The Ancient Egyptians

الجمعة، 15 أغسطس 2014

The beginnings of the Kerma culture have always been difficult to ascertain. It seems that the more we explore the site of Kerma, the further backwards in time we can push back the beginnings of this once powerful centre of trade of ancient Upper Nubia. We now have a rough anchor of around c.2500 - 2400 BC for the beginnings of the ancient town of Kerma, going on for about a thousand years or so until c.1500 BC and the starting dominance of the New Kingdom of Ancient Egypt which had just emerged from the dark years of the Second Intermediate Period. During the Middle Kingdom, the Egyptians started to build fortresses along the Nile as far as Semna South, midway between the Second and Third Cataracts. This was to safeguard their interests in the quarries and mining areas of Nubia as well as to protect and ensure the continuity of trade with Kerma. The Egyptians were also fully aware of the growing power and importance of the kingdom of Kerma

The ancient trade centre and culture of Kerma in the Dongola Reach of Upper Nubia, was the trading 'Middleman' of the ancient world, as well as the first urban society in tropical Africa.
Kerma is situated on the east side of the Nile River, just beyond the Third Cataract, in the one of the most favourable and fertile area of Upper Nubia - The Dongola Reach. Placed in this advantageous area, it became the cultural and economic centre of the area known by the Ancient Egyptians of the early second millenium BC, as Kush. This was probably the ancient land of Yam mentioned in Harkhuf's autobiography. A good translation can be found in Sir Alan Gardiners 'Egypt of the Pharaohs' [1964 edition pp99-100]. The Abri-Delgo Reach of the Nile, situated above Kerma and placed two thirds of the way between the Second and Third Cataracts, was also an important area during the rise of the Kerma culture. Here, the Island of Sai, which was the centre of Shaat, was the main focus of trade and the Kerma culture in this area. It has only just recently been discovered that there were three branches of river flowing through the Dongola area, and coupled with the yearly inundation of the River Nile, this would have made the area extremely rich in alluvial deposits and therefore ideally suitable for farming, cattle grazing, animal husbandry, as well as making the this area more favourable for human settlement than any other in Upper Nubia. These now dried up river branches, would have created a basin area of fertile land, which we now call the Kerma Basin. Wherever you may find these favourable conditions, is where you will find the greatest advances of culture in the ancient world. The climate and conditions of this area would have created an ideal situation not unlike some fertile areas along the Nile regions of Egypt itself.

The development of Kerma was contemporaneous with the C-Group in Lower Nubia. While Egypt was concerning itself with the control of Lower Nubia and the C-Group, Kerma was slowly developing its trade and culture beyond this buffer zone. There were three periods of the Kerma culture - Old Kerma, Middle Kerma and Classic Kerma. By c.1650 BC, Kerma had become densely populated and controlled a centralized state stretching from at least the First to the Fourth Cataracts. It was during the mid to latter part of the Second Intermediate Period of Egypt and during the Classic Period of Kerma that saw the apex of its wealth and power. Kerma was sacked in c.1500 BC, when the whole region became part of the Egyptian New Kingdom empire