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[[File: RamessesII_smiting_Nubian.jpg|300px|thumbnail|left|Relief Depicting Egyptian King Ramesses II “Smiting” a Nubian Prisoner]]
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Among ancient Egypt’s many neighbors were the Nubians, who inhabited the Nile Valley to the south of Egypt in what is today the nation-state of Sudan. Although the Egyptians and Nubians had many peaceful interactions over the course of several centuries, the political leaders of the two peoples had a more acrimonious and contentious relationship. When the Egyptian state was strong, Nubia was usually weak and vice versa. To the Nubians, Egypt was the source of high-culture and civilization that they admired and eventually replicated in many ways, while the Egyptians viewed the lands to their source south as a source of resources to be exploited. Gold, ivory, and ebony were all commodities that the Egyptians took from Nubia and traded with other Near Eastern kingdoms as far away as Babylon and Assyria.
But the relationship between the Nubians and Egyptians extended far beyond exploitation of resources and ancient forms of colonialism; by the first millennium BC the Nubians had impacted many aspects of pharaonic culture. In 728 BC a Nubian king named Piankhy, or Piye, led an army from Nubia north into Egypt and conquered the land, establishing the Twenty-Fifth Dynasty in the process. Although the Nubian Twenty-Fifth Dynasty lasted less than 100 years, its kings were very active in shaping Egypt’s political situation. The Nubians also influenced Egyptian culture of the Late Period – the period from approximately 728 BC until the Christian Era – by promoting “archaizing” features in royal ideology and art. Their influence on Egyptian art is perhaps the most noticeable because it reintroduced older styles, while putting their own unique stamp on the finished products, especially in reliefs and statuary, as they usually depicted themselves with their distinct sub-Saharan racial features instead of as typical Egyptians.
The term “Nubia” is actually a modern word, which may be derived from the ancient Egyptian word for gold – <i>nebu</i>. To both the Egyptians and Nubians, the Nile River was the source of their lifeblood as it brought yearly floods that allowed their crops to grow, so both peoples were geographical orientated along a north-south axis. The Egyptians referred to anything south of the first cataract (cataracts are rocky portions of a river unnavigable by boat) as “Wawat” and anything south of the second cataract was called “Kush.” Collectively, Wawat and Kush comprise the region that modern scholars generally refer to as Nubia. <ref> Morkot, Robert. <i>The Black Pharaohs: Egypt’s Nubian Rulers.</i> (London: Rubicon Press, 2000), p. 6</ref>
The Egyptians were a fairly xenophobic people who often used a variety of names to refer to their neighbors and other non-Egyptians with whom they dealt. They often referred to the Nubians in texts by the fairly neutral term “Nehesy,” but also liked to employ more colorful epithets such as the “wretched Kushites.” <ref> Welsby, Derek A. <i>The Kingdom of Kush: The Napatan and Meroitic Empires.</i> (Princeton, New Jersey: Marcus Weiner, 1998), p. 7</ref> The ancient Egyptians were quite cognizant of the difference differences between them and all of their neighbors , as evidenced by the many “smiting” scenes on New Kingdom temples where the Egyptian king is shown about to club bound foreign prisoners with a mace. The tomb of the New Kingdom Nineteenth Dynasty Egyptian King Seti I (reigned ca. 1305-1290 BC) depicts Egypt’s three major neighbors and enemies: Nubians, Libyans, and Asiatics/Canaanites. <ref> Smith, Stuart Tyson. <i>The Wretched Kush: Ethnic Identities and Boundaries in Egypt’s Nubian Empire.</i> (London: Routledge, 2003), p. 23</ref> Each of the non-Egyptians was depicted wearing his traditional clothing and with their his specific skin color and facial features – the Nubian was shown as black, as opposed to the reddish brown Egyptian, and with clearly sub-Saharan African facial features. Based on the art historical evidence in Egypt, especially from the New Kingdom, one may think that there was a clear and distinct line between the Egyptians and Nubians, but this was not always the case.
From a relatively early time, Egyptians and Nubians interacted peacefully with each other in trade, as neighbors in Egyptian held portions of Nubia, and some even intermarried. Egyptian kings were impressed with the Nubians’ martial abilities and often used Nubian bowmen contingents in their armies as mercenaries. Nubian mercenaries would work and live in Egypt and sometimes married Egyptians. There are several examples of funerary stelae (offering stones) from Egypt’s First Intermediate Period (ca. 2150-2050 BC) that depict Nubian mercenaries with their Egyptian wives. The Nubian mercenaries are dressed in traditional Egyptian clothing but their skin color and physiognomy show them as clearly being Nubian. <ref> Smith, p. 23</ref>
====Conclusion====
The Nubians have been the Egyptians’ southern neighbors since the dawn of civilization over 5,000 years ago. During that time, the Egyptians were usually the dominant people, but the Nubians were able to impact pharaonic civilization in a number of ways. When the Egyptians were strong, especially during the New Kingdom, Nubia was a source of great wealth for the Egyptians. The Egyptians established forts and colonies that exploited the rich mineral resources of Nubia, which they then traded on the international market with other Near Eastern kingdoms. Later, when the central government in Egypt collapsed, the Nubians conquered Egypt and brought back a certain amount of stability. The Nubians then involved themselves in the affairs of the Near East, which but that ultimately proved detrimental to Egypt. Finally, and the Nubians brought back older artistic styles and conventions that proved to give gave new impetus to a culture that seemed exhausted of ideas.
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