2500 to 1500 BC

Kerma period

The Kerma culture, also known as the 'first African civilisation' south of Egypt, is the main Bronze Age culture in the Middle Nile region. It developed from local Neolithic cultures, at the same time as Egypt took the path to statehood about 3000 BC. The region of present-day Kerma became the centre of this culture, due to the fertility of its wide alluvial plain and the easy access to the hinterlands.

The origins of the town site of Kerma date back to about 2500 BC. They comprise palace-like structures, elite houses as well as specialised workshops and a fortified city wall. The centre of the agglomeration is marked by the so-called Western Defuffa, a monumental mudbrick building which seems to have incorporated the main temple.

During the Kerma period, arts and crafts flourished. Evidence for bronze casting was found in the temple precinct at the foot of the Western Deffufa. As in other Bronze Age cultures, many resources went into the lavish furnishings of the elite tombs. The main cemetery at Kerma is thought to be the largest burial ground in the Middle Nile region, comprising more than 30,000 tombs. Its largest structures are several tumuli of up to 90 metres in diameter which held the burials of the kings and queens of the later Kerma period.

Smaller Kerma settlements and cemeteries are known from all over the Middle Nile region.

 

300,000 to 5000 BC

Old and Middle Stone Age

5000 to 2500 BC

New Stone Age

2500 to 1500 BC

Kerma period

1500 to 1070 BC

Pharaonic period

900 to 300 BC

Napatan period

300 BC to 350 AD

Meroitic period

350 to 600 AD

Post-Meroitic period

600 to 1500 AD

Medieval period

1500 to 1880 AD

Islamic period

1881 to 1898 AD

Mahdiya

1898 to 1956 AD

Anglo-Egyptian rule

Locations of interest:

Kerma

Kerma, at the southern end of the Third Cataract, was the centre of the major Bronze Age culture in the Middle Nile valley. The site comprises an urban agglomeration, a vast cemetery and a Pharaonic town. Read more ...

Sai Island

Sai Island is situated between the Second and Third Nile Cataracts. It has a very long and rich occupational history, with sites of the Kerma, Pharaonic, medieval and Islamic periods. Read more ...

Tombos

Tombos is the name of a series of sites on the east bank of the Nile in the area of the Third Cataract. They include numerous rock inscriptions, a New Kingdom cemetery and a quarry with an unfinished Napatan statue. Read more ...

Kawa

Kawa liegt zwischen dem Dritten und Vierten Katarakt auf dem Ostufer des Nil, gegenüber der moderen Stadt Dongola. Das wichtigste Monument des Fundplatzes ist ein großer Amuntempel, der unter dem kuschitischen Herrscher Taharqo errichtet wurde. Weiterlesen ...