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", and later extended its reach northward into Lower Nubia and 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 the eleventh century BC, the more-Egyptianized Kingdom of Kush emerged, possibly from Kerma, and regained the region's independence from Egypt.
Senusret I also anglicized as Sesostris I and Senwosret I, was the second pharaoh of the Twelfth Dynasty of Egypt. He ruled from 1971 BC to 1926 BC, and was one of the most powerful kings of this Dynasty. He was the son of Amenemhat I. Senusret I was known by his prenomen, Kheperkare, which means "the Ka of Re is created." He expanded the territory of Egypt allowing him to rule over an age of prosperity.
Khakaure Senusret III was a pharaoh of Egypt. He ruled from 1878 BC to 1839 BC during a time of great power and prosperity, and was the fifth king of the Twelfth Dynasty of the Middle Kingdom. He was a great pharaoh of the Twelfth Dynasty and is considered to rule at the height of the Middle Kingdom. Consequently, he is regarded as one of the sources for the legend about Sesostris. His military campaigns gave rise to an era of peace and economic prosperity that reduced the power of regional rulers and led to a revival in craftwork, trade, and urban development. Senusret III was among the few Egyptian kings who were deified and honored with a cult during their own lifetime.
Qasr Ibrim is an archaeological site in Lower Nubia, located in the modern country of Egypt. The site has a long history of occupation, ranging from as early as the eighth century BC to AD 1813, and was an economic, political, and religious center. Originally it was a major city perched on a cliff above the Nile, but the flooding of Lake Nasser after the construction of the Aswan High Dam – with the related International Campaign to Save the Monuments of Nubia – transformed it into an island and flooded its outskirts. Qasr Ibrim is the only major archaeological site in Lower Nubia to have survived the Aswan Dam floods. Both prior to and after the floods, it has remained a major site for archaeological investigations.
Buhen, alternatively known as Βοὥν (Bohón) in Ancient Greek, stands as a significant ancient Egyptian settlement on the western bank of the Nile, just below the Second Cataract in present-day Northern State, Sudan. Its origins trace back to the Old Kingdom period, where it served as an Egyptian colonial town, particularly recognized for copper smelting. In 1962, archaeological discoveries brought to light an ancient copper manufacturing facility encircled by an imposing stone barrier, indicating its origin during the rule of Sneferu in the 4th Dynasty. Inscriptions and graffiti disclosed a continuous Egyptian presence spanning two centuries, only to be interrupted by migration from the southern regions in the 5th Dynasty.
The National Museum of Sudan or Sudan National Museum, abbreviated SNM, is a two-story building, constructed in 1955 and established as national museum in 1971.
The region of Semna is 15 miles south of Wadi Halfa and is situated where rocks cross the Nile narrowing its flow—the Semna Cataract.
Abar was a Nubian queen of the Kingdom of Kush dated to the Twenty-fifth Dynasty of Egypt. She is known from a series of stela found in Sudan and Egypt. Her appearances mark her as the niece of King Alara of Nubia, married to King Piye and the mother of King Taharqa.
Kumma or Semna East is an archaeological site in Sudan. Established in the mid-12th Dynasty of Egypt, it served as a fortress of ancient Egypt in Nubia. Along with Semna, Kumma was built by the Pharaoh Sesostris III. The forts protected the border between ancient Egypt and the southern areas.
Mirgissa was a settlement in Northern state, Sudan. Situated at the 2nd cataract in Wadi Halfa, it contained one of the largest fortresses in Nubia. In the time of Thutmose II, 250 to 450 people inhabited the area. The first European explorer was English geologist Sir Henry George Lyons in 1892, and was excavated without Sudanese permission, by the French Egyptologist Jean Vercoutter from 1962 to 1969. In addition to the fort, excavations uncovered the remains of two cities, one of which was fortified, a northern enclosure, two cemeteries, a boat slide, and a port. Construction of the Aswan High Dam caused the disappearance of Mirgissa, which now lies under the waters of Lake Nubia.
Dabenarti is an island in Sudan, situated in the middle of the Nile near the Second Cataract. It is close to Mirgissa, 900 metres (3,000 ft) from its east wall, and about 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) south of the Buhen fortress. A fortress on the island was attributed to the Egyptian Nubian period. Construction began during the reign of Senusret I, around 1900 BC, and was completed under Senusret III. Landing at the island fort, measuring 60 by 230 metres in size, was difficult, and it was never completed. With the collapse of Egyptian power at the end of the Middle Kingdom, Dabenarti was abandoned around 1700 BC. It was examined in 1916 by Somers Clarke.
The Statue of Sobekneferu was a sculpture of the ancient Egyptian queen Sobekneferu, who reigned during the 12th Dynasty.
Shalfak is an ancient Egyptian fortress once built up on the western shore of the Second Cataract of the Nile River and now an island in the Lake Nubia in the north of Sudan. Set up in the Middle Kingdom under Senusret III, it is one of a chain of 17 forts which the pharaohs of the 12th Dynasty established to secure their southern frontier during a time where the Egyptian influence was sought out to be expanded. That is why Shalfak, along with the forts of Buhen, Mirgissa, Uronarti, Askut, Dabenarti, Semna, and Kumma, was established within signalling distance of each other.
The Semna Despatches are a group of papyri that deals with observations of people in and around the forts of the Semna gorge. The fortresses were positioned at Semna because of the expansion of Egypt into Lower Nubia by Senusret III, and were a means of protecting and controlling access into Egypt. The Semna Despatches record the movements of people around the Semna Gorge, and reports their activity's back to an unnamed official in Thebes. Many of the Despatches deal with people who had come to the forts to trade with the Egyptians while others talk about patrols that had gone out and found people in the surrounding desert. The Semna Despatches provides the bulk of information that pertains to the administrative functions of the forts around the Semna Gorge.
Amenemhat was a Nubian official under Hatshepsut and Thutmosis III. He was chief of Teh-khet and was therefore a governor ruling a region in Lower Nubia for the Egyptian state. In the New Kingdom, Egyptian kings had conquered Lower Nubia. To secure control over the new region they appointed people of the local elite as governors. Teh-khet was a Nubian region that covered the area about Debeira and Serra. The local governors here formed a family, while the governor proper held the title chief of Teh-khet.
Nubia is a geographic and cultural region along the Nile River, stretching as far north as Aswan in southern Egypt upriver to the southern limit around the confluence of the Blue and White branches of the Nile River, near modern day Khartoum. Nubia was the seat of several civilizations of ancient Africa, including the Kerma culture, the Kingdom of Kush, Nobatia, Makuria and Alodia.
The architecture of Sudan mirrors the geographical, ethnic and cultural diversity of the country and its historical periods. The lifestyles and material culture expressed in human settlements, their architecture and economic activities have been shaped by different regional and environmental conditions. In its long documented history, Sudan has been a land of changing and diverse forms of human civilization with important influences from foreign cultures.
The International Campaign to Save the Monuments of Nubia was the effort to relocate 22 monuments in Lower Nubia, in Southern Egypt and northern Sudan, between 1960 and 1980. This was done in order to make way for the building of the Aswan Dam, at the Nile's first cataract, a project launched following the 1952 Egyptian Revolution. This project was undertaken under UNESCO leadership and a coalition of fifty countries. This process led to the creation of the World Heritage Convention in 1972, and thus the system of UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
