The Nubian Experience of Egyptian Domination During the New Kingdom

Abstract

The Nubian experience of Egyptian domination during the New Kingdom (ca. 1500–1070 bce) was complex and variable. Outright rebellion to Egyptian rule is attested but was rare. Instead Nubians employed highly variable strategies of collaboration/assimilation, ethnic solidarity, and the creation of hybridity in order to cope with the Egyptian hegemony. The dynamic and variable entanglement and juxtaposition of Nubian and Egyptian ceramic traditions, foodways, and burial practice established the foundations for the survival of elements of Nubian culture despite five hundred years of Egyptian domination and widespread assimilation north of the Third Cataract. The formation of a new blended or hybrid Nubian identity forged through the colonial experience helped to break down the imperial ideology of Egyptian self and Nubian other. In the end, the accumulation of individual choices by Nubians and their Egyptian counterparts, constrained by larger political and economic dynamics, produced outcomes that transformed both indigenous and colonial society.