Upper Nubia (also called Kush) is the southernmost part of

Nubia Nubia (, Nobiin language, Nobiin: , ) is a region along the Nile river encompassing the area between the confluence of the Blue Nile, Blue and White Nile, White Niles (in Khartoum in central Sudan), and the Cataracts of the Nile, first cataract ...

, upstream on the

Nile The Nile (also known as the Nile River or River Nile) is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river in Africa. It has historically been considered the List of river sy ...

from

Lower Nubia Lower Nubia (also called Wawat) is the northernmost part of Nubia, roughly contiguous with the modern Lake Nasser, which submerged the historical region in the 1960s with the construction of the Aswan High Dam. Many ancient Lower Nubian monuments, ...

. It is so called because the Nile flows north, so it is further upstream and of higher elevation in relation to Lower Nubia. The extension of ''Upper Nubia'' is rather ill-defined and depends on the researchers’ approach.

Geographical approach

Geographically speaking ''Upper Nubia'' designs the area between the Second and the Sixth cataracts of the Nile. Occasionally the term ''Middle Nubia'' is used to design the area between the Second and the Third cataract; in this case ''Upper Nubia'' begins at the Third cataract going upstream.

Political approach

Politically speaking ''Upper Nubia'' falls in present northern and central

Sudan Sudan, officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in Northeast Africa. It borders the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, Libya to the northwest, Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the east, Eritrea and Ethiopi ...

stretching from the Egyptian border south to present-day

Khartoum Khartoum or Khartum is the capital city of Sudan as well as Khartoum State. With an estimated population of 7.1 million people, Greater Khartoum is the largest urban area in Sudan. Khartoum is located at the confluence of the White Nile – flo ...

at the confluence of

White Nile The White Nile ( ') is a river in Africa, the minor of the two main tributaries of the Nile, the larger being the Blue Nile. The name "White" comes from the clay sediment carried in the water that changes the water to a pale color. In the stri ...

and

Blue Nile The Blue Nile is a river originating at Lake Tana in Ethiopia. It travels for approximately through Ethiopia and Sudan. Along with the White Nile, it is one of the two major Tributary, tributaries of the Nile and supplies about 85.6% of the wa ...

.Barbara Ann Kipfer; Upper Nubia in: Encyclopedic Dictionary of Archaeology; 2000; .

Historical approach

Historically speaking ''Upper Nubia'' comprises the areas of influence of the Nubian part of New Kingdom Egypt or the

kingdom of Kush The Kingdom of Kush (; Egyptian language, Egyptian: 𓎡𓄿𓈙𓈉 ''kꜣš'', Akkadian language, Assyrian: ''Kûsi'', in LXX Χους or Αἰθιοπία; ''Ecōš''; ''Kūš''), also known as the Kushite Empire, or simply Kush, was an an ...

or Meroe. Connecting the Mediterranean world with inner Africa, ''Upper Nubia'' was crisscrossed by important trade routes and has been the cradle of diverse cultures.

References

{{reflist Nubia Nile History of Nubia Geography of Sudan