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Author - Adam Ashcroft

 

 

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The ancient trade centre and culture of Kerma in the Dongola Reach of Upper Nubia, was the trading 'Middleman' of the ancient world, as well as the first urban society in tropical Africa.

The beginnings of the Kerma culture have always been difficult to ascertain. It seems that the more we explore the site of Kerma, the further backwards in time we can push back the beginnings of this once powerful centre of trade of ancient Upper Nubia. We now have a rough anchor of around c.2500 - 2400 BC for the beginnings of the ancient town of Kerma, going on for about a thousand years or so until c.1500 BC and the starting dominance of the New Kingdom of Ancient Egypt which had just emerged from the dark years of the Second Intermediate Period. During the Middle Kingdom, the Egyptians started to build fortresses along the Nile as far as Semna South, midway between the Second and Third Cataracts. This was to safeguard their interests in the quarries and mining areas of Nubia as well as to protect and ensure the continuity of trade with Kerma. The Egyptians were also fully aware of the growing power and importance of the kingdom of Kerma.

The development of Kerma was contemporaneous with the C-Group in Lower Nubia. While Egypt was concerning itself with the