Cultural Continuity and Change in the Wake of Ancient Nubian-Egyptian Interaction

Summary

This paper addresses the effects of long-term contact and colonialism among ancient Egyptian and Nubian communities during the Kerma period (ca. 2500-1500 BC) in northern Sudan. A wide array of theoretical perspectives on culture contact and colonialism has emerged in recent decades, highlighting the diverse range of outcomes that can result from extended periods of interaction and struggles for political control. Such crosscultural interactions may occur in the context of information exchange, trade networks, military conflict, and interpersonal relationships, precipitating an ever-changing social and cultural milieu. I investigate these conditions at the sites of Hannek and Abu Fatima, both Kerma period sites located in the hinterlands surrounding the Kerma political and economic center. The results of this study stem from excavations conducted in 2015 and 2016 and indicate that while the Kerman residents of Hannek and Abu Fatima incorporated a small selection of Egyptian objects and practices during the period of contact, the archaeological evidence suggests that these communities largely adhered to indigenous cultural traditions, even in the later part of the Kerma period when Egyptian colonialism was at its apex. This research stands to contribute to our understanding of how interaction shapes the negotiation of identities in borderland regions.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 82nd Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC (2017)

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 17450