Nubia

Nubia was an ancient city that now takes the space of southern Egypt and northern Sudan. Its climate is considered one of the harshest in the world, with high temperatures and little rainfall all year long. It is also considered to be the origin of black culture; other ancient Egyptians depicted Nubians with very dark skin. Because Nubia was separated by a thin section of the Nile, the land has never been fertile enough to be able to support large populations--even to this day. In its little kingdoms, though, there was great power. The ancient Mediterranean world viewed Nubia as a land of mystery, power, wealth, and intrigue. They knew exotic products came from there, but they didn't know much else about the land, its culture, or its people. It has only been in the past one hundred years that Nubian culture has really been revealed to the rest of the world, thanks to the Oriental Institute Nubian Expedition in the 1960s.
==Significance to Stevens==
Nubia is mentioned in the third section of "Examination of the Hero in a Time of War" (1942), saying:
They are sick of each old romance, returning,
Of each old revolving dance, the music
Like a euphony in a museum
Of euphonies, a skin from Nubia,
A helio-horn. ... (29-33)
There does not seem to be any other connection between Stevens and Nubia. During the time of Stevens's writing of this poem, Nubia was still held in its mysterious regard--just as it was by the ancient Mediterraneans."A skin from Nubia" may mean either a pelt of an animal or, more likely, the unique skin color of the ancient Nubian people in the midst of the Egyptians. From this text, describing a war hero, it can be assumed that Nubia is a reference to things exotic, far away, mysterious, and harsh--much like "the bush" of combat.
==Sources and Further Reading==
Tour Egypt's Nubia page