LOST KINGDOMS OF AFRICA: NUBIA

Nubian pyramids. Source: ATS

Nubia is a long strip of land south of Egypt that extends along the Nile River between the First and Sixth Cataracts, and is flanked by deserts. 

The earliest Nubian culture, called by archaeologists the A-Group, flourished from about 3500 to 3100 BC, occupying cities and villages between the First and Second Cataracts. 

Three more cultures have been distinguished: The B-Group in Lower Nubia, from 3100-2500 BC; the C- Group, extending from 2250-1550 BC that settled the Lower Nubian areas previously occupied by the A-Group and builders of round houses and circular graves; and the Pan-Grave Culture, characterized by their burial practices such as a circular pan-shaped shallow grave.

The city of Kerma, south of the Third Cataract, was the base of a kingdom around 2000 BC. The princes of Kerma expanded their dominions up and down the Nile River between 1800 and 1550 BC. 

Kerma was a very important city in Northeastern Africa until 1550 BC when it collapsed under the armies of the Egyptian kings of the Eighteenth Dynasty. Before that it was a busy city, functioning as a hub for a wide trading network that included East Africa, the Red Sea and the eastern Mediterranean kingdoms.

Nubian kings ruled Egypt as its Twenty-fifth Dynasty from ca. 772 to 656 BC.

The name Nubia is probably derived from the ancient Egyptian word nwb, pronounced noob, meaning gold, or perhaps slave. A name alluding that Nubia was a source of gold and slaves for the ancient Agyptians. 

Nubians are amongst the first people that domesticated sheep, goats, pigs and cattle.

The following video is about the ancient lost kingdom of Nubia: