National Geographic - UK (2022-02)

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Lake

Nasser

Lake

Nasser

ASWAN

Area of Egyptian HIGH DAM

dominance

(ca 1550–770 B.C.)

Area of

Egyptian

dominance

Under Kushite rule

(ca 750–656 B.C.)

Kushite

Heartland

DAR

FUR

UPPER

EGYPT

LOWER

EGYPT

UPPER

NUBIA

LOWER

NUBIA

W

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ile
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Atbara
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Thebes
Major Egyptian
and Kushite
religious center
Napata
Early Kushite capital and
religious center at the base of
Jabal Barkal, late 7th century B.C.
Meroë
Major
Kushite
city
El Kurru
Abu Simbel
Nuri
Memphis
Kushite capital of Egypt,
7th century B.C.
SOU
TH^
SUD
AN
E
G
Y
P
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CHA
D
LIB
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CENTR
AL
AFRICA
N
REPUB
LIC
S
U
D
A
N
ABY
EI
WEST
ERN
DES
ERT
NUB
A
MTS
.
Nile
River
Delta
SINA
I
EA
ST
ER
N
D
ES
E
R
T
NUB
IAN
D
ESE
RT
S
A
H
A
R
A
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A
H
E
L
MARRA
MTS.
Jabal Barkal
Dongola Karima
Wadi Halfa
Omdurman
Khartoum
Aswan
Alexandria
Cairo
Atbara
Wad Medani
Rabak
Ed
Damer
El Fasher
Nyala
Boundary
claimed
by Sudan
Boundary claimed
by South Sudan
Before 3000 B.C.
3000 B.C. to A.D. 1400
Archaeological sites
Cataract
SHAPING THE FUTURE
Arab nationalism and Islamism
have molded much of Sudan’s
political present, particularly
in the country’s arid north.
But many Sudanese are
turning to three millennia
of cultural history to build
a new identity— one that
balances ancient African her-
itage with recent centuries
of Arab influence.
The six cataracts along
the Nile are granite out-
croppings that obstructed
traffic on the river in
antiquity. Some have been
submerged behind dams.
POWERFUL PAST
The Nubian kings of the Kushite
Empire, once a vassal of Egypt,
gradually conquered their for-
eign ruler beginning in 750 B.C.,
reviving Egypt’s art and architec-
ture and prevailing in Egypt
for nearly a century. Major
trading centers in the Kushite
heartland in the Nile Valley
linked African, Mediterranean,
and Near Eastern cultures.
ANCIENT RICHES
Sudan is home to more
pyramids than Egypt. Evi-
dence of settlements, burials,
and temples flanks the length
of the Nile; some sites hold
more than one monument.
CHRISTINE FELLENZ, MATTHEW W. CHWASTYK, AND PATRICIA HEALY, NGM STAFF
SOURCES: ANCIENT NUBIA: AFRICAN KINGDOMS ON THE NILE, MARJORIE FISHER (EDITOR) AND THOMAS JAMES
(MAPS); MICHAEL IZADY, ATLAS OF THE ISLAMIC WORLD AND VICINITY; PETER LACOVARA, ANCIENT EGYPTIAN
HERITAGE AND ARCHAEOLOGY FUND; GEOFF EMBERLING, UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN; DEREK WELSBY
SCALE VARIES IN THIS PERSPECTIVE. DISTANCE FROM
KHARTOUM TO CAIRO IS APPROXIMATELY 1,000 MILES.