Kingship

Colonial Egypt

Following the second intermediate period and the explosion of the Hyksos out of Egypt, Ahmose was able to colonize Lower Nubia . His successor, Amenhotep I lead a fierce military campaigns penetrating into the Kushite mainland. While Lower Nubia was surely subdued by Egypt by the sixteenth century BC, the case with Upper Nubia and the kingdom of Kerma remains a mystery. Despite the border set by Thumose I at Kurgus in 1500 BC, we know that he was unable to subdue Kerma¹.

Upper Part of a Statue of King Amenhotep II. From Wad Ban Naga, Isis Temple. Source: Wildung, Dietrich. Sudan: Ancient Kingdoms of the Nile.

The Egyptian colonial administration in Nubia was assigned to a single Viceroy. Serving under the Viceroy were two deputies, one in charge of Wawat (Lower Nubia) and another in charge of Kush (Upper Nubia).

Evidence indicates that conflicts between the Egyptian colonials and local Nubians were regular and frequently fierce. An example of such conflicts was accounted in the Egyptian inscription of Konosso dating to the reign of Thutmosis IV:

"The Nubian descends from above Wawet; he hath planned revolt against Egypt. He gathers to himself all the barbarians and the revolters of other countries… his Majesty proceeds to overthrow the Nubian in Nubia… he found all [his] foes scattered in inaccessible valleys…" ²

Archeological evidence on ethnicity indicates that the relationship between the Egyptian colonists and the local Nubians was more harmonious than thought before. Cemetery excavations at colonial towns such as Tombos show clear indications of cultural fusion. For example, cranial measurements of individuals from Tombos indicate a common situation of intermarriage³.

Following the decline of Kerma , other Nubian states flourished to the south of Egyptian-controled Nubia, that is south of Kurgus ⁴. These Nubian states replaced Kerma as the dominant authority in southern Nubia. They traded with Egypt in materials brought from regions further south, such as gold, exotic materials, ebony, slaves, and ostrich feathers. The inability of the Egyptian empire to expand south of Kurgus may be attributed to the presence of these Nubian state which would have represented powerful military rivals. By the time Nubia got its independence from Egypt in the ninth century BC, it reframed its central authority at Napata.

^{1 Charles Bonnet, Edifices et rites funeraires de la necropole de Kerma (Paris, 2000), in Ibrahim Omer, "Kerma"(click here for link) Ancient Sudan.org Nov. 2008. Nov. 2008.}

^{2 ARE2 826-829§§ in Robert S. Bianchi, Daily Life of the Nubians (Greenwood Publishing Group, 2004) 108. An unsuggested, text translation is found in James H. Breasted, Ancient Records of Egypt, Part Two, §§ 825ff.}

^{3 Michele R. Buzon, "Biological and ethnic identity in new kingdom nubia : A case study from tombos," Current anthropology vol. 47, no4, (2006): 683-95.}

^{4 David O'Connor, Ancient Nubia: Egypt's Rival in Africa (University of Pennsylvania Press, 1994) 61-66.}