The C-Group People in Lower Nubia

Abstract

This article reviews the research on the C-Group people—inhabitants of Lower Nubia between 2500 and 1500 bce. The C-Group people were cattle pastoralists of multiple origins that formed their ethnic identity after contact with Egyptians. Interethnic relations between the Egyptians and the C-Group people are examined in a diachronic perspective that sorts out periods of both peaceful exchange and violent conflict. The article also emphasizes the impact that C-Group men working as mercenaries in Egypt had on political development in Lower Nubia when they returned. The C-Group people’s neighbors in the south was the Kerma people. They established a kingdom called Kush around 2000 bce, and their relations with the Egyptians affected the C-Group people. In the last phase of their history, the C-Group people were trapped between Egypt and Kush—two states rivalling for supremacy on the Nile. The C-Group people’s solution was an alliance with Egypt and acculturation to become Egyptians.

Female figurines in Sudan from the Neolithic to Meroitic period (4600 BC to 350 AD): A review of their chronological and typological development

“…The examples from the Aniba C-group may have been used in ritual practice. Hafsaas (2006) suggested they were used in a female puberty rite, and she assumed a correlation between the adult (with scarification) and immature (blank) female body, reflecting this transition to womanhood perhaps in preparation for marriage, pregnancy, and childbirth.…”

Four millennia of garnet trade in Northeast Africa—chemical analysis of ancient and Late Antiquity beads from Lower Nubian sites

“…2200–1550 BCE), represented by small and dispersed populations from the Eastern Desert, also contributed to the rich history of the Lower Nubian region (e.g., Hafsaas, 2006; Török, 2008; Williams, 1983, 1986, 1989, 1993). The strategic location of Lower Nubia encouraged contacts with the Pre‐Kerma and Kerma cultures that developed in the regions of the Third and Fourth Cataracts (Upper Nubia) (e.g., Gatto, 2021; Hafsaas, 2021; Williams, 2021; Then‐Obłuska, 2022—for some bead parallels and imports). Nubia was controlled by Egypt in the New Kingdom (ca.…”

Negociando identidades: a expansão egípcia e a Núbia sob a XVIII dinastia (1550-1425 a.C.)

“…541 A Núbia foi palco de diferentes culturas baseadas no gado, 542 o Grupo-C na Baixa Núbia, por exemplo, tinha uma cultura pastoril seminômade, de forma que a mobilidade do gado era central para sua identidade. 543 Por sua vez, as culturas de gado da Alta Núbia se baseavam em cidades, 544 trazendo outra dinâmica, mas com origens similares. 545 Desse modo, o gado núbio ser entregue como tributo ou ainda ser confiscado em fortalezas egípcias teria um impacto maior entre os núbios, podendo ser visto como uma forma de reforçar e negociar os símbolos e força das identidades egípcias sobre as núbias.…”