Middle Kingdom Egypt and Africa

Abstract

AbstractThis chapter discusses Egypt’s relationships with peoples and cultures to the south in Africa during the Middle Kingdom period, when they became increasingly complex due to the rise of a state in Upper Nubia centered at Kerma, as well as the Pan-Grave peoples in the Eastern Desert. Although the Egyptians built forts in Lower Nubia, where C-Group peoples were located, Kerma controlled the Nile in Upper Nubia and probably also overland routes to the southeast. No longer was it possible to directly obtain the exotic raw materials from Punt, especially incense, via overland routes. Instead, Egyptian seafaring expeditions were sent to Punt and Bia-Punt from a harbor located at Mersa/Wadi Gawasis (ancient Saww) on the Red Sea. The materials excavated at this harbor suggest that a major source of imported materials was the Sudanese-Eritrean lowlands (Kassala region), the location of the Gash Group culture, where there is considerable evidence of connections with Egypt.