3100 B.C.E. to 350
Nile Civilizations Flourish
“From 3500 BC, at the same time as the genesis of Egyptian civilization, a parallel culture was rising in Nubia.”
Director, The Nubian Museum,
Aswan, Egypt, 1998
The Nile Valley gave birth to two great African civilizations: ancient Nubia to the south and Egypt to the north. All along the Nile, these African societies traded and intermarried. At times they lived in peace, at times in war.
Early in their histories, both Nubia and Egypt had divine kings, and each developed distinctive writing systems. The art, architecture, philosophy, and astronomy of the Nile Valley gained world renown and influenced peoples in distant lands.
History Matters
“Important new perspectives...assert that ancient Egyptian civilization was indebted to Africa to the South, including Nubia, for some of its formative ideas.”
Edmund Barry Gaither, Director,
Museum of the National Center for Afro-American Artists, 1998