Chapters › Origins & Kerma · Sudan – Middle Nile
Kingdom of Kerma
2450 BCE – 1480 BCE Arabic under review
Approximate area of control ≈ approximate
- Swiss-Sudanese Archaeological Mission at Kerma History (Kerma chronology) link [low]
Geometry: Natural Earth (NACIS) Natural Earth vector data (rivers, disputed areas)
Sources: Swiss-Sudanese Archaeological Mission at Kerma History (Kerma chronology); G. Mokhtar (ed.), UNESCO International Scientific Committee (1981) General History of Africa, II: Ancient Civilizations of Africa; Natural Earth (NACIS) Natural Earth vector data (rivers, disputed areas)
Dating note
Corrected to Swiss Archaeological Mission chronology (kerma.ch). Note GHA II (1981) still dates 'Kerma' to -1730/-1580, i.e. only the Classic phase; superseded by Bonnet/Honegger excavations.
Key events
- Western Deffufa mud-brick temple
- Largest African state outside Egypt in the 2nd millennium BCE
- Sacked by Thutmose I c.1500 BCE
- Swiss mission phases: Early Kerma c.2450–2050, Middle c.2050–1750, Classic c.1750–1480 BCE (Final Kerma to c.1450)
Capitals / sites
Kerma
Geopolitics
Rival of Egypt; the Middle Kingdom fixed its southern frontier at Semna; Kerma was sacked by Thutmose I c.1500 BCE.
Culture
Indigenous Nubian urban culture: deffufa temples and royal tumuli in the Classic phase (kerma.ch).
Economy
Exchange with Egypt is attested: the Western Dufufa held raw materials (graphite, copper oxide, hematite, mica, resin, rock crystal, carnelian, ostrich egg-shell), and Egyptian statues in the royal tumuli are explained as goods 'exchanged by Egyptian traders for Nubian commodities' in the Second Intermediate Period (GHA II ch.9, pp.259–260). Whether the Dufufa was a trading post is disputed in the same chapter (Junker vs Hintze).
Regional power
- Kerma: Research in progress no source gives a comparative power measure
- Middle/New Kingdom Egypt: Research in progress unscored
Cross-language checks
- fr · agree · Groupe C et royaume de Kerma 2450–1450 (SFDAS_HCS2017)
- zh · phase-difference · 公元前1700年建立了库施王国(首都在科尔马) (Kush kingdom founded 1700 BCE with capital at Kerma) (ZH_EMB_HIST2020; 1700 BCE matches Classic Kerma (c.1750–1480 BCE, kerma.ch) and GHA II's Kerma (—1730 to —1580); dataset dates Early Kerma from 2450)
Open data flags
- Pass 13 text: Arabic is a working translation; needs native review
- no source gives a comparative power measure
- unscored
Sources
- Swiss-Sudanese Archaeological Mission at Kerma History (Kerma chronology) kerma.ch link [en]
- G. Mokhtar (ed.), UNESCO International Scientific Committee (1981) General History of Africa, II: Ancient Civilizations of Africa UNESCO / Heinemann / University of California Press link [en]
- C. Rilly, V. Francigny, M. Maillot, B. François, O. Nicoloso (2017) Histoire et civilisations du Soudan, de la Préhistoire à nos jours Soleb / Bleu autour / SFDAS link [fr]
- K. Michałowski (1981) The spreading of Christianity in Nubia (General History of Africa II, ch.12) UNESCO link [en]
- Wikipedia contributors Kerma culture Wikipedia link [en]