Kerma is the name of the capital city of the Kerma society, a cultural group based in Sudanese Nubia, and part of the Kush or Kushite kingdom rival to Middle and New Kingdom Egypt. Kerma was the first Nubian state, situated between the fourth and fifth cataracts of the Nile River in what is now the Sudan, between 2500 and 1500 BC.
What archaeologists recognize as the Kerma society emerged near the third cataract of the Nile River in the early 3rd millenium BC, developed from cattle pastoralists who are known to archaeologists as the A-Group or pre-Kerma culture.
At its height, Kermas reach extended as far south as Mograt Island and as far north as the Egyptian fortress of Semna in Batn el-Haja, on the second cataract of the Nile.
Archaeologists recognize three phases of Kerma society. Dates on the table below are derived from the known age of Egyptian imports recovered in archaeological contexts at Kerma, and some radiocarbon dates.
The earliest Kerma society was based on animal herding, with occasional hunting of gazelles, hippopotami and small game. Cattle, goats, and donkeys were herded by the Kerma farmers, who also grew barley (Hordeum), squashes (Cucurbitae) and legumes (Leguminosae) as well as flax.
The farmers lived in round hut dwellings and buried their dead in distinctive circular tombs.
At the beginning of the Middle Phase about 2000 BC, Kerma emerged as one of the major economic and political centers in the NIle Valley. This growth was at the same time as the rise of the Kush kingdom, mentioned in contemporary Egyptian sources as an important trading partner and an intimidating rival.
Kerma was the seat of the Kushite rulers, and the city developed into a foreign trade-based society with mud-brick architecture, dealing in ivory, diorite, and gold.
During the Middle Kerma phase, the Egyptian fortress on Batn el-Haja served as the boundary between Middle Kingdom Egypt and the Kushite kingom, and it is where exotic goods were exchanged between the two governments. During the Classic Phase, the
