When is the first evidence of an African empire?
I will have to go with Kerma, below I’ll explain why .
The general political situation in the Neolithic Southern Nile Valley (left), pre-Kerma around c. 4th millennium BC (centre), and a Medjay warrior depicted on a bucranium (cattle skull) from Mostagedda, Middle Egypt, (right), illustrating the use of Hieroglyphs among the southern populations living among the Egyptians
See where Kerma is in the purple ? it would take all those other polities creating a large Empire to be known as Kush.
So if by Empire we are talking about a state gobbling up multiple states, many may think Egypt because the land area was large, but Kerma at it’s height took over all the surrounding polities under a unified front, I guess one could argue the same for the early unification of the upper and Lower Egypt, but these were multiple entities from as far away as Punt even.
The standing remains of a c. 4000 year old monument. The Western Deffufa, a massive mud brick temple in the center of Kerma, capital of the first Kingdom of Kush.
The rise of Kerma (c. 2500 BC) sees the absorption of these tribes into a strong centralised state, know as Kush, which ended up rivalling Egypt itself. This period sees some of the first monumental construction activities in Sudan, organised labour, advanced metallurgy, cross-continental trade networks and the earliest use of Egyptian hieroglyphs as well as being embroiled in violent conflict with their northern neighbour, annexing lower Nubia and raiding as far north as Thebes. A thousand years after its establishment, the Kingdom of Kerma was conquered by the New Kingdom. 500 Years of occupation blurred the lines between Kush and Egypt, as the material culture of the two countries became nearly indistinguishable.
Aerial view of a historic reconstruction of the central district of the Royal City of Kerma, somewhere around c. 2050 - 1750 BC, showing the Western Deffufa, a massive mud-brick religious monument, still standing today at 18 meters in height , surrounded by elite residential area's. This central area was walled with massive earthen ramparts with bastions. A large necropolis, shrines, palaces and agricultural villages extending north and south towards the fertile plain of the Nile surrounded this district.
The rise of Kerma (c. 2500 BC) sees the absorption of these tribes into a strong centralised state, know as Kush, which ended up rivalling Egypt itself. This period sees some of the first monumental construction activities in Sudan, organised labour, advanced metallurgy, cross-continental trade networks and the earliest use of Egyptian hieroglyphs as well as being embroiled in violent conflict with their northern neighbour, annexing lower Nubia and raiding as far north as Thebes. A thousand years after its establishment, the Kingdom of Kerma was conquered by the New Kingdom. 500 Years of occupation blurred the lines between Kush and Egypt, as the material culture of the two countries became nearly indistinguishable.
The following is important as to why I think Kerma was the first Empire.
The El Kab inscription
The tomb belonged to Sobeknakht, a Governor of El Kab, an important provincial capital during the latter part of the 17th Dynasty (about 1575-1550BC).
The inscription describes a ferocious invasion of Egypt by armies from Kush and its allies from the south, including the land of Punt, on the southern coast of the Red Sea. It says that vast territories were affected and describes Sobeknakht’s heroic role in organising a counter-attack.
The text takes the form of an address to the living by Sobeknakht: “Listen you, who are alive upon earth . . . Kush came . . . aroused along his length, he having stirred up the tribes of Wawat . . . the land of Punt and the Medjaw. . .” It describes the decisive role played by “the might of the great one, Nekhbet”, the vulture-goddess of El Kab, as “strong of heart against the Nubians, who were burnt through fire”, while the “chief of the nomads fell through the blast of her flame”.
The discovery explains why Egyptian treasures, including statues, stelae and an elegant alabaster vessel found in the royal tomb at Kerma, were buried in Kushite tombs: they were war trophies
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Pioggia. Non mi pare di avere mai preso nota dell'umido, dei giorni che non si può uscire, i giorni dell'attesa. Giorni di tensione quando il cielo è coperto e le nubi sono incerte se sciogliersi; di dolcezza invece quando le nubi si svuotano, e gocciando giù a terra promettono tra mille lacrime che non lo faranno più, di nascondere l'azzurro del cielo
Pia Pera, Al giardino ancora non l'ho detto
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La serata aveva una bellezza quasi esotica; l'aria era frizzante e la nebbia era carica dell'odore salmastro dell'oceano. Sull' orizzonte, i bagliori dei lampi ora si accendevano con ritmo regolare, illuminando le nubi.
- Come un Uragano, Nicholas Sparks
Fonte immagine: copertina foto agenzia Laura Ronchi
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Nebulose e nuvole et nubi: esiste un ben preciso parallelismo tra paesaggi terrestri paesaggi cosmici; detto che quando si parla di paesaggi terrestri ci si riferisce al cielo diurno ma anche a campagna e mare, secondo gli antichi Egizi quel che succedeva in terra era il riflesso di che cosa accadeva in cielo.
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