Nubia
Nubia was an ancient region in Northeast Africa that included parts of present-day Egypt and Sudan. The region played a key role in the history of ancient Egypt. Early on it served as a colony of the Egyptian Empire, supplying it with everything from slaves to trade goods. In time, however, the Nubian kingdom of Kush (or Cush) would rule over all of Egypt before eventually falling to the first of many Asian invaders who would occupy the land. The people of Nubia were black Africans.
Nubia extended roughly from the southern portion of the Nile River valley eastward to the shores of the Red Sea, southward to the present-day city of Khartoum in Sudan, and westward to the Libyan Desert. While most of Nubia was rainless desert land, the mighty Nile River snaked through the region and provided the people with fertile farmland. In addition, the land was rich in mineral resources, including gold and precious stones.
Toward the end of the 4th millennium BC Nubia came in contact with a powerful civilization that had risen to its north—Egypt. The kings of Egypt's 1st dynasty conquered upper Nubia. Although the Nubians were no match for the armies of Egypt, they influenced the art, culture, and religion of dynastic Egypt.
Sometime after about 2181 BC Egypt went through roughly a century of weakness—a time referred to as the First Intermediate Period. During these years a new wave of immigrants entered Nubia from Libya in the west and settled along the Nile as cattle herders. With the Egyptians fighting among themselves, these immigrants to Nubia developed their own distinct civilization with unique crafts, architecture, and social structure. With the advent of the 11th dynasty in 2081 BC, however, Egypt recovered its strength and pressed southward into Nubia. By the 12th dynasty (1938–1756 BC) Egyptian forces had reclaimed much of the region.
Egypt lost control of Nubia again during another period of turmoil known as the Second Intermediate Period (about 1630–1540 BC). Under the leadership of Thutmose I, who reigned from 1493 to 1482 BC, Egypt again regained control and divided the region into two administrative units: Wawat in the north and Kush in the south.
At the close of the 11th century BC Egypt slipped once again into decline. Meanwhile, Kush grew stronger. By the early 8th century BC Kush had conquered all of Egypt. The Kushites, however, were soon driven from Egypt by Assyrian invaders. Forced to retreat to Nubia, the people of Kush continued to rule over the middle Nile for another thousand years. The kingdom finally met its end in AD 350 when the king of Aksum marched down from the Ethiopian highlands and destroyed the Kushite capital of Meroe.
By the 6th century AD three main kingdoms has established themselves in the region: Nobadia in the north, Makuria in the central lands, and Alodia, also known as Alwa, in the south. During the 8th century the kingdoms of Nobadia and Makuria merged and prospered for several centuries through trade with Islamic groups occupying Egypt.
Beginning in the 14th century Arab invaders from Egypt and the Arabian Peninsula overran Nubia. They soon conquered Alwa and much of Makuria and divided these kingdoms into a series of provinces under Arab warlords. Eventually all of Nubia converted to the religion of Islam.
Today Nubia refers to a small area of land in Egypt and Sudan occupied by people who still speak Nubian. A large portion of the northern part of ancient Nubia lies under water—the result of a reservoir created in the building of the Aswan High Dam in Egypt during the 1960s. There are roughly 1.2 million Nubian speakers, about evenly divided between Egypt and Sudan.
