For the past fifty years, Charles Bonnet has been excavating sites in present-day Sudan and Egypt that point to the existence of a sophisticated ancient black African civilization thriving alongside the Egyptians. In The Black Kingdom of the Nile, he gathers the results of these excavations to reveal the distinctively indigenous culture of the black Nubian city of Kerma, the capital of the Kingdom of Kush. This powerful and complex political state organized trade to the Mediterranean basin and built up a military strong enough to resist Egyptian forces. Further explorations at Dukki Gel, north of Kerma, reveal a major Nubian fortified city of the mid-second millennium BCE featuring complex round and oval structures. Bonnet also found evidence of the revival of another powerful black Nubian society, seven centuries after Egypt conquered Kush around 1500 BCE, when he unearthed seven life-size granite statues of black Pharaohs (ca. 744-656 BCE). Bonnet's discoveries have shaken our understanding of the origins and sophistication of early civilization in the heart of black Africa. Until Bonnet began his work, no one knew the extent and power of the Nubian state or the existence of the black pharaohs who presided successfully over their lands. The political, military, and commercial achievements revealed in these Nubian sites challenge our long-held belief that the Egyptians were far more advanced than their southern neighbors and that black kingdoms were effectively vassal states. Charles Bonnet's discovery of this lost black kingdom forces us to rewrite the early history of the African continent.--.

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents
• Foreword
• Introduction
• Part 1. Kerma, Capital of Nubia
  • History of the Expedition
  • The Fortress at the Beginning of Early Kerma
  • The Early Kerma City
  • The Middle Kerma City
  • The Classic Kerma City
  • The Port Area and Temple
  • A Royal Tomb
• Part 2. Dukki Gel, an African City, and the mnnw of Thutmose I
  • The Site of Dukki Gel
  • The Ceremonial City of Dukki Gel
  • A Later Intervention in Palace A
  • The Egyptian Conquest of Nubia
  • The mnnw of Thutmose I
    • Fortifications
    • Egyptian Temples and Native Cult Installations
    • Egyptian Palaces
  • The Resumption of Power by the King of Kerma and His Allies
  • Nubian and African Remains after Thutmose I
    • Fortifications
    • Cult Buildings
• Part 3. Pnubs During the New Kingdom, Napatan, and Meroitic Periods
  • Restoration of the mnnw by Thutmose II and Hatshepsut
    • Northern Fortifications
    • Northwest Gate and Foregate
    • Southern Fortifications
    • Egyptian Temples and Native Places of Worship
    • The Palace of Hatshepsut
    • The Second mnnw
  • Occupation of the Territory by Thutmose III
    • Fortifications
    • Egyptian Temples and Native Places of Worship
    • A Ceremonial Palace
    • The Ancient City of Pnubs, Pacified
  • Remains of Thutmose IV at Pnubs
  • The Amarna Reform
    • The Main Temple Dedicated to Aten
  • The Ramesside Occupation
  • The Kushite Kingship
  • The Napatan Kingdom
  • Dukki Gel in the Meroitic Period
    • A Reconstructed Temple
    • The Central Temple
    • Two Palaces
• Conclusion
• Chronology
• Bibliography
• Acknowledgments
• Index