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54-601: The earliest occupation of Jebel Barkal was that of the Kerma culture , which was also known as Kush, but this occupation is so far known only from scattered potsherds. Around 1450 BCE, the Egyptian Pharaoh Thutmose III conquered Barkal and built a fortified settlement (Egyptian menenu ) there as the southern limit of the Egyptian empire. The city and region around it came to be called Napata , and

108-405: A " tropical African variant" (though others were also observed), which had affinities with Kerma Kushites. The general results demonstrate greater affinity with Upper Nile Valley groups, but also suggest clear change from earlier craniometric trends, with numerous 1st dynasty crania from Abydos classified into the "northern Egyptian-Maghreb" series. The gene flow and movement of northern officials to

162-619: A cache of monumental black granite statues of the Pharaohs of the Twenty-fifth Dynasty of Egypt now exposed in the Kerma Museum . Among the sculptures were ones belonging to the dynasty's last two pharaohs, Taharqa and Tanoutamon , whose statues are described as "masterpieces that rank among the greatest in art history". Craniometric analysis of Kerma fossils comparing them to various other early populations inhabiting

216-519: A gesture of triumph by Kerma's ruler. Under Thutmose I , Egypt made several campaigns south, destroying Kerma. This eventually resulted in the Egyptian annexation of Nubia (Kerma/ Kush) c.  1504 BC, and the establishment of a southern frontier at Kanisah Kurgus , south of the Fourth Cataract. After the conquest, Kerma culture was increasingly 'Egyptianized' yet rebellions continued for 220 years (till c.  1300 BC). During

270-496: A partnership with the Hyksos and tried to crush Egypt. An inscription in the tomb of the ancient Egyptian governor Sobeknakht II at Nekheb reports that Kerma invaded deep into Egypt between 1575 and 1550 BC. It is believed that this was one of Egypt's most humiliating defeats, which later pharaohs had erased from the official historic records. Many royal statues and monuments were looted from Egypt and removed to Kerma, apparently as

324-406: A period of over 1,500 years. The temples were described for the first time by a series of European explorers beginning in the 1820s. Their drawings and descriptions, particularly those of Frédéric Cailliaud (1821), Louis Maurice Adolphe Linant de Bellefonds (1821), and Karl Richard Lepsius (1844), record significant architectural details that have since disappeared. In 1862 five inscriptions from

378-630: A strategic role in Eastern Desert gold mining operations. The extent of cultural/political continuity between the Kingdom of Kerma and the chronologically succeeding Kingdom of Kush is difficult to determine. The latter polity began to emerge around 1000 BC, around 500 years after the end of the Kingdom of Kerma. Initially, the Kushite kings continued to use Kerma for royal burials and special ceremonies, suggesting some connection. Moreover,

432-645: A substantial population and for the first time provides a political context for metropolitan Kerma. Survey work in advance of the Merowe Dam at the Fourth Cataract has confirmed the presence of Kerma sites at least as far upriver as the Abu Hamad /Mograt Island area. Kerma was evidently a sizable political entity—Egyptian records speak of its rich and populous agricultural regions. Unlike Egypt, Kerma seems to have been highly centralized. It controlled

486-499: Is attested at Kerma from c.  2200–2000 BC . Only the centres of Kerma and Sai Island seem to have had contained sizable urban populations. Possibly further excavations will reveal other regional centres. At Kerma and Sai, there is much evidence of wealthy elites, and a class of dignitaries who monitored trade in merchandise arriving from far-off lands, and who supervised shipments dispatched from administrative buildings. Evidently, Kerma played an important intermediary role in

540-681: Is available), whose arrival, and that of a new ethno-linguistic group, around that time may perhaps be indicated by a change in placenames for Upper Nubia used in Egyptian execration texts. However, Cooper also proposes that a similar Eastern Sudanic language may have been already spoken in Upper Nubia, both at Kerma and the Saï polity to its north, earlier (by Kerma Moyen, which began around 2050 BC), while north of Saï, in Lower Nubia, Cushitic languages were spoken and much later replaced by Meroitic. It

594-420: Is now known to have been a palace. Kerma culture The Kingdom of Kerma or the Kerma culture was an early civilization centered in Kerma , Sudan. It flourished from around 2500 BC to 1500 BC in ancient Nubia . The Kerma culture was based in the southern part of Nubia, or " Upper Nubia " (in parts of present-day northern and central Sudan ), and later extended its reach northward into Lower Nubia and

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648-632: Is now largely destroyed. It received the sacred bark of Amun from the nearby B500 on certain cultic occasions, and may have served during the coronation of the kings of the early Napatan period, in the mid 7th century BC. The Temple was decorated by Senkamanisken , where he is shown clubbing enemies. The hieroglyphic inscription on the Temple described the role of the god Amun in selecting Sekamanisken as king: I said of you [while you were still] in your mother's womb that you were to be ruler of Kemet ["Black Land", probably meaning Egypt and Kush]. I knew you in

702-485: Is posited that early Meroitic spread, displacing Eastern Sudanic and Cushitic languages along the Nile. When Kerma was first excavated in the 1920s, George Andrew Reisner believed that it originally served as the base for or was a fort of an Egyptian governor, and that these Egyptian rulers evolved into the independent monarchs of Kerma. Reisner's interpretation was predicated on the presence of inscribed Egyptian statues in

756-527: Is shown clubbing enemies. The hieroglyphic inscription on the Temple described the role of God Amun in selecting Sekamanisken as king: I said of you (while you were still) in your mother's womb that you were to be ruler of Kemet ("Black Land"= Egypt). I knew you in the semen, while you were in the egg, that you were to be lord. I made you receive the Great Crown, which Re (the Sun god) caused to appear on

810-459: Is similar to a sample of modern Kenyan skeletons. Cluster C is similar to a sample of Middle Empire skeletons from the region of Assuan, and Cluster B, which although distinct from Cluster C, shares many common features with it. He notes that clusters A and B were present in Early Kerma in ("Kerma ancien") but became the majority in the following Middle Kerma ("Kerma moyen"), and that Cluster C

864-496: Is to be) king. It is I who grants kingship to whomever I will. Jebel Barkal served as a royal cemetery during the Meroitic Kingdom . The earliest burials date back to the 3rd century BC. Napata’s urban remains have not yet been significantly excavated, but rubble heaps indicate that the area was probably home to major settlement in antiquity. There are no traces of a pre-Egyptian settlement, though this may change as more

918-442: Is uncovered at the site. The earliest buildings found at Napata date from the middle of the eighteenth Dynasty . The first archaeologist to work at the site was George A. Reisner who worked there from 1916-1920 and excavated a number of buildings. His first excavation at Napata was a large Meroitic structure (Named “B 100”) that dated to the first century CE. At first, Reisner assumed this to be an “administrative building”, though it

972-452: Is when Egypt began the conquest of Lower Nubia. The Twelfth Dynasty of Egypt Pharaoh Senwosret I established forts at Ikkur, Quban, Aniba , Buhen, and Kor. The fort at Qubban protected gold mining operations along Wadi Allaqi and Wadi Gabgaba. The long history of Egyptian military activity in Lower Nubia may indicate that Kerma was perceived as a threat to Pharaonic Egypt at varying times. Principal Egyptian fortifications were built in

1026-413: The 13th Dynasty and 2nd Intermediate Period . This became the period of greatest development of Kerma and its greatest extent. Massive royal tombs were built in the city's necropolis , and included a large number of human sacrifices, and secondary burials. Two large tumuli include white quartzite cones. Kushite confrontations also occurred with Egypt in Lower Nubia. During its zenith, Kerma formed

1080-595: The C-Group and Pharaonic era skeletons excavated in Lower Nubia and ancient Egyptians ( Naqada , Badari , Hierakonpolis , Abydos and Kharga in Upper Egypt ; Hawara in Lower Egypt ). Claude Rilly, citing anthropologist Christian Simon, reports that the population of the Kingdom of Kerma was morphologically heterogeneous, with three main clusters in terms of morphological tendencies (A, B, C): "Cluster A

1134-928: The C-Group Culture , inhabited the Nile Valley immediately before the arrival of the first Nubian speakers—spoke Afroasiatic languages. Claude Rilly (2010, 2016) on the other hand, suggests that the Kerma peoples spoke Nilo-Saharan languages of the Eastern Sudanic branch, possibly ancestral to the later Meroitic language , which he also suggests was Nilo-Saharan. Rilly also criticizes proposals (by Behrens and Bechaus-Gerst) of significant early Afro-Asiatic influence on Nobiin, and considers evidence of substratal influence on Nobiin from an earlier now extinct Eastern Sudanic language to be stronger. Julien Cooper (2017) also suggests that Nilo-Saharan languages of

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1188-1060: The Nile Valley and Maghreb found that they were morphologically close to Predynastic Egyptians from Naqada (4000–3200 BC). The Kermans were also more distantly related to Dynastic Egyptians from Gizeh (323 BC – AD 330) and Predynastic Egyptian samples from Badari (4400–4000 BC), followed by the ancient Garamantes of Libya (900 BC – AD 500), who were found to be most closely related to Neolithic sub-Saharan African samples, and Roman period Egyptians , and secondary to modern Tunisians and Moroccans as well as early osteological series from Algeria (1500 BC), Carthage in Tunisia (751 BC – AD 435), Soleb in Nubia (1575–1380 BC), and Ptolemaic dynasty -era samples from Alexandria in Egypt (323 BC – AD 30). Dental trait analysis of Kerma fossils found affinities with various populations inhabiting

1242-636: 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 Kush populations in Upper Nubia , the A-Group culture bearers of Lower Nubia , and to Ethiopians , followed by the Meroitic , X-Group and Christian period inhabitants of Lower Nubia, and then to

1296-656: The Third Intermediate Period were recovered by an Egyptian officer and transported to the Cairo Museum , but not until 1916 were scientific archeological excavations performed by a joint expedition of Harvard University and the Museum of Fine Arts of Boston under the direction of George Reisner . From the 1970s, explorations continued by a team from the University of Rome La Sapienza , under

1350-650: The ancient Egyptian pharaohs. He might have been married to queens Amanimalel and Nasalsa , the latter of whom bore him two sons: Anlamani and Aspelta . Both sons would ultimately assume the Kushite throne after his death at Napata, Nubia's capital city. His pyramid is Nu.3 in Nuri . Statues of Senkamanisken have been found buried or hidden in the Jebel Barkal , presumably due to Psamtik II 's attack on Kush in 592 BC. A sphinx has also been found which

1404-541: The 1st century BC - 1st century AD, eight royal pyramid burials were built at Jebel Barkal (rather than at Meroë), for reasons that are not clear, but perhaps reflecting the prominence of one or more families from the city. After the collapse of Kush during the 4th century AD, Jebel Barkal continued to be occupied in the medieval (Christian) period of Nubia, as attested by architectural remains, burials, and burial inscriptions. The ruins around Jebel Barkal include at least 13 temples that were built, renovated, and expanded over

1458-411: The 1st to 4th Cataracts, which meant its domain was as extensive as ancient Egypt. Numerous village communities scattered alongside fields of crops made up the bulk of the realm, but there also seems to have been districts where pastoralism (goat, sheep and cattle) and gold processing were important industries. Certain Kerma towns served to centralize agricultural products and direct trade. Analysis of

1512-567: The Afro-Asiatic family, noting: "The Irem-list also provides a similar inventory to Kush, placing this firmly in an Eastern Sudanic zone. These Irem/Kush-lists are distinctive from the Wawat-, Medjay-, Punt-, and Wetenet-lists, which provide sounds typical to Afroasiatic languages." Cooper (2017, 2020) suggests that an Eastern Sudanic language (perhaps early Meroitic) was spoken at Kerma by at least 1800 BC (the time from which toponymic evidence

1566-615: The Early C-Group culture was also appearing in Lower Nubia, most probably arriving from Dongola Reach (near Kerma). Thus, by the second millennium BC, Kerma was the centre of a large kingdom, probably the first in the Eastern Sudan , that rivalled Egypt. The Middle Kerma Period, coinciding with the Middle Kingdom of Egypt, continued from the reigns of Amenemhat I to Sobekhotep IV ( c.  1990–1725 BC). This

1620-695: The Eastern Sudanic branch were spoken by the people of Kerma, as well as those further south along the Nile, to the west, and those of Saï (an island to the north of Kerma), but that Afro-Asiatic (most probably Cushitic) languages were spoken by other peoples in Lower Nubia (such as the Medjay and the C-Group culture) living in Nubian regions north of Saï toward Egypt and those southeast of the Nile in Punt in

1674-530: The Eastern dessert. Based partly on an analysis of the phonology of place names and personal names from the relevant regions preserved in ancient texts, he argues that the terms from "Kush" and "Irem" (ancient names for Kerma and the region south of it respectively) in Egyptian texts display traits typical of Eastern Sudanic languages, while those from further north (in Lower Nubia) and east are more typical of

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1728-526: The Egyptian occupation of Jebel Barkal extended through most of the New Kingdom of Egypt . The Egyptians built a complex of temples at the site, centered on a temple to Amun of Napata—a local, ram-headed form of the main god of the Egyptian capital city of Thebes, Egypt . In the last years of the New Kingdom and after its collapse in 1169 BC, there was little construction at Jebel Barkal. Apart from

1782-534: The Kerma peoples spoke Afroasiatic languages of the Cushitic branch. They propose that the Nilo-Saharan Nobiin language today contains a number of key pastoralism related loanwords that are of proto-Highland East Cushitic origin, including the terms for sheep/goatskin, hen/cock, livestock enclosure, butter and milk. They argue that this in turn suggests that the Kerma population—which, along with

1836-490: The Kermans threatened the southern borders of Egypt. Until recently, the Kerma civilisation was known only from the townsite and cemeteries of its metropolitan centre and smaller sites in Kerma, Sudan. However, recent survey and excavation work has identified many new sites south of Kerma, many located on channels of the Nile, now dry, which lay to the east of the modern course of the river. This pattern of settlement indicates

1890-560: The New Kingdom, Kerma/Kush nevertheless became a key province of the Egyptian Empire —economically, politically and spiritually. Indeed, major Pharonic ceremonies were held at Jebel Barkal near Napata, which included a large Amun temple. The New Kingdom of Egypt maintained control of Lower and Middle Nubia, with a Viceroy of Kush , or 'King's Son of Kush'. Egyptian settlements were established on Sai Island , Sedeinga, Soleb , Mirgissa , and Sesibi . Qubban continued to play

1944-528: The border of Egypt. The polity seems to have been one of a number of Nile Valley states during the Middle Kingdom of Egypt . In the Kingdom of Kerma's latest phase, lasting from about 1700 to 1500 BC, it absorbed the Sudanese kingdom of Sai and became a sizable, populous empire rivaling Egypt. Around 1500 BC, it was absorbed into the New Kingdom of Egypt , but rebellions continued for centuries. By

1998-516: The direction of Sergio Donadoni , that was joined by another team from the Boston Museum, in the 1980s, under the direction of Timothy Kendall. The larger temples, such as the Temple of Amun , are even today considered sacred to the local population. The carved wall painted chambers of the Temple of Mut are well preserved. Temple B700, built by Atlanersa and decorated by Senkamanisken ,

2052-513: The eleventh century BC, the more-Egyptianized Kingdom of Kush emerged, possibly from Kerma, and regained the region's independence from Egypt. The primary site of Kerma that forms the heart of the Kingdom of Kerma includes both an extensive town and a cemetery consisting of large tumuli . The level of affluence at the site demonstrated the power of the Kingdom of Kerma, especially during the Second Intermediate Period when

2106-646: The following stage." S.O.Y. Keita, conducted an anthropological study which examined the crania of groups in the North African region which included samples from Kerma, circa 2000 BC, the Maghreb region, circa 1500 BC, and 1st dynasty crania from the royal tombs in Abydos, Egypt. The results of the study determined the predominant pattern of the First Dynasty Egyptian crania was "Southern" or

2160-474: The important southern city may explain the findings. West Asia (6000–3500 BC) Europe (5500–2200 BC) Central Asia (3700–1700 BC) South Asia (4300–1800 BC) China (5000–2900 BC) 19°36′03″N 30°24′35″E  /  19.600802°N 30.409731°E  / 19.600802; 30.409731 Senkamanisken Senkamanisken was a Kushite King who ruled from 640 to 620 BC at Napata . He used royal titles based on those of

2214-683: The kings of Egypt. The last mention in Sudan of an Old Kingdom of Egypt Pharaoh , Neuserre of the Fifth Dynasty was in 2400 BC Buhen , and the desert west of Toshka ; no Egyptian presence occurs by the subsequent Sixth Dynasty . The Gash Group , a neolithic culture that flourished from 3000 to 1800 BC in Eritrea and the Eastern Sudan, had contacts with Kerma during the whole period of its development. Kerma elements occurred along

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2268-470: The large burials, which he thought belonged to those named individuals. Thus, scholars accepted the view that Kerma was a trading outpost of the Egyptians, being too small and far away from the known borders of ancient Egypt to be more directly linked to it. It was only starting in mid-20th century that excavations began to reveal that Kerma city was much larger and more complex than previously assumed. It

2322-716: The layout of royal funerary compounds in both Kerma and Napata (the Kush capital) are similarly designed. Caches of statues of Kush's pharaohs have also been discovered at Kerma, suggesting that the Napatan rulers recognized a historic link between their capital and Kerma. The linguistic affiliation of the Kerma culture is currently unknown, and membership to both the Nilo-Saharan and Afro-Asiatic language families has been proposed. According to Peter Behrens (1981) and Marianne Bechaus-Gerst (2000), linguistic evidence indicates that

2376-563: The middle Nile Valley during the Middle Kingdom. These were to secure the Upper Egyptian border against raids from Kerma, and more than probably and to protect the valuable trade routes between the two regions. Both during the Middle and New Kingdoms, the resources Kerma possessed—gold, cattle, milk products, ebony, incense, ivory, etc.—were much coveted by Egypt. Its army were built around archers. Yet, Egyptian control weakened during

2430-491: The semen, while you were in the egg, that you were to be lord. I made you receive the Great Crown, which Re caused to appear on the first good occasion. [Inasmuch as] a father makes his son excellent, it is I who decreed kingship to you. [So] who shall share it with you? For I am the Lord of Heaven. As I give to Re, [so] he gives to his children, from gods to men. It is I who gives you the royal charter.... No other [can] decree (who

2484-520: The site of Nuri , 9 km to the northeast of Jebel Barkal. In 270 BCE, the location of Kushite royal burials was moved to Meroë, inaugurating the Meroitic period of the Kingdom of Kush . Jebel Barkal continued to be an important city of Kush during the Meroitic period. A sequence of palaces were built, most notably by King Natakamani , new temples were built and older temples were renovated. During

2538-530: The site. After the Kushites were driven out by the Assyrian conquest of Egypt in the mid-7th century BC, they continued to rule Kush with Jebel Barkal and the city of Meroë as the most important urban centers of Kush. Jebel Barkal's palaces and temples continued to be renovated from the 7th-early 3rd centuries BC. Most of the royal pyramid burials of the kings and queens of Kush during this time were built at

2592-468: The skulls of thousands of cattle interred in royal Kerma tombs suggest that stock were sometimes brought vast distances, from far districts, presumably as a type of tribute from rural communities on the death of Kerma's monarchs. This parallels the importance of cattle as royal property in other parts of Africa at later times. Evidence for settled agriculture in the region dates from the pre-Kerma period, c.  3500–2500 BC, whilst copper metallurgy

2646-466: The temples, no trace of this Egyptian settlement has yet been found at the site. Jebel Barkal was the capital city of the Kingdom of Kush as it returned to power in the years after 800 BCE as the Dynasty of Napata. The Kushite kings who conquered and ruled over Egypt as the 25th Dynasty , including Kashta , Piankhy (or Piye ), and Taharqa , all built, renovated, and expanded monumental structures at

2700-472: The trade of luxury items from the Central African interior to Egypt. The Kerma culture was rooted in the pre-Kerma culture, which flourished around 3500 BC. Egyptian Old Kingdom epigraphic evidence, as well as evidence from Aniba , indicate contacts with early Nubia at that time (2700–2200 BC), as well as the presence of early Nubian regional rulers. It appears that they were initially loyal to

2754-518: The whole stratigraphic sequence at Mahal Teglinos , the main site of the Gash Group. For many centuries, the Gash people were included in the circuit of interchange between Egypt and the southern regions of the Nile valley, so Mahal Teglinos became an important commercial partner of the Kerma state. This trade activity clearly contributed to the rise of complex societies in the region. By 2300 BC,

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2808-430: Was also realized that the material culture and burial practices here are overwhelmingly of local Kerman origin rather than Egyptian. Swiss archaeologist Charles Bonnet was among the first scholars to challenge Reisner's views and, according to him, it took 20 years for Egyptologists to accept his arguments. In 2003, archaeologist Charles Bonnet heading a team of Swiss archaeologists excavating near Kerma discovered

2862-562: Was inscribed with his name. Objects bearing the name of this king have also been found in Meroë indicating that he placed a degree of importance to this site which would be the political capital of the Kushite kingdom after Psamtik II's sack of Napata in 592 BC. He is the only Nubian king after the 25th Dynasty known from an inscription found in Egypt. He appears on a fragment of an offering table from Memphis. He also decorated Temple B700 (started by Aspelta ) at Jebel Barkal , where he

2916-503: Was mainly present in early Kerma and "possibly represents the descendency of the Pre-Kerma population that founded Kerma 4 km away from the original settlement, when the Nile riverbed shrunk...." Rilly continues: "However, the fact that their cemetery remained on the ancestral site might indicate cultural and ethnical continuity between Pre-Kerma and the new city. Cluster A and B were already present in Kerma ancien, but become majoritary in

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