Nubian Civilization By: RhamiElbakheit

Introduction:

"Nubia" is the name of a specific ethnic and culture area in Africa. It is a part of the Nile Valley, and it lies partly in Egypt and Sudan. When historians speak of Nubia, they usually mean only the land occupied by the people of who speak dialects of Nubian language. Nubian speakers live between Aswan in Egypt and Debba in Sudan. Before the fifteenth century, when the spread of Islam became very widespread in Sudan, Nubian speaking people occupied a much larger area, even including the land southwards up the Blue Nile. Their descendents live there still, but today they speak Nubian and Arabic together.

Nubia is located in southern Egypt and northern Sudan. This land has one of the healthiest resorts in the world. The temperatures are worm throughout most of the year. The banks of the Nile are attractive in much of Nubia, making farming easy. Nubia was the land of great natural wealth, of gold mines, ebony, ivory, and incense.

Nubia is the homeland of Africa's first civilization with a history which can be traced from 3100 B.C onward through Nubian monuments and art crafts, as well as written records from Greece and Rome

The Nubian kingdoms were prospering along the Nile valley in harmony for centuries. Their remains are found today in the areas in the northern of the Sudan and the southern of Egypt. During their existence they represented great and strong kingdoms along the stretch of the Nile River. The Nubian civilization was flourished for centuries. Nubian thinkers found the fertile ground in the Nubian cities. It was in Nubia that the great Tahraqa and the supreme Shabaka insisted on the essential native Nubian Traditions in the whole Nubia Land. Through history, the Nubian Civilization extended along the Nile valley primarily from modern Southern Egypt to Northern of the Sudan. They developed in close parallel with Egypt for much of its history throughout the ages of history. During their long-term association with the Egyptians, the Nubian traded luxury items like ivory, gold, and slaves which the Kushite kings possessed in abundance, for Egyptian grain. However, the interaction was not always peaceful.

For a period of five hundred years, the Nubians were ruled by Egyptian Pharaohs, however, during the 25th Egyptian dynasty, Nubia turned the tables on the Egyptians and ruled over them for a more than one hundred years until the Assyrians drove them out. Despite this, the Nubians often preserved Egyptian traditions even as Egypt itself was under foreign rules.

Who Are the Nubians?

The Nubians are believed to be the first human race on earth, and most of their customs and traditions were adopted by the ancient Egyptians. To the Greeks, they were known as Ethiopians and their land is the land of Punts, or the Land of Gold.

Nubians are the people of northern Sudan and southern Egypt. With a history and traditions which can be traced to the known old civilization, the Nubian first settled along the banks of the Nile, near today's Aswan. Along this great river they developed one of the oldest greatest civilizations in Africa. Until they lost their last kingdom (Christian Nubia) only five centuries back, the Nubian remained always the main rivals to the other great African civilization of Egypt. Although Sudan had remained the main homeland of Nubians through their long history, many of their descendants is today's modern southern Egyptians. But still the majority of Nubians of todays are Sudanese. Nubians only a population of slightly above 300,000 they are a minority in both countries.

The Ancients Names of Nubia

Nubia was anciently called by many names, and it is important to learn these names so as not be confused by them. They were used at different times in history and in their time all had their special meanings. Essentially they all mean "Nubia." Ta-Seti: was the ancient Egyptian name of Nubia as recorded in the earliest Egyptian inscriptions, starting about 3200 BC, It meant "Land of the Bow" emphasizing what is known from later history; that the Nubians were skilled archers and feared solders.

Kush: was the name of an early kingdom in northern Sudan and first appears in Egyptian texts about 2000 BC. The Egyptians, who were afraid of the growing power of Kush, habitually tied the name to an adjective meaning "vile" or "bad." The earliest capital of Kush was apparently located at the site of modern Karma, Sudan, about 420 miles (700 km) upstream (south) from Aswan. This name was used only by the Nubians themselves, but also by the Egyptians and the rest of the ancient world (prior to the

Creeks). Kush is the name of the Nubia used in the Old Testament. It was also the native name of the later ancient Nubian kingdom, which was centered first at Napata and then at Mero.

Ethiopia: was the Greek name of Nubia. Since the people in Nubia were darker skinned than the Egyptians, the Greeks called them Ethiopian and their land is called Ethiopia "the land of the Burnt Faces." The Greeks and Romans used the name primarily to refer to what is now northern Sudan and the upper "southern" Nile of Egypt rather than the land of modern Ethiopia, which until recently called Abyssinia.

Nubia: was the medieval name for the land of Kush/Ethiopia, which from the sixth to the fifteenth centuries AD was occupied first by three and then by two competing Christian kingdoms. These kingdoms were Alwa, centered at Soba on the Blue Nile, Makuria, centered at the Old Dongola. Ultimately, Nobatia was absorbed by Makuria. Sudan: is the name of the modern country that now includes southern Nubia. The name comes from the Arabic word means "Land of Blacks." Prior to the early twentieth century, all subSaharan Africa, from the Nile river to the Niger River. The Sudan "the Blacks." Was a term used by Arabs very much as the Greeks and Romans the term Ethiopians?

Nubians Oldest Discovered History The earliest remains of man have been recovered in South Africa and Kenya, dating back to approximately four million years. If environmental conditions in Sudan were as conducive to preserving skeletal remains as they are in these areas, there is no doubt that equally ancient remains would be found there. Until now, the earliest traces of man in Nubia and Sudan have been only the tools he created and used. The earliest tool type used by man was the large rough hand axe with one pointed and another rounded end.

Some of the most important evidence of early man in Nubia was discovered recently by Canadian discovery team. The team identified an apparent stone tool workshop, where thousands of sandstones hand axes and flakes lay on the ground around a row of large stones set in a line, suggesting the remains of a shelter. This seems to be the earliest habitations site discovered in the Nile Valley and may be up to 70,000 years ago. Nubia: Africa's Lost Oldest World One of the beigest mysteries: When did Nubia's civilization begin? Many researchers think it is as old as its famous neighbor, Egypt. Many people have never heard of Nubian. Researchers have focused on Egypt and its treasures. But Sudan has more pyramids than Egypt. Why have archaeologists waited so long to study Nubia Closely?

One reason may be racial prejudice. Some scientists did not believe Nubia had its own distinct great culture. They saw Nubia as just an offshoot of Egypt. They did not believe black Africa was capable of producing high civilization. Other researchers have already made important discoveries about Nubia. Scientists have found ceramic figures and bowls that are 3,000 years older than the oldest Egyptian finds!

The Rise of Nubianism The Nubian created the world's first civilization and that civilization was much older than Egypt. In fact, in 2000, archeologists discovered many fascinating artifacts, including glasswork of great beauty and excellent craftsmanship. These were found in Sudan and according to Time Magazine, some artifacts were dated to about 8,000 years B.C. Astronomy was also well organized in Nubia during the period and an astronomical observatory dating back to about 7,000 B.C was found in Sudan as well. It is also in Sudan that a large number of ancient cities exist. The Nubian also built a large number of small pyramids later on in their history but they used a very sophisticated system of tombs to bury their

kings. Many were similar in style to the early Egyptian Mysteries. Those of later centuries were small pyramids with chapels built on top and the tombs at the beneath the ground. Nubian consciousness is one that is extremely strong regardless of the present state of the Nubian people now-days. In fact, the Nubians suffered a severe blow when they were removed from their sacred lands in Southern Egypt for building of the Aswan Dam some decades ago. Many ancient Nubian, ruins and valuable lands are now covered by water, in what many people see as a swift wiping out of evidence of Nubia's greatness. Who are the Modern Nubians? The "Nubians" are those who either presently speak dialects of the Nubian language, or who trace their descent from these people. The Egyptian Nubians are called Kanuz; the Northern Sudanese Nubians are tribes of Mahas, Danagla, and Halfaween. Before the spread of Islam into the Sudan, about the fifteen century, Nubian speaking people occupied a much larger area, including the land southwards up the Blue Nile. Their descendants live there still, and they still speak their own local Nubian language. The Nubians are traditionally settled farmers, who tend date palms and gardens, and whose villages always lay close to the Nile. The houses of the Nubians in Egypt are famed for their domes and beautiful painted facades. The Nubians differ culturally from the Arab in many cultural habits and ways of living. The Nubians are characterized by vary dark skin and noticeably darker than typical modern Egyptians. In the Sudan Nubian are people who maintained their own culture and kept it separate from the various several cultures of the Sudanese People. Nubian in Sudan have maintained higher level of education than the typical normal Sudanese and now are digging back to discover more about their unmentioned, forgotten, and not fully discovered Nubian Civilization.