Imperial Strategies and State Formation in Sudanese Nubia

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With National Science Foundation support, Dr. Stuart Smith and colleagues will conduct an archaeological survey at the fourth cataract of the Nile in Sudanese Nubia in order to examine the impact of Egyptian imperialism on the rise of the Nubian Napatan state. There is considerable debate concerning the effect of the New Kingdom Egyptian conquest on the Nubian Kerma culture, with some arguing that they assimilated to Egyptian norms, as did their northern Nubian neighbors, the C-Group, and others that they retained their native culture in spite of their absorption into the Egyptian New Kingdom empire (c. 1500-1050 BC). This question bears on the origins of the Napatan Kingdom of Kush, whose rulers became Pharaohs as the 25th Dynasty of Egypt (c. 750-600 BC), forging a state that lasted a thousand years (c. 750 BC - AD 350). The transition between New Kingdom rule and the emergence of Napata is poorly known and the available archaeological evidence is insufficient to resolve these debates. In order to understand the rise of one of Africa's oldest states, we must know more about the impact of Egyptian imperialism on the Kerma culture and the processes by which the seemingly Egyptianized Napatan state emerged 300 years after the collapse of the New Kingdom empire. Although the region has never been properly investigated, the fourth cataract was potentially an area of considerable importance to the Egyptian empire, and thus a likely area to document Egyptian-Nubian interactions and the impact of Egyptian imperialism on the Kerma culture. Archaeological survey will identify the basic settlement pattern and more specifically establish patterns of Egyptian-Nubian interaction through surface collected ceramics, other diagnostic artifacts, and architectural style where appropriate. A limited number of cemetery and settlement sites will be selected on the basis of this preliminary information for test excavation. The analysis of these artifacts will give a greater precision to the date, function and cultural affiliations of the sites, as well as providing information about site stratigraphy and preservation that will assist in the development of a future strategy for larger scale excavation. Long term plans will incorporate a two pronged investigation, collecting evidence for architecture, material culture and burial practice, combined with the physical anthropological analysis of human remains to be led by Co-PI Walker. Physical anthropology provides a unique opportunity to assess the genetic ties, Egyptian or Nubian, and investigate the diets, health status, and gender roles of the people who lived in the communities identified in the survey. The use of an anthropological approach in Egyptian and especially Nubian archaeology is still rare. An examination of the interaction between Egypt and Nubia at the fourth cataract has the potential to provide an example of cross-cultural contact that can enliven and extend debates within Anthropological Archaeology as well as Egyptology and Nubian Studies. The project will also provide graduate student training and a valuable cultural and intellectual exchange for the project's staff, which will include a colleague from the Sudanese National Corporation for Antiquities and Museums. Finally, the archaeological heritage of this important northeast African region is endangered by the construction of a new dam at the fourth cataract, making archaeological documentation of this area imperative. If this work is not undertaken today, we may lose forever the opportunity to address these compelling questions about the nature of Egyptian-Nubian interaction in this area.