A kingdom that was not nameless
“Forgotten” is not quite right for Kerma. Egyptian texts mention a powerful southern land called Kush during this period, and excavators have studied the main site since the early twentieth century. The name Kerma itself comes from the modern town beside the ruins, not from the ancient people, whose own name for their state is not securely known. What is true is that this culture, which flourished about 2500 to 1500 BCE, is much less familiar to general readers than its neighbour.
Where and when
Kerma lies on the east bank of the Nile in Upper Nubia, near the Third Cataract, in what is now northern Sudan. Archaeologists divide its history into Ancient, Middle and Classic Kerma, with the Classic phase, roughly 1750 to 1500 BCE, being the best known. The dates are approximate and are based on both Egyptian synchronisms and radiocarbon dating. Before the Kerma kingdom, a few earlier communities lived in the region, and the site’s own long development is still being worked out.
Kerma’s people were mostly herders and farmers, and cattle were central to wealth and ritual. Their wealth also came from trade, because the town sat on a route that carried gold, ivory, ebony and incense from the south to Egypt. Egyptians travelled up the river on Nile river boats for these goods, and in return Kerma obtained Egyptian pottery, stone vessels, faience and metalwork.
The capital and its deffufas
The capital at Kerma was a walled town with houses, workshops and religious buildings. The most striking structure is the Western Deffufa, a massive mudbrick building still standing to a height of roughly 18 metres. The word deffufa is a local Nubian term for a mudbrick building. Excavators think the Western Deffufa was a religious centre, perhaps with rooms for ritual and storage, but its exact use is debated.
A second building, the Eastern Deffufa, stood near the cemetery and is generally interpreted as a funerary chapel where offerings were made. Nearby, large circular buildings and a big hall with many columns have been identified, and some archaeologists think these were used for royal audiences. Mudbrick was the main building material, as in much of early Egypt, and the scale of the work suggests a ruler able to command many workers. Compared with early Egyptian construction, the Kerma buildings show a different tradition, not a copy.
The burials
Kerma is most famous for its cemetery. In its early centuries, people were buried in oval pits, usually lying on their side in a flexed position. Over time, elite tombs grew into large circular mounds called tumuli. The biggest, belonging to the rulers of Classic Kerma, reached about 90 metres across. Their burial chambers were laid out with corridors and side rooms.
The dead were often placed on a wooden bed, sometimes with leather garments, jewellery, ivory, weapons and pottery. Some of the largest tombs contained the remains of many people, in some cases hundreds, buried with the ruler, along with sacrificed animals, mostly cattle and sheep. Excavators generally interpret these people as retainers who died at the time of burial, though debate continues about how and why. This is reported as an archaeological finding rather than a sensational detail; it shows a society with strong ideas about rank and the afterlife, which differ from Egyptian afterlife beliefs, where mummification and a carefully prepared tomb were central.
Kerma burials also include some very fine objects. The pottery is the best known: thin, polished beakers with black tops and red bodies. Craftspeople also made faience figures of animals such as the hippopotamus, inlaid daggers, and ivory and bone items. Many reflect both local tastes and Egyptian influence, and some Egyptian-made items reached Kerma as gifts or trade.
Kerma and Egypt
For centuries, Egypt and Kerma were neighbours with often tense relations. In the Middle Kingdom, Egypt built a chain of fortresses in Lower Nubia, including at Buhen and Semna, to control trade and keep the Kerma kingdom out of the north. After Egypt’s Middle Kingdom fell, Egypt’s hold weakened and Kerma grew stronger, extending its reach into Lower Nubia.
During the Second Intermediate Period, Egypt itself was divided, with the Hyksos ruling the north. A later Egyptian king, Kamose, recorded that the Hyksos had contacted the ruler of Kush, which suggests Kerma was seen as a significant power. Nubian archers were highly valued by Egyptian armies, which also used the composite bow, and the long relationship between the two peoples is covered further in the article on Nubian Egyptian relations.
The end of the kingdom
Kerma’s independence ended in the early New Kingdom. Egyptian kings, notably Ahmose and then Thutmose I, campaigned south, and by around 1500 BCE Egypt had conquered Kerma and extended its rule far up the Nile. The Kerma capital seems to have been taken, and its temples and tombs lost their political role. Egypt then governed Nubia through a royal official, called the King’s Son of Kush, and built new towns and temples.
Kerma culture did not simply vanish. Some local customs and pottery traditions continued under Egyptian rule, and the region later provided the setting in which the Kushite kingdom of Napata arose centuries afterwards. The relationship between Kerma and those later kings is debated, but the long continuity of Kushite identity along the same stretch of river is clear.
Continuing research
Excavations at Kerma, led for decades by the Swiss archaeologist Charles Bonnet and his team, have shown the town’s layout and its cemetery in great detail, building on the earlier work of George Reisner. Current research uses new scientific methods and fresh survey work to ask how the town grew and who lived there. Questions about the political shape of the kingdom, and how far it reached, remain open.