Location

Kerma, the capital of the first kingdom of Sub-Saharan Africa, is located in the heart of Sudanese Nubia.

 

Nubia is a vast region located in northern Sudan and southern Egypt, between the First and the Fifth cataracts. South of the Second Cataract, numerous rock outcrops, which give the area its rugged terrain and make access difficult, have limited the movement of populations. In fact, this area is called the ”belly of the stones” because it was a natural boundary that impeded contact between the Nubians and the Egyptians.

 

The Kerma region is in the centre of Nubia, a few kilometres upstream from the Third Cataract. This strategic location allows for the control of communications along the Nile Valley; it opens onto the largest alluvial plain of northern Sudan (15 to 20 km wide along 200 km). These natural conditions played an important role in the region’s population dynamics and explain, in part, its archaeological wealth, during prehistoric and historical periods.

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