The A-Group Culture (3900-2900 b.c) A society whose ancient name is unknown, called A-Group by archaeologists, was the earliest Nubian culture with strong rulers we propose to name it as the Nubian archaic for two reasons, firstly it is parallel to the Egyptian archaic period, and secondly it represents the most ancient culture ever known from this part of Africa. Developing out of Neolithic cultures of the Nile valley, we do not have many settlements of the A-Group people because most of them were built on the fertile land next to the banks of the Nile. Since people lived and farmed continuously, most ancient settlements were destroyed over the passing centuries. Their settlements and cemeteries are clustered in strategic areas, mostly in connection with transport routes through the desert. Few settlements have been excavated, the homeland of the A-Group, including these cemeteries and settlements, have been submerged since the construction of the Aswan Dam.the A Group is known largely from its cemeteries. Its burials, artifacts, and rock art are found along the Nile from Kubaniyya north of the 1st cataract west bank of Aswan to the 2nd cataract in the Sudanese territory. Archaeologists found thousands of graves containing a wide variety of pottery, leather garments, ostrich-feather fans, copper weapons and palettes of quartz, all of which indicated the level of civilisation reached by the Nubians. It was similar to, but different from, that of the Egyptians. From the A-Group cemeteries, we know that early on in the development of the A-Group, the people lived in communities where everyone was buried in almost the same way. But later on, we see in their cemeteries that the AGroup society developed communities headed by more powerful chiefs and rulers. These people were buried in larger and richer tombs. Near the end of the A-Group these rulers were clearly extremely powerful. The cemeteries at Sayala and Qustul are two places where there were probably A-Group kings by 3000 b.c The elite graves there are long rectangular shafts cut into the bedrock with a side chamber sealed by a big stone slab. These people were buried in larger and richer tombs. Near the end of the A-Group these rulers were clearly extremely powerful. The cemeteries at Sayala and Qustul are two places where there were probably A-Group kings by 3000 b.c surrounding the graves were cattle burials. A grave similar to this was found in the elite cemetery at Hierakonpolis, and it's also surrounded by cattle burials. In these cemeteries they buried their dead along with many of their possessions. Articles of A-Group daily life, such as their pottery, jewelry, tools, and weapons, were frequently buried with the dead. The A-Group people made pottery of very fine quality. Red polished pots with black mouths and eggshell-ware painted pots are the most beautiful of these. They also made stone palettes for grinding pigments or eye paint. Many people were buried with bracelets of bone or ivory. We do not know what their clothing looked like because it has decayed in the 5,000 years since the A-Group people lived. Much of the power and wealth of the A-Group came from trade. Its location gave it access to gold from the eastern desert, carnelian from the western desert, and exotic products like incense, ivory, and ebony from the heart of Africa. The AGroup traded these resources for Egyptian products; many contained in large storage vessels, as well as for olive oil from the Mediterranean coast and this trading activity apparently made some of them very rich and powerful. . Later on in their development, the A-Group people were able to import large amount of goods from Egypt. We see this in the cemeteries, where many Egyptian objects, especially pottery, were buried among the A-Group objects. The A-Group people got these goods by trading with the Egyptians. Many exotic commodities from the south, such as ivory, animal skins, and special woods, did not exist in Egypt. The A-Group people acted as intermediaries in this trade, and most of the exotic products of Africa traveled through the corridor of Lower Nubia to Egypt The A-Group people lived primarily by farming, collecting local plants and animals, and herding cattle in the deserts. Later on in their development, the A-Group people were able to import large amount of goods from Egypt. They acted as intermediaries in this trade, and most of the exotic products of Africa traveled through the corridor of Lower Nubia to Egyp. A-Group rulers employed symbols that were used by Egyptian pharaohs of that time. That, s why their chiefs at the top of their society were represented similarly to the early pharaohs of Egypt. At the royal cemetery at Qustul near Abu Simbel, one of the main centers of A-Group culture, the rulers are shown wearing the White Crown of Upper Egypt. However, new research suggests that a line of kings 1ived in Qustul as early as, or perhaps even earlier than, the first pharaohs of Egypt. A-Group society was so similar to that in predynastic Upper Egypt that there was a kind of equilibrium between them. These Nubian people were not living in the shade of the predynastic Egyptians, nor were they subservient to them in a colonial way. They had no need to leave their home in order to find food or employment in Egypt. This Nubian culture apparently stood firm and proudly in the face of Egyptian culture and influenced it in various ways.we can notice a certain real interaction between Egypt and Nubia from the digs made at Edfu or Hierakonpolis. Interaction between the Nubian and predynastic Egypt at Hierakonpolis: The southernmost major town of predynastic Egypt, Hierakonpolis was probably an early capital city of Upper Egypt. It can be reached from Nubia following both valley and desert routes. To the west, many tracks go straight to the Khargha and Dakhlah oases, while to the east the Wadi Barramiya connects the Hierakonpolis area directly to the Red Sea coast and southward to the gold-rich regions of Atbai-Wadi Allaqi. After about 2900 B.C. the A-Group people abruptly vanished, and for 500 years there seem to have been few people living in Lower Nubia. At this time the power of Egypt, unified under the first pharaohs, was becoming ever greater. Nubia during Old Kingdom. By Egypt's Old Kingdom, the Egyptians founded a settlement at Buhen which apparently was an important site for copper production. Later, Cheops opened diorite quarries in Lower Nubia especially in the site of Toshka By the 5th dynasty Egyptians began trading with theNubia. By Egypt's Nubia caravanning eastward through the Waded Allgi, or by the river Nile... Despite that Buhen was abandoned in the 5th Dynasty and the diorite quarries near Toshka were closed, Egypt maintained its hold over Nubia in the late Old Kingdom. In the early 6th dynasty, Egyptians were recruiting Nubian mercenaries into the Egyptian army. It seems that pharaohs destroyed the A-Group, possibly forcing the inhabitants of Lower Nubia further to the south, into Upper Nubia. C- GROUP CULTURE: (KERMA) CULTURE 2000-1800 BC (MIDDLE KINGDOM IN EYPT). The Land of Wawat There is an evidence for people living in Lower Nubia. It is believed that the C-Group developed in Upper Nubia and spread northward into Lower Nubia around this time. In its earliest phases, the C-Group is related to another Nubian culture called the Kerma culture, which developed in Upper Nubia it was established in northern Sudan, especially in Kerma, south of the Third Cataract. the evolutionary theory mantains that C Group culture derives from the earlier A Group culture.this latter was composed of small communities organized in modest agrarian or agropastoral settelements.over the course of the time these communities increased their power.objects found in their cemetries suggest the existence of close ties between Egypt and the principalities of Nubia. Life in Nubia between 3100 and 2300 BC differs greatly from the prosperous times of A group. We know of a few people and a major city, where smelt copper for export. About 2300 BC, during the sixth dynasty of Egypt, a new culture appears that archaeologists call the C-group or Kerma civilzation. The Egyptians traded with the early C-Group and recorded in written texts the names of three Nubian regions, Wawat, Irjet, Yam and Setju, which were ruled by powerful chieftains. Those Egyptian texts are mainly from the old kingdom written inside the tombs of some official travelers. Like the earlier A-Group, the C-Group people lived along the fertile banks of the Nile and buried their dead in cemeteries along the dessert edges. Herding of cattle was important in the life of the C-Group people, so livestock played an important role in this culture, as they have done in many other African societies ever since. In their graves, the C-Group people buried finely made pottery, which is quite different from that of the A-Group. The C-Group people produced small bowls decorated with finely incised patterns. Polished red and black bowls were also very common. Rough jars were another kind of pot they made. These were buried with the dead to allow them to eat and drink in the afterlife. Herding of cattle was important in the life of the CGroup people. Some C-Group graves had stones next to them .decorated with inscriptions of cows Some C-Group graves had stones next to them decorated with inscriptions of cows. Many skeletons have been found in the C Group tombs that have Negroid characteristics, while skeletons of the preceding periods have characteristics similar to those of the Egyptians In the earlier C-Group, there was active trade with the Egyptians. Many Egyptian objects were buried in the C-Group graves from this time. Middle Kingdom (2000-1800 B.C) took control of Lower Nubia. They built a series of fortresses throughout Lower Nubia and staffed them with soldiers. The Beginning in 2000 B.C., however, the might of Egypt began to rise again, and the pharaohs of the Middle Egyptians seemed to have wanted to control the resources of Lower Nubia and to govern directly the trade with the southern regions. The Second Cataract area was the southern frontier of Egyptian control. The Egyptians strengthened this frontier because to the south was the powerful Kerma culture of Upper Nubia. The Egyptians seemed to have wanted to control the resources of Lower Nubia and to govern directly the trade with the southern regions. In the region of the Second Cataract there was a great cluster of fortresses on the islands and river banks. These were all within signaling distance of one another. The Second Cataract area was the southern frontier of Egyptian control. The Egyptians strengthened this frontier because to the south was the powerful Kerma culture of Upper Nubia Nubians seem to have been directly controlled by the Egyptian state. Egyptian records tell us that C-Group chieftains were forced to pan gold in one of the gold-rich valleys. One stele records words of an Egyptian pharaoh, saying that only Nubian's who obey will be justly treated, and Nubian's who oppose Egyptian control will meet with punishment. During the New kingdom (1650-1350BC) Egyptian kings restored the ancient fortresses and built new ones, besides some temples dedicated for Egyptian gods.Thotmosis III was the first king who imposed a complete Egyptian control over the entire Nubia ,from the first cataract in Egypt up to the 4th cataract in Sudan, he recorded in famous Stella found nearby .Since then the king of Egypt used to appoint the governor of Nubia directly under the official title of (THE SON OF THE KING IN THE LAND OF KUSH) called idenu .and Nubia became divided in 2 main parts Lower Nubia lays now in Egypt ,and they used to call Wawat ,and the Upper Nubia called in Egyptian sources Kush HISTORY OF KUSH CIVILZATION. (25th dynasty) the Meroitic age. The origins of the rulers of Kush remain unknown. Among the royal Napatan tombs at the site of Kurru are a number of early tumulus burials in which the bodies are laid out on beds. Though there were no inscriptions found in these tumulus graves to identify the people buried in them, tumulus graves are a distinctive Nubian tradition, so the Kushite kings were most likely of Nubian origin. Some scholars believe that the development of the Napatan monarchy took place without any influence from Egypt. Other scholars believe that the Kushite kings rose to power as a result of an arrangement between local Nubian chiefs and a group of Egyptian or Egyptianzed priests. These priests would have been left behind at the great Amon temple at Jebel Barkal when Egypt withdrew from Nubia at the end of the New Kingdom. The priests perhaps needed the military power of local chiefs to maintain their position within the religious system of the local government, and so an alliance was formed. This hypothesis might explain the rapid rise to power of the Kushite kings, since they would have been supported by the well-established priesthood. The tumulus graves at Kurru, then, would belong to these powerful local chiefs. The lack o f written evidence from the Kushites themselves prevents archaeologists from deciding which hypothesis is correct. Whatever their origins, by about 770 BC the Kushite kings were powerful enough to contemplate extending their rule to the north. The first ruler whom we know by name is Kashta (770750 B.C.); though few details are known about his life, it is apparent that during his reign he journeyed to southern Egypt, where he left a monument at Aswan. More is known about the reign of Kashta's son Piye whose name was formerly read as Piankhy, Egyptian for "the living one." Piye left a large Stella, now in the Cairo Museum, describing the major events in his reign. Piye apparently spent the first two decades of his reign peacefully, at his capital of Napata, though the stela tells us he also ruled over southern Egypt. Then he received a request from officials at Thebes for military protection against a local ruler from the Egyptian Delta named Tefnakht, who wanted to rule over all of Egypt. Piye himself traveled north to Egypt and successfully pursued and destroyed Tefnakht's army. After this time, Piye used the ancient titles of the Egyptian pharaohs, though he never returned to Egypt and lived the remainder of his life in Nubia. Piye is generally considered the founder of the Twenty-fifth Dynasty in Egypt. Piye's successors managed to retain control of Egypt for about 50 years, but the rulers of the Twenty-fifth Dynasty were eventually ousted from Egypt by the Assyrians, who lived in the area of modern Iraq. Although some of the Nubian rulers of the Twenty-fifth Dynasty are not well known, Piye's son Taharqa (690-664 BC) stands out in the archaeological and historical records of the time. Although Taharqa spent much of his reign trying to repel Assyrian forces from Egypt, he was also able to carry out an extensive building program in Egypt and Nubia. Taharqa's renovations and additions are visible in the Theban temple of Amon at Karnak as well as in the Nubian temple of Amon at Jebel Barkal. He also constructed a temple at Kawa, which became an important religious center of the Kushite kingdom. When Taharqa died, after having returned to Napata, he left southern Egypt under the control of his nephew and successor, Tantamani. Tantamani was unable to keep the rains at bay, and was soon forced to quit Egypt and return to Napata. Tantamani's reign (664-653 BC) officially ends the 25th Dynasty, though the Kushite kings continued to use titles such as "pharaoh" until the end of the Meroitic Period. With Tenutamon's retreat into the homeland, the Kushite kings entered another dark age, during which little is known about events in the Nubian kingdom. A few of the 20 generations of kings buried at Nuri after Taharqa, however, have left inscriptions that give glimpses into historical events. Because these inscriptions were in the Egyptian language and script, which had been adopted by the Kushites, scholars have been able to translate them. So, for instance, King Anlamani (623593 BC) apparently a great-grandson of Taharqa, left an inscription describing his visit to the temple at Kawa. King Aspalta (593-568 BC), brother and successor of Anlamani, was probably on the throne when the Egyptian king of the Twentysixth Dynasty, Psammetik II, invaded Nubia. Psammetik's invasion, though his armies may have reached Napata, had no lasting effect on the relations between the two countries. Aspalta is also the first king whose name has been found at Meroe. Some traits of the Meriotic culture: Meroe was an important city during 25th dynasty .From the 8th century it seems to have been the major city of the Nubian kingdom the major part of royal burials took place at Meroe; it was a flourishing center of industry and commerce between and African southern cultures, and that's why the meriotic culture was a mixture between Egyptian influence and local African cultures. (Group X Period (320bc-550ac) Ballana Culture. Some archaeologists identified the cultural phase following the Meroitic Period in Nubia as the X-Group; they differentiated the X-Group culture from that of the Meroitic and believe that the X-Group represented the invasion of a new people. Archaeologists now believe that the X-Group culture is actually a continuation of that of the Meroitic Period, with no largescale invasion of new people, though the nomadic Blemmyes did take over northern Lower Nubia at this time. Some scholars have proposed renaming the X-Group Period, using the term "Ballana culture" for Lower Nubia, while labeling the different but contemporaneous culture in the Meroitic south the "Tanqasi culture". The basic characteristics of the X-Group Period have been revealed, as in earlier periods, largely through the excavation of cemeteries. Unlike the Meroites, X-Group people did not use a pyramid shape for their tombs superstructures, but rather reverted to an older tradition and covered their burials with low earthen mounds. The capital of this phase located at Ballana a small city between Egypt and Sudan, the royal cemeteries found show that Ballana was more Africanized thanMeroe. Architecture is poor and houses are different from those of meriotic period. Royal tombs are built in form of tumulus up to 70 m diameter a lot of treasures were found, all tombs used to have jewelry, weapons made of bronze and silver vessels. Medieval Nubia and the Christianity Following the collapse of the Meroitic state (c.300-350 CE), the Middle Nile broke up into a number of smaller kingdoms - by about 500AD, three major Nubian kingdoms had emerged, Nobatia in the (Lower Nubia), Mauria(Upper Nubia) and Alodia in central Sudan .The Nubian kings were converted to Christianity after 540 CE, and the influence of the Church is clear in medieval Nubian culture. Medieval Nubia prospered, enjoying generally peaceful relations with Islamic Egypt, in which long-distance trade flourished. Medieval Nubia also develops a written language (Old Nubian) possibly in several dialects, Greek was the language used for the holly texts of the new religion. Equally, however, administrative documents, legal texts and letters were also written in Old Nubian - a rare early flowering of an indigenous written language in Africa south of the Sahara. Modern 'Mahas ' Nubian is closely related to the medieval language of northern NubiaThe increasing political weakness of the Nubian kings saw a gradual erosion of their power during the 14th and 15th centuries and the slow disintegration of their kingdoms. Whether cause or effect of this collapse, increasing numbers of 'Arab' immigrants who started a big process of Arabusation. The era of the Christian Nubian kingdoms is traditionally seen as over by about 1500, with a new power (the Funj Sultanate) emerging along the Blue Nile, centered on Sennar, with areas further north gradually becoming more Arabised. The experience of the far north in Egypt was rather different, as during the 16th century, most of Lower Nubia was controlled by Ottoman Egypt, who extended their rule as far south as the Third Cataract in the 1580s. The Ottoman presence was limited to some important zones (at Qasr Ibrim) and a few minor outposts, and an apparently rapacious and arbitrary local administration. With that Nubian language and culture has survived most obviously, although substantial areas of the northern Dongola Reach (Ed Debba - Kerma) have also retained their own distinctive Dongolawi Nubian language and traditions. The power of the Funj was finally broken in the early 19th century with the conquest of the Middle Nile by the Egyptian army of Mohammed Ali in the years following 1820 - beginning the period of 'Ottoman' Egyptian colonial rule.
