The Disappearance of the А-Group and the Egyptian Archaic Period. The Pre-Kerma Culture

Around the time of the unification of Egypt (ca. 3050 вс), the А-Group culture in Lower Nubia disappears from the archaeological record. There were no more elite burials at Qustul, indicating the decline of the most powerful people of that area. It is unclear exactly what caused the demise of the А-Group; it may have been the increasing political and military power of Egypt, a break in trade networks, population loss through regional warfare, or even climate change.

It is possible that some А-Group Nubians moved south to Upper Nubia and were assimilated into the ascendant Kerma culture, while other groups remained in the Second Cataract area, their material culture evolving over many centuries into the assemblages designated by Reisner as the С-Group (ca. 2300-1600 BC). But it is clear that the decline of the А-Group of northern Lower Nubia occurred as Egypt gained dominance in that area. Nubia became important to Egypt because of its location as a corridor to sub-Saharan Africa—the source of such exotic goods as ostrich eggs and feathers, ivory, stones, ebony, vegetable oils, and giraffe tails.

Figure. Map of Egypt and Nubia, ca. 3000-2000 вс. The outlines show the approximate extent of Egyptian and Nubian influence during this period

Egyptian elites desired these goods for cultural and artistic reasons and hence wanted to trade with or control Nubia in order to acquire them. Finally, during the Egyptian Archaic Period (Dynasties One to Two, ca. 3050-2685 BC), Nubia became of greater concern to Egypt from the standpoint of border security.

The Egyptians thus undertook active campaigns aimed at securing goods from Nubia. An ebony plaque found in the tomb of King Aha at Abydos in Egypt bears the earliest reference to a Nubian battle and victory over Ta-Sety (a name that incorporated both Nubia and the southernmost district of Egypt). Other evidence for campaigns appears on Egyptian rock inscriptions in Nubia referring to raids into this area.

A rock inscription dating to Dynasty Zero and located at the Second Cataract at Gebel Sheikh Suleiman near Wadi Haifa (currently housed in the National Museum, Khartoum) may indicate the nascence of Egyptian military operations deeper and deeper into Nubia, though it is unclear how organized these incursions were.

A rock inscription near Buhen, also at the Second Cataract, is likewise attributed to an Archaic Period Egyptian king. The lack of indigenous Nubian archaeological evidence and the consequent reliance on exclusively Egyptian materials make our knowledge of this period very sketchy.

The Pre-Kerma Culture. Charles Bonnet identified a ‘Pre-Kerma culture’ on the eastern periphery of the site of Kerma that is ancestral to the Nubian Kerma culture. Its earliest beginnings in the fourth millennium BC show an affinity to the Abkan and other Lower Nubian Neolithic cultures. Evidence of the Pre-Kerma culture has subsequently been found throughout middle and northern Upper Nubia and -into the Second Cataract region. These Pre-Kerma sites can be distinguished from А-Group cemeteries by their ceramics. Little evidence of contact with Egypt has been found in the Pre-Kerma sites, in contrast with the Lower Nubian A-Group.

Pre-Kerma settlements consisted of groups of round huts supported by posts and defended by palisades. Hearths, food-storage pits, and possible cattle pens were also found within the inhabited areas. Burial pits with small mounds serving as superstructures were often located near the settlements, with burials in a flexed position. These Pre-Kerma burials show evidence of a ritualized and hierarchical social structure, as indicated by the large tumuli at Kerma with hundreds of bucrania (cattle skulls) used to decorate the exterior of the graves.

Unlike the А-Group, the Pre-Kerma culture did not end abruptly with the Egyptian incursions of the first dynasties. Rather it developed into the Early (Ancient) Kerma culture, beginning around 2500 BC.