The study, led by archaeologist Geoff Emberling, geomorphologist Jan Peeters and El-Hassan Ahmed Mohammed, finds that Napata flourished from around 800 BCE to 100 CE because a relatively stable stretch of the Nile deposited millennia of clay and silt, building up a thick, fertile floodplain that reduced flood risk while ensuring consistent access to water. The findings are published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The Napata site is part of The Klinsky Expeditions, a series of five archaeological field projects funded by University of Michigan alumnus Steve Klinsky. Emberling, a research scientist at the U-M Kelsey Museum of Archaeology, noted that while scholars have long examined how environmental change affects ancient societies, this dimension of analysis had not previously been applied systematically in Sudan.
"Scholars have looked at the association between changes in climate and local environment and their impact on societies, including their political development and economic systems," Emberling said. "But this hasn't been done in Sudan, and we've missed a key tool to help us not only understand the rise and fall of individual settlements, but also the broader history of the rise and fall of the Empire of Kush. This is really the first systematic geomorphological study in Sudan that relates to these ancient cultures."
Kush was a significant force in the ancient world, mentioned in the Bible and by the Greek historian Herodotus, and it maintained interactions with Egypt, the Assyrians, Greeks, Persians and the Roman Empire. After the Egyptian empire collapsed around 1200 BCE, the Kushite dynasty rose to power and established itself at what is now called Jebel Barkal - ancient Napata - where palaces, pyramids and temples were constructed at the base of a distinctive sandstone outcrop. Jebel Barkal is today a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
"They were part of that whole world system, yet because of a history of relatively lower investment in research in Sudan, some very basic questions haven't been addressed," Emberling said. "We might think we know all we need to know about the Nile because there's been a fair amount of research in Egypt. But in Sudan, the way the Nile works is different."
In Sudan, the underlying geology produces rapids, waterfalls and islands along the Nile that disrupt travel and fragment settlements. To investigate the geology beneath Jebel Barkal, Peeters led a research team that included local Sudanese collaborators to drill 26 sediment cores across the river valley in which the ancient city stands. Samples were collected every 10 centimeters, with boreholes reaching between five and 13 meters in depth.
Using optically stimulated luminescence dating - a technique that determines when sand grains were last exposed to light - the team was able to reconstruct 12,500 years of Nile history at the site. For the first roughly 8,000 years of that span, the Nile actively carved its own valley. Then, approximately 4,000 years ago, the valley floor leveled out, allowing the river to begin depositing sediment and building up a stable floodplain composed of clay and silt about 10 meters thick.
The researchers also identified a second geologic factor: the Nile's Fourth Cataract, a stretch of islands and fast-moving rapids lying just upstream of Jebel Barkal. Peeters concludes that the cataract dissipates much of the river's energy before it reaches the site, enabling sediment deposition and contributing to the river's stability over the past 4,000 years.
"Where sediments accumulate shapes where people can live, farm, and carry out cultural and religious practices," Peeters said.
The research is ongoing despite the severe difficulties posed by Sudan's current armed conflict. Sudanese archaeologists from the country's National Corporation for Antiquities and Museums have continued work at Jebel Barkal under remote guidance from Emberling and other international collaborators.
"Despite all the difficulties and hardship of Sudan, because of the ongoing war, research is continuing through the efforts of our local collaborators," Peeters said. "Their work is central to the project, which places strong emphasis on community engagement and collaboration with Sudanese researchers."
Co-authors on the study include Timotheus Winkels, Pawel Wolf, Tim Skuldbol, Elizabeth Chamberlain, Saskia Buchner-Matthews and Sami Elamin.
Research Report:Holocene Nile dynamics shaped the physical and cultural landscape of ancient Nubia
Related Links
University of Michigan
Africa News - Resources, Health, Food
| Subscribe Free To Our Daily Newsletters |
| Subscribe Free To Our Daily Newsletters |
