Nubian Theories: The Less Frequently Told Version of African History.
African history, especially in schools shaped by colonial systems, was often dialed down, watered out, or skipped entirely. What we got was a light that made colonizers look smart and powerful, and that Africa barely existed until colonization or slavery came along (like we needed some sort of redemption/rescuing), but somehow, noteworthy ancient fully-functioning African empires like Nubia are the missing pages of a book. How unintentional can it get? Yes, sure, Egypt had a spotlight, but this was because it had writings, math, and monuments that Europeans could claim as part of their legacy – it didn't threaten the idea that civilization started with them (Europe), so it was safe, accepted. We're retelling the story better, because right next door to Egypt was a strongly rooted Nubia, and she sef no small, ajeh.
Nubia is a region in Africa which was known for massive trade and power claims, stretching across modern southern Egypt and northern Sudan, to the Red Sea by the east, and the Libyan desert by the west. It is historically divided into two regions: Upper Nubia (the south portion which was called Cush by ancient Egypt rulers/Pharaohs of the 12th dynasty that invaded the land, but also known as Ethiopia by ancient Greeks), and Lower Nubia (the north portion which lay between the first two cataracts of the Nile river, near Aswān, which was called Wawat).
Nubia was practically 'trade mitochondria' – a powerhouse in exporting gold (which Egyptians were super obsessed about, by the way), ivory, incense, cattle, ebony, animal skins, handmade pottery, iron (produced large-scale by the city of Meroë), and so on, to countries like Egypt, India, China, and even thought to get all the way to the Mediterranean, in exchange for staple items like grain, wine, beer, etc (this was because the presence of cataracts reduced the usability of their land for food – they had a problem and found a solution that worked). See how they were doing just fine without them European folks abi? Oya nau.
Did You Know?
In ancient Egyptian, the word "nub", from which Nubia likely gets its name, directly translates to gold.
Wealth usually transcends into power, and it was no surprise when it did for the Nubians.
Around 750 BCE, king Kashta of Cush peacefully stepped into Upper Egypt, assuming rulership. His son, Piye went further, invading Lower Egypt and declaring himself Pharaoh, setting off the Nubian rule of Egypt – the 25th Dynasty – which was maintained for close to a century, during which they rebuilt temples, revived the worship of Amun (the god of the air), as well as the art of pyramid building.
Nubia might have been ‘forgotten’ in history for a couple of reasons, but in a nutshell, inaccessibility. Nubia's geography was practical leverage against invasion. The cataracts around it are generally known to make navigation difficult. Colonizers where?? They'd have flopped like mad at the time. Egypt was only successful because they had cataracts themselves (shared with Nubia even), so it was familiar terrain.
You're probably wondering, "so what happened to Nubia?" Yeah, us too; however, we found that over centuries, shifts in trade routes and power structures, among other factors, led to Nubia’s gradual decline. Eventually, there was the emergence of Christian Nubian Kingdoms, but by the 1400s, even they were absorbed by expanding Islamic empires.This piece is already a tad more lengthy than initially set out for, so let's wrap it up now, shall we?
Contradictory to what most of colonial history portrays, Nubia was industrious, wealthy, and powerful – very much in existence and thriving, especially for its time, but that's just one African region. There will definitely be other empires that aren't talked about as much as Egypt or might have been watered down also, but through this lens in which we have seen Nubia, one thing is clear: Africa didn’t 'need' to be discovered, she was already doing the most.
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Written and Edited by: Daniella
