Kerma
Kerma, located in Nubia, was a significant center of commerce and political power from approximately 2400 to 1570 b.c.e., emerging as a precursor to the Kushite kingdom. Its development was closely tied to interactions with ancient Egypt, leading to various phases of growth: Early Kerma (2400-2000 b.c.e.), Middle Kerma (2000-1668 b.c.e.), and Late Kerma (1668-1570 b.c.e.). Notably, during the Middle Kerma period, the kingdom gained recognition from the Egyptians, reflecting its evolving political stature. Kerma's architecture, characterized by monumental mud-brick structures called deffufas, indicates a blend of indigenous and Egyptian influences, showcasing its complexity as a fortified urban center. Excavations revealed extensive burial mounds, suggesting a highly organized society with significant funerary practices, including the sacrifice of retainers for elite burials. The cultural identity of Kerma remained distinctively African despite substantial Egyptian influence, as seen in the retention of Kushite traditions and the eventual establishment of an indigenous bureaucracy. Over its millennium-long history, Kerma laid the foundations for the later flourishing of Kushite civilization, which persisted until around 200 c.e.
Kerma
Related civilizations: Egypt, Kush, Meroe.
Also known as: Karmah.
Date: 2400-1570 b.c.e.
Locale: Upper Nile, Kerma Basin, Nubia, and the Sudan
Kerma
Early Egyptian interactions along the length and breadth of the Nile River promoted the formation of trading blocs and alliances that evolved into centers of commerce and trade. During the course of the Second Intermediate period (1650–1550 b.c.e.), these economic and political interactions played a role in determining the nature and extent of the Egyptian impact on Nubia. Early intrusions into Nubia spurred the creation of Egyptian and Nubian fortresses, administrative centers, and commercial depots that resulted in some of the earliest developments in the Kushite (Cushite) or Nubian state centered at Kerma (kahr-MUH) in the period from 2400 to 1570 b.c.e. During periods of expansion by the Egyptian state, Kushite developments appear to have waned, whereas during periods of Egyptian withdrawal or decline, Kushite fortunes soared. By the sixteenth century b.c.e., the kingdom of Kerma had attained the climax of its development. Although Kerma was heavily influenced by Egypt, its non-Egyptian, or black African, cultural character and identity persisted.
History
Although the peoples of Nubia and Egypt evolved in tandem, and modern studies argue that Egyptian culture may have evolved from Nubian roots, the archaeological evidence indicates that the peoples of the city and state of Kerma and the Kerma Basin passed through three primary phases of development. These include Early Kerma (2400-2000 b.c.e.), Middle Kerma (2000-1668 b.c.e.), and Late Kerma (1668-1570 b.c.e.). During the period extending from 2400 to 1570 b.c.e., Kerma evolved into the powerful kingdom of Kush (Napata), or Kash, as the Egyptians knew it.
In the Early period, Kerma saw the development of satellite centers and cities—replete with defensive walls and ditches—that covered areas encompassing between 22 and 62 acres (9 and 25 hectares). Much of this pattern appears to coincide with the Egyptian advance on and withdrawal from the region of Lower Nubia. By the Middle Kerma period, Kush had become a powerful political entity that was recognized as such for the first time by the Egyptians. An intensive pattern of trade between Egypt and Kush ultimately served to promote the expansion of Egyptian influence among the peoples of the Kerma Basin and beyond. Finally, during the Late Kerma period, the full-scale Egyptianization of the Kushites resulted from the acculturation of the Nubian elite, the presence of Egyptian colonists and settlers who were incorporated into the kingdom of Kush, the wholesale adoption of Egyptian dynastic symbols and rituals, and the militaristic Kushite domination of those regions formerly held by the Egyptians.
In many aspects, the Kushites adopted artistic and cultural influences from dynastic Egypt and those Egyptian colonists who continued to reside in the kingdom of Kush and the Kerma Basin after the withdrawal of the Egyptian state. These Egyptians were at first accepted and embraced by the Kushites. However, in time, although Nubia and Egypt jointly administered and managed the former Egyptian provinces of Lower Nubia then under Kushite rule, the Kushites eventually sought the removal of the Egyptian managerial elite and the installation of an indigenous Kushite bureaucracy.
Ultimately, the Kerma-based Kushite civilization persisted as a formidable political and commercial entity for a span of some one thousand years. For centuries thereafter, Kushite civilization endured periods of austerity, warfare, and transformation. It flourished in times of commercial expansion in new cities and within and beyond subsequent Kushite political capitals located at the sites of Napata and later Meroe. Therefore, the Nubian and Kushite traditions begun within the Kerma Basin in 2400 b.c.e. persisted in one form or another until the decline and final collapse of Kushite civilization in 200 c.e.
Death and burial
Kerma was one of the earliest paramount centers and settlements of the Kushites. The massive settlement at Kerma was excavated during the course of several field seasons by archaeologist George Andrew Reisner in 1913-1916. As the result of his focus on the excavation of monumental tumuli, or the burial mounds and chambers of Kerma, Reisner concluded that the funerary ceremonies of the elite involved the sacrifice of captives. In one such burial mound, Reisner recovered the remains of 322 individuals who were purportedly sacrificed as retainers for the person entombed at the heart of the burial mound. The presence of so many sacrificial victims and the energy and resource expenditures represented by the effort required to construct burial mounds on such a massive scale—several of which measured more than 299 feet (91 meters) in diameter—indicate the existence of a highly centralized political authority and ultimately provide some of the best current evidence for the existence of the first major black African state or polity of sub-Saharan Africa.
Architecture
In addition to its reputation as a massive burial ground consisting of several thousand burials, the city of Kerma incorporated a sophisticated complex of indigenous African architecture of third millennium b.c.e. origins. Aspects of this architectural tradition were inspired by foreign prototypes of Egyptian origin. The monumental deffufa, or Egyptian-influenced solid mud-brick towers of Kerma, provide indications of the commercial and defensive underpinnings of Kerma’s indigenous architectural and social developments. The Western Deffufa of Kerma measures approximately 89 by 179 feet (27 by 52 meters) at its base, rises to a present-day (eroded) height of 62 feet (19 meters), and incorporates 29-foot-thick (9 meter-thick) mud-brick walls.
Current views
The size of the Western Deffufa, coupled with the recovery of some five hundred mud seals of Egyptian character associated with it, has led archaeologist Graham Connah to argue that this structure was a “watchtower associated with the Nile trade.” Excavations in the vicinity of the Western Deffufa reveal evidence of a large fortified city with origins in the third millennium b.c.e. This supports the theory that Kerma was in fact the earliest urbanized, politically centralized, ancient state or polity of sub-Saharan or black Africa.
Bibliography
Connah, Graham. African Civilizations: Precolonial Cities and States in Tropical Africa, an Archaeological Perspective. Reprint. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 1994.
Davidson, Basil. African Kingdoms. New York: Time-Life Books, 1971.
O’Connor, David. Ancient Nubia: Egypt’s Rival in Africa. Philadelphia: University Museum, University of Pennsylvania, 1993.
Phillipson, David W. African Archaeology. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 1992.
Vogel, Joseph O., ed. Encyclopedia of Precolonial Africa: Archaeology, History, Languages, Cultures, and Environments. Walnut Creek, Calif.: AltaMira Press, 1997.