page_title: Nubia
section_title: 3500-3000 BCE: Pre-Kerma; A-Group
hierarchical_section_title: Nubia / History / 3500-3000 BCE: Pre-Kerma; A-Group
caption_attribution_description: English: Pottery of the Nubian A-Group, Musee du LouvreFrançais&#160;: Potteries de la culture Nubienne dites du groupe A. Musee du Louvre
context_page_description: Nubia is a region along the Nile river encompassing the area between the first cataract of the Nile and the confluence of the blue and white Niles or, more strictly, Al Dabbah. It was the seat of one of the earliest civilizations of ancient Africa, as the Kerma culture lasted from around 2500 BC until its conquest by the New Kingdom of Egypt under pharaoh Thutmose I around 1500 BC. Nubia was home to several empires, most prominently the kingdom of Kush, which conquered Egypt during the 8th century BC during the reign of Piye and ruled the country as its Twenty-fifth Dynasty.
  The collapse of Kush, in the 4th century AD after more than a thousand years of existence, was precipitated by an invasion by Ethiopia's Kingdom of Aksum and saw the rise of three Christian kingdoms, Nobatia, Makuria and Alodia. Makuria and Alodia also lasted for roughly a millennium. Their eventual decline initiated not only the partition of Nubia into the northern half conquered by the Ottomans and the southern half by the Sennar sultanate in the 16th century, but also a rapid Islamization and partial Arabization of the Nubian people. Nubia was again united with the Khedivate of Egypt in the 19th century.
caption: "A-Group" style, Nubian pottery, Musee du Louvre
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