Sudan - The Monuments of the Kingdom of Kerma and Dokki Geil

 Kerma was the capital of the first Kingdom of Kush and its culture, holds spiritual, national and political significance that continues to resonate with the present generation of Sudanese. Around 2500BC, one of the earliest urban centres in sub-Saharan Africa developed there and it was capital of a kingdom referred to in Egyptian hieroglyphic texts as the Kingdom of Kush. The kingdom flourished between 2500 and 1500 BC and encompassed the area from the 1st to the 5th cataracts at its height. Kerma is located 45km north of the modern city of Dongola, the capital of the Northern State near the 3rd cataract. The town of Kerma is characterized by well-developed architecture which included elaborate defenses, an important religious quarter located at its heart, and countless domestic buildings, storage magazines, administrative and industrial complexes. The remains of the capital city surround the Western Deffufa. It is a large mudbrick temple, currently standing 18m high, which surrounded by the religious quarter dominates the site. It was continuously transformed over time. (Deffufa is a Nubian word meaning, a large mudbrick, man-made structure). The settlement also contains a royal audience hall, palace and was partly fortified. The audience hall was a large round mud structure, which had been rebuilt several times in the same location and likely had a conical roof supported by three or four rows of wooden columns. Kerma had a rich material culture typified by extremely fine handmade pottery; a thin-walled red-polished ware with a black-topped rim as well as bronzes, ivories and faience. Products were traded from Egypt, Central Africa and shores of the Red Sea and seals and seal impressions testify these exchanges.

One kilometre north of the Nubian capital are preserved the remains of an extraordinary ceremonial city of Dokki Geil, which was founded by Egyptian pharaohs of Dynasty 18 after the destruction of Kerma. It’s foundations pertaining to the Kerma Classique period (1750-1500 BC) display architecture not yet seen anywhere else, especially oval or circular temples and palaces of surprising size. Palace A, for instance, measures 55 by 49 m, and its central aisle leads to passages reaching two thrones. The inner space is also occupied by a “forest” of 1400 columns supporting a huge roofing made of beams and palm fibres. Two precincts of imposing dimensions give the ceremonial building the look of a fortress, all the more since its entrance consists in two towers placed close to each other. The on going researches suggest the hypothesis of a city where kings or war chieftains would join forces against the Egyptian armies. As indicated by Egyptian sources of these periods, their troops were often facing coalitions headed by several leaders. One can imagine that soldiers from Darfur or from the land of Punt on the Red Sea would join forces with the Kerma kings, and that their leaders became united by ceremonies held in the palaces of Dukki Gel.