Material Culture and Colonization in Ancient Nubia: Evidence from the New Kingdom Cemeteries

Abstract

This entry offers an overview of past and current approaches to the colonization of Nubia during the Egyptian New Kingdom (1550-1070 BC). In order to pursue this task, a general introduction to the history of New Kingdom colonial Nubia is presented, as well as the main archaeological sites. After this, the entry discusses the material culture of various New Kingdom cemeteries and suggests that in order for us to move research on colonial Nubia forward, more attention has to be paid to the internal diversity that characterizes complex societies, among which New Kingdom Nubia was no exception. Archaeologies of Colonialism and the Nubian Past 1 In New Kingdom Nubia, migration is attested by textual sources and, more recently, confirmed by stable isotope analysis at cemetery of Tombos (Buzon and Simonetti 2013; Smith and Buzon 2017: 618-619).