Ancient Nubia: A Captivating Guide to One of the Earliest Civilizations in Africa and African Kingdoms, Such as the Kingdoms of Kerma and Kush (African History) Paperback – August 17, 2021

Ancient Nubia was highly developed and controlled trading routes both east and west and north and south and became wealthy by taxing traders that passed through their capital city. This book tells of the people that settled in the rich valleys along the Upper Nile. The king conquered surrounding kingdoms and built an empire strong enough to keep the Egyptian army from invading Upper Nubia. When they were defeated a Nubian became Pharoah and ruled Egypt. The Nubians assimilated Egyptian culture and when Egypt was weakened they adopted the Egyptian form of government. Their burial rituals were different but they built more pyramids than the Egyptian.This book is filled with information about the Nubians and gives an insight into a people who helped shape much of the Middle East by trading with countries as far away as Greece and Syria. They also traded with the kingdoms of Sub-Saharan Africa. They were known as the Kingdom of Cush in the Bible.With this book my whole perspective of northeast African history has changed. I recommend this book to anyone who is searching for knowledge about our past. It is an easy read and well worth the time spent. I wish it had been around when I was teaching world history.

This is just a partial review. I am just beginning to read the book. I will submit a complete review when I have finished the book.I am doing this early review because, near the beginning there a big contradiction in what I have read that perhaps the person who submitted this work can check out and perhaps clear up. The contradiction is that the early writing style is very pleasing and interesting to follow....however, there is a major problem that raises some doubts in my mind. Describing the geography of Nubia, it appears that the writer does not know East from West! The Red Sea is on the eastern border and the Lydian desert is on the western border. The author has it the other way around and that is a bit disturbing when trying to locate the country.

The ancient Nubian civilization is easy to overlook, in most part because of gaps in the historical record and an indecipherable language and alphabet. But for a time Nubia was on par with their Egyptian neigbours. For two millennia Nubia and Egypt shared their religion, art, architecture, and had a good trade relationship going. A tumultuous relationship they had. They served in each other's armies, intermarried, had political alliances which were formed and just as easily broken. Nubian pharaohs even ruled Egypt for a spell. Both kingdoms were reliant on the life-giving Nile, and their fortunes matched the rise and fall of the Nile, which was the lifeblood of the region. Much is not known of this ancient empire, because of European historical biases and the lack of a Champollion to decipher a still-missing Rosetta Stone that would unlock Nubian historical records. Europeans snubbed looted Nubian artifacts because of the prevailing notion that since the Nubians were dark-skinned, they could not believe that sub-Saharan Africans were capable of building incredible monuments and magnificent kingdoms. Still, the Saharan sands have many secrets of this misunderstood ancient kingdom waiting to be discovered. Until then, this book is for you if you'd like to learn more of this fascinating subject.

Nubia has many of the characteristics of Egypt and Captivating History starts its introduction to Ancient Nubia by describing a scene which sounds and feels like Egypt but is focused on Northern Sudan which is home to ancient Nubia.This nation shared much of its early history with Egypt, its gods, its culture, its art, architecture, and goods. The people intermarried, created political partnerships, served in each other's armies, fought with another, and fought against each other.Egypt and Nubia served in the other's kingdom and Captivating History introduces one of the earliest civilizations of not just Africa but of the world. The publication tries to answer why the history of Nubia shrank in comparison to its northern neighbor and opens with a comprehensive accounting of Nubia's geography.One of the characteristics of Captivating History is its practice of humanizing the history by telling the reader of individuals, the decisions they made, and the reasons they made those decisions.The publication ends with a generous list of references for further reading.

This book provides an extensive coverage of Nubian history, from the geographical layout of the land, including the cataracts of the Nile river; the different people that settled along the different cataracts, their way of life. It also explains government (Pharaohs & the Kandakes) and cultural influences. The photographs of the pyramids, the megalithic monuments at Nabta Playa (an astronomical achievement), and the frightening Khepesh sword were very intriguing. I also liked the detailed description of the Kerma bow and arrow, as well as the “shadoof”.The study of Kerma and Kush civilizations are essential to understanding the histories of Egypt, Sudan, and North Africa. The influence of Nubia can still be seen in their present culture, as well as in China and India.

I had a little trouble following and getting the names right. But still a good read, easy to follow and informative. Lastly, the very end conclusion is ...... Priceless to say the least b/c it is the perfect thing to say to get someone to look deeper into this culture. My only "complaint" is not knowing the answer to why Nubia isn't as excavated ... I still would have read the book but just would have wanted to keep in mind much earlier in the book.