) had the individual placed between the African and European clusters. Furthermore, the individual was assigned to mitochondrial haplogroup L5a1a, a branch of the ancient L5 haplogroup with origins in East Africa.<ref>{{Cite web | url= https://www.researchgate.net/publication/275031788 |publisher= Emory University and Trinity College Dublin |last1=Sirak |first1=K. |last2=Armelagos |first2=G. |last3=Bradley |first3=D. |last4=Gamba |first4=C. |last5=Jones |first5=E. |last6=Pinhasi |first6=R. |date=2014 |title=Ancient DNA analysis of an infant from Sudanese Nubia (ca 500–1400 C.E.) |s2cid=173527929 }}</ref>

Another analysis in 2015 studied a Nubian individual from an archeological site in Kulubnarti. The geographic ancestry of the individual was estimated to be closer to Middle Eastern, and Central and South Asians, rather than to any African populations.<ref>{{Cite web|last1=Sirak |first1=K. |last2=Fernandes |first2=D. |last3=Connell |first3=Sarah |last4=Pinhasi |first4=R. |date=2015 |title=No longer the 1%: Optimizing ancient DNA yield from Saharan African samples |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/275031861 |publisher=Department of Anthropology, Emory University, Atlanta, School of Archaeology, University College Dublin, Ireland}}</ref>

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 [[Christianity in Sudan|Christian period]] between 650 and 1000 AD. The samples were obtained from two cemeteries. The samples' genetic profile was found to be a mixture between [[Eurasia|West Eurasian]] and [[Sub-Saharan Africa|Sub Saharan]] [[Dinka people|Dinka]]-related ancestries, with ~60% West Eurasian related ancestry that likely came from ancient Egyptians but ultimately resembles that found in [[Bronze Age|Bronze]] or [[Iron Age]] [[Levant]]ines, and ~40% Dinka-related ancestry.

The two cemeteries showed minimal differences in their West Eurasian/Dinka ancestry proportions. These findings, in addition to multiple cross-cemetery relatives that the analyses have revealed, indicate that people of both the R and S cemeteries were part of the same population, despite the archaeological and anthropological differences between the two burials showing social stratification.

Modern Nubians, despite their superficial resemblance to the Kulubnarti Nubians on the PCA, were not found to be descended from Kulubnarti Nubians without additional later admixtures. Modern Nubians were found to have an increase in Sub-Saharan ancestry along with a change in their West Eurasian ancestry from that which was found in the ancient samples.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Sirak |first1=Kendra A. |last2=Fernandes |first2=Daniel M. |last3=Lipson |first3=Mark |last4=Mallick |first4=Swapan |last5=Mah |first5=Matthew |last6=Olalde |first6=Iñigo |last7=Ringbauer |first7=Harald |last8=Rohland |first8=Nadin |last9=Hadden |first9=Carla S. |last10=Harney |first10=Éadaoin |last11=Adamski |first11=Nicole |last12=Bernardos |first12=Rebecca |last13=Broomandkhoshbacht |first13=Nasreen |last14=Callan |first14=Kimberly |last15=Ferry |first15=Matthew |last16=Lawson |first16=Ann Marie |last17=Michel |first17=Megan |last18=Oppenheimer |first18=Jonas |last19=Stewardson |first19=Kristin |last20=Zalzala |first20=Fatma |last21=Patterson |first21=Nick |last22=Pinhasi |first22=Ron |last23=Thompson |first23=Jessica C. |last24=Van Gerven |first24=Dennis |last25=Reich |first25=David |title=Social stratification without genetic differentiation at the site of Kulubnarti in Christian Period Nubia |journal=Nature Communications |date=14 December 2021 |volume=12 |issue=1 |page=7283 |doi=10.1038/s41467-021-27356-8  |doi-access=free|pmid=34907168 |pmc=8671435 |bibcode=2021NatCo..12.7283S }}</ref>

A sample from historic Lower Nubia, in the Nubian site of Sayala during the 3rd-6th century AD, belonged to mtDNA haplogroup J1c.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Loufouma Mbouaka |first1=Alvie |last2=Gamble |first2=Michelle |last3=Wurst |first3=Christina |last4=Jäger |first4=Heidi Yoko |last5=Maixner |first5=Frank |last6=Zink |first6=Albert |last7=Noedl |first7=Harald |last8=Binder |first8=Michaela |date=2021 |title=The elusive parasite: comparing macroscopic, immunological, and genomic approaches to identifying malaria in human skeletal remains from Sayala, Egypt (third to sixth centuries AD) |journal=Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences |volume=13 |issue=7 |page=115 |doi=10.1007/s12520-021-01350-z |issn=1866-9557 |pmc=8202054 |pmid=34149953|bibcode=2021ArAnS..13..115L }}</ref>

In 2022, DNA was sequenced from the hair of a Kerma period individual (4000 BP), and the results revealed close genetic affinity to early pastoralists from the Rift Valley in eastern Africa during the [[Pastoral Neolithic]], who harboured approximately 40% West Eurasian ancestry derived from the Levant Chalcolithic population. This result is consistent with the movement of herding populations southwards along the Nile River Valley following their establishment in the Kadruka region from the early 5th millennium BC.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Wang |first1=Ke |last2=Bleasdale |first2=Madeleine |last3=Le Moyne |first3=Charles |last4=Freund |first4=Cacilia |last5=Krause |first5=Johannes |last6=Boivin |first6=Nicole |last7=Schiffels |first7=Stephan |date=3 December 2022 |title=4000-year-old hair from the Middle Nile highlights unusual ancient DNA degradation pattern and a potential source of early eastern Africa pastoralists |journal=Scientific Reports |language=en |volume=12 |issue=1 |page=20939 |doi=10.1038/s41598-022-25384-y  |doi-access=free|pmid=36463384 |pmc=9719486 |bibcode=2022NatSR..1220939W |issn=2045-2322}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Prendergast|first1=Mary E.|display-authors=etal|date=2019-07-05|title=Ancient DNA reveals a multistep spread of the first herders into sub-Saharan Africa|journal=Science|language=en|volume=365|issue=6448|article-number=eaaw6275|doi=10.1126/science.aaw6275|pmid=31147405 |pmc=6827346 |bibcode=2019Sci...365.6275P }}</ref>

==Nubian Images==
<gallery>
File:Nubian. Female Figurine, ca. 3500-3100 B.C.E.jpg|Nubian [[terracotta]] female figurine from the Neolithic period ca. 3500–3100 BC [[Brooklyn Museum]]
File:Nubian king with bow, Buhen Fortress.jpg|Nubian king with bow, Buhen Fortress, 1650 BC, Univ. of Chicago Museum
File:Nubian Tribute Presented to King Tutankhamun, Tomb of Huy MET DT221112.jpg|Nubian Tribute Presented to the King, Tomb of Huy MET DT221112
File:Nubians bringing tribute for King Tut, Tomb of Huy.jpg|Nubians bringing tribute for King Tut, Tomb of Huy
File:Gebel Barkal Amun temple (B500).JPG|Temple of Amun, Jebel Barkal
File:Nubia- 2008- Piramidi Khartoum-2.jpg|Entrance to Great Enclosure, [[Musawwarat es-Sufra]]
File:Archaeological Sites of the Island of Meroe-114985.jpg|Column and elephant – part of temple complex in [[Musawwarat es-Sufra]]
File:A great pyramid at Meroe in 1821.jpg|Pyramid of Amanishakheto
File:Amanishakheto Jewellery 03.jpg|Jewelry of [[Kandake]] [[Amanishakheto]]
File:Lion temple relief, Naga (Sudan).jpg|Copy of relief from [[Naqa]] depicting [[Amanitore]] (second from left), [[Natakamani]] (second from right) and two princes approaching a three-headed [[Apedemak]].
File:The Archer King, National Museum of Sudan, Khartoum, Sudan, North-East Africa (cropped).jpg|The "Archer King", an unknown king of Meroe, 3rd century BC. [[National Museum of Sudan]].
File:Nieznany - Malowidło ścienne - Biskup Petros pod opieką Św. Piotra-1.jpg|Bishop Petros, Christian Nubia
File:Jebel Sheikh Suleiman.jpg|The [[Relief of Gebel Sheikh Suleiman]] probably shows the victory of an early Pharaoh, possibly [[Djer]], over A-Group Nubians circa 3000 BC.
File:Christian wall painting from Kalabsha, Nubia.png|Now gone Christian Nubian wall painting in the [[Temple of Kalabsha]]
</gallery>

== See also ==
* [[Doukki Gel]]    
*[[Kerma culture]]
*[[List of monarchs of Kerma]]
*[[Kingdom of Kush]]
*[[List of monarchs of Kush]]
*[[Napata]]
*[[Twelfth Dynasty of Egypt]]
*[[Twenty-fifth Dynasty of Egypt]]
*[[Twenty-fifth Dynasty of Egypt family tree]]
*[[Meroë]]
*[[Kandake]], Queens of Meroe
*[[Military of ancient Nubia]]
*[[Nubian pyramids]]
*[[Nubiology]]
*[[Merowe Dam]]
*[[Aethiopia]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* Adams, William Y. (1977): ''Nubia: Corridor to Africa'', London.
* {{Cite journal|last=Adams|first=William Y.|date=February–March 1980|title=Nubia's corridor of time: From the kingdom of Kush to the triumph of Islam|url=https://unesdoc.unesco.org/in/documentViewer.xhtml?v=2.1.196&id=p::usmarcdef_0000074755&file=/in/rest/annotationSVC/DownloadWatermarkedAttachment/attach_import_5f9b266d-d651-4d81-bff4-4e38018bc57e%3F_%3D074755engo.pdf&locale=en&multi=true&ark=/ark:/48223/pf0000074755/PDF/074755engo.pdf#%5B%7B%22num%22%3A151%2C%22gen%22%3A0%7D%2C%7B%22name%22%3A%22XYZ%22%7D%2Cnull%2Cnull%2C0%5D|journal=UNESCO Courrier|volume=Victory in Nubia: The greatest archaeological rescue operation of all time|pages=25–29}}
* Bell, Herman (2009): ''Paradise Lost: Nubia before the 1964 Hijra'', DAL Group.
* "Black Pharaohs", ''National Geographic'', Feb 2008
* Bulliet et al. (2001): ''Nubia, The Earth and Its Peoples'', pp.&nbsp;70–71, Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston.
* Drower M. (1970): ''Nubia A Drowning Land'', London: Longmans.
* Emberling, Geoff (2011): ''Nubia: Ancient Kingdoms of Africa''. New York: Institute for the Study of the Ancient World.
* Fisher, Marjorie, et al. (2012): ''Ancient Nubia: African Kingdoms on the Nile''. The American University in Cairo Press.
*{{cite book |last1=Grainger |first1=John D. |title=The Syrian Wars |url=https://archive.org/details/syrianwars00grai |url-access=limited |date=2010 |isbn=978-90-04-18050-5 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/syrianwars00grai/page/n299 281]–328|publisher=Brill }}
* Hassan, Yusuf Fadl (1973): ''The Arabs and the Sudan'', Khartoum.
* Jennings, Anne (1995) ''The Nubians of West Aswan: Village Women in the Midst of Change'', Lynne Reinner Publishers.
*O'Connor, David (1993): ''Ancient Nubia: Egypt's Rival in Africa'', Philadelphia, The University Museum, University of Pennsylvania.
*Schellinger, Sarah M. (2022). ''Nubia''. London, UK: Reaktion Books Ltd.
*{{cite book |author-last=Raue | author-first=Dietrich |title=Elephantine und Nubien vom 4.-2. Jahrtausend v. Chr.|publisher=Walter de Gruyter |location=Berlin/Boston |year=2019|isbn= 978-3-11-050105-6}}
* Thelwall, Robin (1982) 'Linguistic Aspects of Greater Nubian History', in Ehret, C. & Posnansky, M. (eds.) ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20050403072826/http://thenubian.net/aspect.php The Archeological and Linguistic Reconstruction of African History].'' Berkeley/Los Angeles, 39–56.
* Török, László (1997): ''The Kingdom of Kush: Handbook of the Napatan-Meroitic Civilization''. Brill Academic Publishers.
* Valbelle, Dominique, and [[Charles Bonnet (archeologist)|Bonnet, Charles]] (2006): ''The Nubian Pharaohs''. New York: The American University in Cairo Press.

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==External links==
{{commons category-inline|Nubia}}
{{EB1911 poster|Nubia}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20190519102901/http://www.africankingdoms.com/ African Kingdoms]
* {{usurped|[https://web.archive.org/web/20051027005838/http://www.ancientsudan.org/ Ancient Sudan Website]}}
* [https://www.pbs.org/wonders/Episodes/Epi1/1_retel1.htm Racism and the Rediscovery of Ancient Nubia]
* [http://medievalsaiproject.wordpress.com/ Medieval Sai Project]
* [http://www.wdl.org/en/item/2550 "Journey to Ethiopia, Eastern Sudan, and Nigritia"] was written by [[Pierre Trémaux]] in 1862–63. It features extensive descriptions and drawings of Nubia.
* [http://digitalcollections.aucegypt.edu/cdm/ref/collection/p15795coll11/id/3125 1960s Nubia Scrapbook]
* [http://nubianfoundation.org/ Nubian Foundation for Preserving a Cultural Heritage]
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{{Regions of the world}}

[[Category:Nubia| ]]
[[Category:History of Nubia| ]]
[[Category:Ancient peoples]]
[[Category:Historical regions of Africa]]
[[Category:Ancient Greek geography of East Africa]]
[[Category:Regions of Sudan]]
[[Category:Regions of Egypt]]
[[Category:5th-millennium BC establishments]]