Egypt in Nubia during the Old and Middle Kingdoms Bronze Age History c 3000 1650 BC

I've always found Egypt's relationship with Nubia fascinating. Much of what we know about this relationship comes from the Middle Kingdom period or after. Much less is known about the interactions between the two during the early periods of Egyptian history, especially during the Old Kingdom. So that's primarily what we'll cover in this video. First, let's learn a bit The term Nubia historically refers to a region in northeastern Africa, located today in southern Egypt and northern Sudan. The exact boundaries of Nubia have varied over the ages, but in ancient times, it generally extended from the Nile's first cataract near Elephantine to the confluence of the Nile and Atbara rivers, the latter sometimes called the Red or Black Nile. This vast region of over 150,000 square miles was by no means a homogeneous place. It was filled with a lot of diversity regarding the various ethnic groups of people who lived there and the languages that they spoke. Nubia's inhabitants were also divided politically into various chiefdoms and petty kingdoms. Unfortunately, the history of these peoples is very difficult to construct because they themselves didn't have a written language. What we know about them comes primarily from archaeological evidence and sometimes their mention in early Egyptian texts and inscriptions. The first people for whom we have historical and material evidence belong to what archaeologists call the A-group culture. The A-group culture was primarily centered in lower Nubia between the first and second cataracts and existed roughly between 3800 to 2900 BC, which overlaps with the pre-dynastic and early dynastic periods of Egyptian history. Initially, Egyptian interest in Nubia was primarily commercial. The region was rich in natural resources, especially minerals, and a campaign against Nubians, who were likely from the A-group, was first recorded sometime between 3100 to 3000 BC during the reign of the first dynasty king, Aha. Other valuable items from Nubia that the Egyptians desired included ebony, ivory, incense, oils, and animal skins. It's during the Old Kingdom period that Nubia for the first time was referred to as Ta-Seti, meaning Land of the Bow, which was a reference to the country's skilled archers. By Egypt's second dynasty, Egyptian soldiers and merchants were active in Nubia as far as the town of Buhin, about 500 kilometers to the south near the Nile's second cataract. Their occupation of this region just happens to have coincided with the decline and eventual disappearance of the A-group, leading scholars to conclude that the latter either assimilated into the early Old Kingdom culture or were effectively wiped out by Egyptian and other settlers into the region. The desire for precious metals probably also had something to do with it, as there's evidence of an Egyptian presence at the Nubian gold mines of Wadi Al-Aqi. However, by the reign of the 5th dynasty kings around 2400 BC, Egypt's presence in Nubia all but disappeared. The reasons for this aren't known, but it may have had to do with the weakened central government in Egypt that could no longer financially support trade expeditions, colonies, and military garrisons throughout Nubia. As this occurred, there was also a lot more organized resistance against the encroachment of the Egyptian state from the native leaders of Nubia themselves. Regardless of the true reason, the archaeological record indicates that a new culture, which today is identified as the C-group, came to prominence roughly between the years 2300 to 1600 BC. The decreased Egyptian presence in Nubia meant that Egypt's southern border was now even more vulnerable to raids from the south, and so the role of Egyptian governors based at Elephantine became extremely important for the security of the country. In fact, it's from the writings that they left behind that we today know quite a bit about Egypt's relationship with Nubia during the latter part of the Old Kingdom. The first somewhat detailed account of an Egyptian in Nubia was that of an official named Weni, who served under kings Teti, Pepi I, and Merenre of Egypt's 6th dynasty. According to his biography, Weni eventually became the governor of Upper Egypt, and during the reign of Merenre, he was sent to Nubia to quarry granite and construct ships out of acacia that had been cut down by the rulers of Irchet, Wawet, Yam, and Meja, which he explains to us in his autobiography. His majesty sent me to dig five canals in Upper Egypt, and to build three barges and four towboats of acacia wood of Wawet. Then the foreign chiefs of Irchet, Wawet, Yam, and Meja cut the timber for them. I did it all in one year. Floated, they were loaded with the very large granite blocks for the pyramid. Merenre appears in splendor. Indeed, I made a saving for the palace with all these five canals. After completing his tasks within a year, he journeyed back to Egypt. Another well-known Egyptian traveler to Nubia was Herkuf, sometimes also read Harkuf. A native of Elephantine, Herkuf rose through the ranks to, like Weni, become the governor of Upper Egypt during the reigns of the 6th Dynasty kings Merenre and Pepi II. According to his autobiography, he sent numerous trading expeditions deep into Nubia and the land of Yam, and fostered good relations with the leadership there. Part of his tomb inscription reads, The majesty of Merenre, my lord, sent me together with my father, the sole companion, and lector-priest, Iri, to Yam to open the way to that country. I did it in seven months, and brought from it all kinds of beautiful and rare gifts, and I was praised for it greatly. His majesty sent me a second time alone. I came down bringing gifts from that country in great quantity, the likes of which had never before been brought back to this land. I came down through the region of the house of the chief of Setju and Irjet. I explored those foreign lands. Herkuf also tells us that when Yam was attacked by its enemies, he and men from Egypt fought for its leader, for which they were handsomely rewarded. In fact, Herkuf strengthened Egypt's ties with Nubia and Yam so much that the king, Merenre, is said to have traveled to Upper Egypt, where representatives of many of Nubia's great tribes came to personally meet with him. After the reign of Pepi II, political chaos ensued throughout Egypt, and the country soon split into several rival kingdoms. Historians call this period of 150 years the First Intermediate Period. Due to Egypt's relative weakness as a whole, few interactions with Nubia are recorded. While some trade did occur, historians believe that its volume was much less and that various regions of Nubia overall were independent and free of any major Egyptian influence. This however changed during the period of Egyptian history known as the Middle Kingdom. The one who is credited today with reuniting Egypt after the First Intermediate Period is Mentuhotep II of the 11th Dynasty. After consolidating his rule over Egypt, he ventured south into the Nubian region of Wawat in order to both protect his southern border as well as to safeguard the flow of Nubian goods into Egypt, especially gold. Mentuhotep also employed many Nubians as mercenaries to supplement his own armed forces. While Wawat wasn't officially annexed as a province of Egypt, it was occupied by Egyptian troops, and the fortress city of Buhin once again became Egypt's leading trade center in Nubia. The last few rulers of the 11th Dynasty were relatively weak in comparison to their predecessors, and this ultimately led to the loss of Egyptian influence in Nubia. Local Nubian rulers were forming their own states and calling themselves kings, with some even using Egyptian titles such as Son of Ra for themselves. While this may demonstrate the high level of cultural and religious influence that Egypt may have still exerted over Nubia, it also shows the political independence that many of its local rulers now had, so much so that they were openly challenging the Egyptian king by using his personal titles. Perhaps more importantly, such rulers threatened the supply of gold to Egypt from Nubian mines. For these and other reasons, King Amenemhat I of the 12th Dynasty was a bit more brutal in his dealings with the Nubians, and launched campaigns deeper into Nubia, as an inscription at the site of Wadi al-Girgawi commissioned by his royal vizier in Tifakur states. Then I killed the Nubians of the entire remainder of Wahwat. I sailed upstream in victory, killing the Nubian upon his land. And I sailed downstream, uprooting crops and cutting down the remaining trees. I put their houses to the torch, as is done to a rebel against the king. Amenemhat's successor, Senusret I, formally incorporated Wahwat and other parts of Nubia as provinces of Egypt. A string of new fortresses was constructed along the Nile to provide security and protect all major trade routes and gold mines up until the Second Cataract, and Egyptian troops patrolled the area in order to snuff out any resistance to the king's authority. There was one powerful kingdom at the time in Nubia, that of Kush, whose power base was the city of Kerma, and it posed a great threat to Egyptian interests in the region. In order to curb their power and strengthen his own, Senusret III built even more fortresses to protect his Nubian possessions, and for the first time extended Egypt's southern border beyond the Nile's Second Cataract. Like his predecessors, Amenemhat and Senusret I, he also had a no-tolerance policy towards Nubian opposition and the Kushite kings who encouraged it. In one of his inscriptions, Senusret III tells us, Egyptian dominance in the region lasted until just before the end of the Middle Kingdom and the political breakup of the country once again during what became known as the Second Intermediate Period, which was also a time when a revitalized and more powerful Kingdom of Kush dominated Nubia. You can learn about all that in other programs that I've linked to here and in the video description. Thanks for watching. I'd also really like to thank the channel's patrons for making videos like this possible. These include, but aren't limited to, GrandKick69, Yap de Graaf, Pasta Frola, Michael Lewis, Daniel Allen, Danny Van Eck, WenyxTV, Robert Morgan, Frank, Tim Lane, Sebastian Hurtado Correa, Michael Trudell, LeaderTitan, Micah G, John Scarberry, Andrew Bomer, Monty Grimes, Franz Robbins, Cyrus Smear, Dianastra, Nimrod Nier, Brendan Redman, Faraidun Dadachanji, Jimmy Daruwala, Anahita Debu, Gulistan Debu, Cher Kam, Farhad Kama, and all of the channel's patrons on Patreon for helping to support this and all future content. Check out the benefits to being a Patreon member, and if you'd like to join, feel free to click the link in the video description. You can also follow History with Psy on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter, as well as continue to listen to special audio programs on the History with Psy podcast. Thanks again, and stay safe.