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migration and population movements: Egypt

The region to the south of ancient Egypt is still referred
to as Nubia. This region was home to people the later Greek
historians would refer to as Aethiopians (or Ethiopians),
a word that means “burnt faces.” This was the name the
Greeks gave to all black Africans. The Egyptians themselves
referred to the Nubian people as the Kush—usually prefacing the word with a descriptor such as “miserable.” As the
Egyptian empire grew in power, wealth, and sophistication,
Egyptians looked on the “miserable Kush” to the south with
disdain. They had little desire to explore the area, but that
lack of desire may have had as much to do with geographical
factors as anything else.
Along the Nile River are a series of numbered cataracts,
or rapids, where the river falls dramatically and passage by
boat is difficult. Near the modern-day Aswān Dam was the
first cataract, which formed a natural barrier between Egypt
and the kingdom of the Kush. To the north, Egyptians were
content to remain in their wide, fertile valley, which provided
them with the land they needed to support a thriving agricultural industry. But to the south of the first cataract, the
landscape changed dramatically. Because the Egyptians were
stretched out along the river, they did most of their travel by
boat; they could get to nearly everywhere they wanted to go
by river or canals that connected with the river, and there was
little incentive to follow overland routes through the desert.
But above the first cataract, the river narrowed and featured
massive, irregular rock outcroppings. (The Nile River flows
north to south, so “above” extends southward and “below”
extends northward; “Upper” Egypt is to the south, while

“Lower” Egypt is to the north.) There was little in the way
of arable land, only small, patchwork areas that provided the
kind of soil conditions that made Egypt’s land so productive.
In short, the river was not very navigable, so the Egyptians
did not try.
That was to change. In time, the Egyptians came to realize that Nubia had an immense number of valuable resources.
The most important of these were gold, ivory, and slaves, but
these three resources merely stood at the head of a long list of
items that Egyptians coveted, including various other stones,
precious metals, and minerals. Animal products such as ivory
can be obtained through trade and slaves through warfare,
but metals and mineral products are best procured through
colonization, for colonization enabled Egyptians to be on the
spot to oversee the immense amount of labor necessary to
extract these materials. Eventually, that is what happened.
The earliest Egyptians to move into Nubia were isolated
and unorganized traders, adventurers, and plunderers during
the Predynastic and Early Dynastic Periods (ca. 3000–2575
b.c.e.). These people were not acting under the authority of
the state, which indeed at this point had not consolidated its
power. However, they served an important function for the
state, for they returned to Egypt with accounts of Nubia’s
great natural wealth. At this point there was no significant
movement of Egyptians into Nubia. The first expedition of
Egyptians was led by the pharaoh Djer in the First Dynasty,

prior to 3000 b.c.e. It was during the Old Kingdom, though,
that Egypt began to covet Nubia’s mineral resources. These
were necessary primarily for the construction projects taking
place throughout Egypt. During the Fourth and Fift h Dynasties (2575–2323 b.c.e.), Egyptians moved into Nubia, in the

region between the first and second cataracts, and ran a diorite mine and a copper-smelting operation. These operations
were overseen and conducted by towns established for the
purpose and populated by Egyptians. The power of the pharaohs waxed and waned during the Old Kingdom, so trade
and the movement of Egyptians into Nubia was intermittent
and unorganized.
It was during the Middle Kingdom that relations between
Egypt and Nubia became more frequent and complex. During the Eleventh Dynasty (2040–1991 b.c.e.) the pharaohs
once again consolidated their power. They began to colonize
Nubia, backed by the weight of their armed forces. Between
the first and second cataracts they established forts, at least
10 of them over a distance of about 40 miles. The result was
a significant movement of Egyptians to the forts themselves,
though little evidence suggests that the troops garrisoned
there made any effort to subdue the Nubians, other than to
engage in occasional raids to capture slaves.
In fact, it is likely that the forts existed not for offensive or
defensive purposes but as a kind of coast guard that oversaw
traffic on the river and offloaded and reloaded goods as boats
navigated the treacherous second cataract. The positioning of
these forts, all but one on the west bank of the river or on
islands facing the west bank, suggests that such was their purpose. Meanwhile, Egyptians moved into Nubia to establish
trade and diplomatic relations with tribal chieftains, content
to allow production of local goods to remain in the hands of
locals. As colonists, the Egyptians were primarily concerned
with protecting the Nile River and keeping trade relations
open. Over a period of centuries Egyptians who were garrisoned at the forts or were involved in trade relations intermarried with Nubians, and they and their descendants were
simply absorbed into the Nubian population.

THE NEW KINGDOM


AND

NUBIA

For hundred of years Egypt’s colonial enterprise in Nubia
was interrupted. Egypt was weakened and divided; the Hyksos ruled northern Egypt, an Egyptian ruled southern Egypt
from its capital in Thebes, and the Nubians reasserted control over trade between the two nations. But beginning in
the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Dynasties this state of affairs
changed dramatically. The Egyptians were able to expel the
Hyksos and reunite their country. With their power reestablished, they turned their attention again to the south. Ahmose
(r. 1525–1504 b.c.e.), the first pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty, reoccupied lower Nubia and refurbished Egypt’s forts.
Over a period of a hundred years his successors pushed the
frontier between Egypt and Nubia southward some 350 miles
to a point below the fourth cataract. In the reign of Thutmose II (r. 1492–1479 b.c.e.) Nubia was entirely subdued; in