Ancient Nubia: African Kingdoms on the Nile

by Marjorie Fisher (Editor), Peter Lacovara (Editor), Sue D'Auria (Editor)

2012 American Publishers (PROSE) Awards winner for Best Archaeology & Anthropology Book For most of the modern world, ancient Nubia seems an unknown and enigmatic land. Only a handful of archaeologists have studied its history or unearthed the Nubian cities, temples, and cemeteries that once dotted the landscape of southern Egypt and northern Sudan. Nubia’s remote setting in the midst of an inhospitable desert, with access by river blocked by impassable rapids, has lent it not only an air of mystery, but also isolated it from exploration. Over the past century, particularly during this last generation, scholars have begun to focus more attention on the fascinating cultures of ancient Nubia, ironically prompted by the construction of large dams that have flooded vast tracts of the ancient land. This book attempts to document some of what has recently been discovered about ancient Nubia, with its remarkable history, architecture, and culture, and thereby to give us a picture of this rich, but unfamiliar, African legacy.

Genres: History, Africa, Nonfiction, Egypt, Sudan, Archaeology, Ancient History

472 pages, Hardcover

First published September 6, 2012

Reviews

[Estelle Ford-Williamson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A compilation of essays and studies of the Nubian culture in northeastern Africa just below current day Egypt that demonstrates the intertwining of both cultures. Beautifully photographed and filled with academic research, I used this book to better understand the connection between the two cultures, one primarily Middle Eastern and the other African. There’s strong debate about the connections over centuries between the two, and more research needs to be done and published to help understand the relationship between them. I wrote with one of the Lost Boys of Sudan, Majok Marier, “Seed of South Sudan: Memoir of a ‘Lost Boy’ Refugee” in which we tried to give a deep perspective on the the people we know as Dinka and Nuer tribes in that area and their connection to the Egyptian culture. This book, along with visits to the the Carlos Museum (Emory University) and the Oriental Institute at the University of Chicago, was a very helpful resource.

[DAJ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nubia still isn't as well understood as one would like. Meroitic, the language of Nubia, is still undeciphered, and although the Nubians wrote in Egyptian for much of their history, they didn't use writing very extensively. Thus, most of the written information about the region comes from Egypt. For a long time that meant that scholars tended to regard the study of Nubia as a mere extension of Egyptology and see Nubia through the biases of the ancient Egyptians. As this book proves, the situation has changed dramatically, and despite the shortage of textual evidence, Nubiology is making great progress. Drawing together most of the top experts working today, this massive but very readable book is probably the most comprehensive introduction to ancient Nubia.

The first 19 chapters cover geography, history, archaeology and the salvage of Nubian sites, kingship, religion, burial customs, texts, daily life, the roles of women, jewelry, ceramics, animals, and four historical phases of Nubian art and architecture. The chapter on history surveys everything from the Paleolithic to the 16th century, the early Islamic period. However, the book's focus is definitely on the periods contemporary with ancient Egypt, from the prehistoric cultures that developed alongside Protodynastic and Old Kingdom Egypt to the fall of the Kingdom of Meroe in the third and fourth centuries AD. There are also a whopping 46 chapters, though many of them are pretty short, on each major Nubian archaeological site from Gebel Qeili in the far south (east of Khartoum) to Philae and Aswan on the Egyptian frontier.

Nubia's complex relationship with Egypt is clearly visible here. The two societies evolved in a very similar prehistoric environment. As the Egyptian state began to form, its culture grew apart from that in Nubia, but people and ideas frequently flowed between the two. Lower Nubia was often subjugated by Egypt, but Upper Nubia usually remained independent and was sometimes a dangerous rival to its northern neighbor—and ruled it for nearly a hundred years in the eighth and seventh centuries BC. The elite classes in Nubia in the Kushite and Meroitic periods adopted Egypt's language and a lot of its artistic and religious traditions (sometimes heavily modified to fit their society), but there are hints that commoners, who are always less visible in the archaeological record, were less Egyptianized.

[Cody · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a collection of introductory writings about Nuria, which was a region on thr Nile River South of Egypt that often traded with, often made war with, and for a time even ruled over, Egypt.

It starts with an introduction and then a history of the region. Then it has numerous thematic articles over art and architecture, burials, jewelry, religion, government, religion, and even a chapter on animals that describe them as food, pets, and part of religion. The second half of the book looks specifically at the archeology of each city in the region. Its very informative and has amazing pictures.

Ultimately, if a general reader has an interest in Nuria, I think this is a great introduction to the history, culture, and archeology of the region.

[Jbondandrews · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a really amazing book. I have been meaning to learn more about Ancient Nubia and this is the right book for that.