 Ancient city of Kerma | |
  Shown within Sudan | |
| Location | Sudan |
|---|---|
| Region | Nubia |
| Coordinates | 19°36′2.89″N 30°24′35.03″E / 19.6008028°N 30.4097306°E |
| Type | Settlement |
| Site notes | |
| Condition | In ruins |
Kerma was the capital city of the Kerma culture, which was founded in present-day Sudan before 3500 BC.[1][2] Kerma is one of the largest archaeological sites in ancient Nubia. It has produced decades of extensive excavations and research, including thousands of graves and tombs and the residential quarters of the main city surrounding the Western/Lower Deffufa.
The locale that is now Kerma was first settled by hunter-gatherers around 8350 BC, during the Mesolithic. Between 5550 BC and 5150 BC, the site was mostly abandoned, possibly due to decreased Nile flow during this time interval. A second hiatus in occupation occurred between 4050 BC and 3450 BC, likely as a result of minimal flow from the White Nile.[3] Around 3000 BC, agriculture developed and a cultural tradition began around Kerma.[4][5] Kerma later developed into a large urban center that was built around a large adobe temple known as the Western Deffufa, which was built after 1750 BC.[1][6][7] A state society formed between 2550 BC and 1550 BC, with a significant decrease in cattle breeding being evidenced by the archaeological record around 1750 BC.[3] Evidence for copper metallurgy appears from c. 2200–2000 BC.[8] As a capital city and location of royal burials, Kerma sheds light on the complex social structure present in this society.
- ^ a b Emberling, Geoff (2011). Nubia: Ancient Kingdoms of Africa. New York: Institute for the Study of the Ancient World. p. 8. ISBN 978-0-615-48102-9.
- ^ Bonnet, Charles (2003). The Nubian Pharaohs. New York: The American University in Cairo Press. pp. 16–26. ISBN 978-977-416-010-3.
- ^ a b Honegger, Matthieu; Williams, Martin (15 December 2015). "Human occupations and environmental changes in the Nile valley during the Holocene: The case of Kerma in Upper Nubia (northern Sudan)". Quaternary Science Reviews. 130: 141–154. Bibcode:2015QSRv..130..141H. doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2015.06.031. Retrieved 16 October 2022.
- ^ Honegger, Matthieu (2014). Aux origines des pharaons noirs, 10'000 ans d'archéologie en Nubie. Latenium. p. 50. ISBN 978-2-9700394-7-1.
c'est à partir de 3000 av. J.-C. avec la culture Pré-Kerma que l'on dispose à nouveau d'informations, grâce à la fouille de quelques établissements. … Les échanges avec l'Egypte sont encore rares dans cette société qui commence à pratiquer une agriculture plus intensive supposant le recours à l'irrigation, tout en maintenant sa tradition pastorale héritée du Néolithique." English translation: "it is from 3000 BC with the Pre-Kerma culture that we again have information, thanks to the excavation of a few establishments. ... Exchanges with Egypt were still rare in this society which was beginning to practice more intensive agriculture requiring the use of irrigation, while maintaining its pastoral tradition inherited from the Neolithic.
- ^ Le Moyne, C.; et al. (2023). "Ecological flexibility and adaptation to past climate change in the Middle Nile Valley: A multiproxy investigation of dietary shifts between the Neolithic and Kerma periods at Kadruka 1 and Kadruka 21". PLOS ONE. 18 (2): e0280347. Bibcode:2023PLoSO..1880347L. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0280347. PMC 9894462. PMID 36730175.
Convincing evidence for local agricultural production is associated with the later pre-Kerma period (3500–2500 BCE) with site 8-B-52A on Sai Island consisting of numerous storage pits in which macrobotanical crop remains were occasionally preserved.
- ^ "Kerma Chronology". Kerma - Mission Archaeologique Suisse au Soudan.
- ^ "Early Kush: The Kingdom of Kerma". Oxford History of the Ancient Near East (2022), p.101.
- ^ Chirikure, Shadreck (2015). Metals in Past Societies. SpringerBriefs in Archaeology. Springer. p. 19. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-11641-9. ISBN 978-3-319-11640-2.