The Nubian Desert is a mysterious and rugged region of Northeast Africa, nestled between Egypt and Sudan. It is a kingdom of sand dunes, rocky plateaus and sultry sun, hiding traces of ancient civilizations. In its silent expanses are the ruins of Nubian temples and caravan routes that once linked East and Africa.
History
The fate of Nubia has always been closely connected with the history and culture of Egypt. The mutual influence of these countries was of great importance for the development of one of the first great civilizations of mankind.
Relations between the Nubians, who lived in the lower reaches of the Nile, and the Egyptians, whose possessions were located to the north, were not easy for thousands of years. Although Egypt received gold and ivory from Nubia through trade, its pharaohs clearly considered it insufficient. After Thutmose I conquered Nubia, the Egyptians founded the fortress of Napata to control the Nile crossing and the center of the caravan trade. Later, however, Napata became the capital of local rulers who had learned well the Egyptian way of life and ways of governing. As a result, an independent kingdom of Napata appeared in Nubia by the end of IX and beginning of XIII century BC. And by the beginning of VIII century BC the rulers of Napata had already conquered Egypt, taking advantage of the fact that the Assyrians captured Egypt from the north.
So in Egypt there appeared “black pharaohs” which ruled the whole century. Historians consider these kings XXV Egyptian dynasty. The most known of them – Taharka, whose portraits were preserved, despite the efforts of Egyptians to destroy all traces of foreign rule. The Nubians were driven out of Egypt by the Assyrians. And a century later, in the VI century, Pharaoh Psammetich II cruelly avenged the Nubians – after bloody battles they lost Napata and were forced to move the capital to Meroe.
The Nubian kingdom, or Kush, existed until the 4th century.
The eastern part of the Sahara
Nubian Desert is one of the most sparsely populated places on our planet. In the west, the Nubian Desert starts from the eastern border of the Sahara Desert. This dry plateau east of the Nile River is virtually uninhabited. The plateau from the Sahara Desert to the Etbay Range drops in steps from 1000 to 350 meters above sea level. Mountains and massifs up to 1,240 m high are found on the plateau, as well as numerous dry riverbeds.
Locals are usually completely wrapped in clothes and cover even their faces, a necessity in the frequent sandstorms and winds. Even the unpretentious camels do not always find fodder in the Nubian desert. If you look at a map, you can see that there are no roads or towns in the center of the desert. All life is concentrated near the Nile, and only the railroad and highway from the city of Abu Hamed to the city of Wadi Halfa cross Nubia directly, but there are no settlements along this road.
Along the lower reaches of the Nile are ancient cities where archaeologists today are trying to reconstruct the true history of the relationship between Nubia and Egypt. For many years archaeologists simply did not pay attention to the history of Nubia – it was completely overshadowed by Egypt. Egyptians did everything to form the opinion that Nubians had no independent civilization. Egyptian sources wrote about them with disdain and contempt. However, the excavations of recent years have proved that the culture of Nubia created magnificent monuments, and its rulers were capable of seriously influencing the history of Egypt.
General Information
- Official name: Nubian Desert
- Location: Africa, southern Egypt, northeastern Sudan, between the Nile River and the Red Sea. It is separated from the Red Sea by the Etbai mountain range.
- Vegetation: acacia, tamarisk, xerophytic grasses, thorny shrubs and semi-shrubs, dum-dum palms.
- Animal world: numerous reptiles – geckos, poisonous snakes, skinks, desert varanas and lizards, along the Nile – crocodiles, ibises, jackals, hyenas.
- States where the desert is located: Egypt, Sudan.
- Peoples living on the territory of the desert: Nubians, Arabs, Berbers, Nilotes, Copts.
- Religion: Sunni Muslims, Coptic Christians.
- Languages: Arabic, English, Nilotic languages, Nubian, Beja, Coptic.
- Currency unit: Sudanese pound, Egyptian pound.
- The largest cities: Aswan, 266 013 people (2006), Abu Simbel (Egypt), Dongola, Abu Hamed, Wadi Halfa (Sudan).
- Airports: Aswan international airport (Egypt), Abu Simbel airport (Egypt).
- Major rivers: Nile.
- Area: 1,240,000 km2.
- Population: 2,000,000 – 2,500,000 (approximately).
- Population density: 1.6-2 people/km2.
- Average altitude: 500 m.
- Highest point: Mount Oda, 2259 m.
Economy
- Tourism in Egypt (Abu Simbel).
- Hydropower (Aswan hydroelectric power station – Egypt).
- Livestock breeding: camels.
- Transport: railroad and highway between Wadi Halfa (Sudan) and Abu Hamed (Sudan) go through the desert.
Climate and weather
- Tropical, hot, continental.
- The annual rainfall is no more than 25 mm, and in years there is no rain at all.
- Average temperature: July – +30ºC degrees, maximum – up to +53ºC.
- Winter is warm, the temperature in January is +15ºC.
- Very cold nights are not uncommon.
Attractions
- Temples of Abu Simbel (Egypt).
- Pyramids of Dongola (Sudan).
- Napata (Sudan): palaces and temples, archaeological excavations, Gebel Barkal rock.
- Meroe (Sudan): tombs and temples.
- Kerma (Sudan): archaeological excavations.
Fun Facts
- When Ramses II the Great, who ruled Egypt for 67 years (1304-1237 BC), ordered the construction of two temples in the Nubian Desert to commemorate his victory over the Hittites, he honored not only himself but also his beloved woman. The pharaoh ordered to sculpt himself and three gods specially honored in Egypt with his own image 20 meters high on the facade of the large temple. And the small temple Ramses dedicated to his wife Nefertari, whose ten-meter statues in the image of the goddess Hathor stand next to the same height statues of her husband.
- The ancestor of our domestic cat was a wild Nubian cat that lived in the Nubian Desert. It was from here that it traveled to Egypt, where it became a sacred animal.
- The first excavations in Sudan were carried out by Giuseppe Ferlini in 1834, but not for scientific purposes. The enterprising Italian simply tore the pyramid of Queen Amanishaketo in Meroe to the ground in search of gold and finally realized that the rulers of Meroe were buried not in their pyramids but under them. The treasures of the tomb were smuggled out to Europe and sold off.
- From the very beginning of the emergence of Egyptian power – already about 3000 BC Egyptian chronicles tell about how after raids on Nubia in Egypt brought slaves, livestock and other booty.
- Pharaoh Thutmose I (reigned 1508-1494 BC), ruler of the XVIII dynasty, was obsessed with the idea of creating a world Egyptian empire stretching from Nubia to Syria. With his army, which possessed the most modern weapons of the time – chariots, large bows, chopping swords and copper-tipped arrows, Tuthmosis I managed to conquer Nubia. Judging by the inscriptions left to us by the pharaoh, he was not ceremonious with the defeated, so it is not surprising that already under his son the Nubians rebelled.
