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The A-Group was the first powerful society in
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 ...
, located in modern northern
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 ...
and southern
Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...
and flourished between the First and Second
Cataracts A cataract is a cloudy area in the lens of the eye that leads to a decrease in vision of the eye. Cataracts often develop slowly and can affect one or both eyes. Symptoms may include faded colours, blurry or double vision, halos around ligh ...
of 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 ...
in
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 lasted from the 4th millennium BC, reached its climax at , and fell 200 years later .


Overview

In 1907, the Egyptologist George A. Reisner first discovered artifacts belonging to the A-Group culture. Reisner named this society the A-Group, which is now an outdated archaeological term, but remained in the literature. Early hubs of this civilization included Kubaniyya in the north and Buhen in the south, with
Aswan Aswan (, also ; ) is a city in Southern Egypt, and is the capital of the Aswan Governorate. Aswan is a busy market and tourist centre located just north of the Aswan Dam on the east bank of the Nile at the first cataract. The modern city ha ...
, Sayala, Toshka and
Qustul Qustul () is an archaeological cemetery located on the eastern bank of the Nile in Lower Nubia, just opposite of Ballana near the Sudan frontier. The site has archaeological records from the A-Group culture, the New Kingdom of Egypt and the X ...
in between. The A-Group population was once described as ethnically “very similar” to the pre-dynastic
Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...
ians in physical characteristics, although this view is considered largely outdated, with the A-Group now considered of having been closely related to Sub-Saharan and North African populations. The A-Group maintained commercial ties with the
Ancient Egypt Ancient Egypt () was a cradle of civilization concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in Northeast Africa. It emerged from prehistoric Egypt around 3150BC (according to conventional Egyptian chronology), when Upper and Lower E ...
ians. They traded raw materials like
incense Incense is an aromatic biotic material that releases fragrant smoke when burnt. The term is used for either the material or the aroma. Incense is used for aesthetic reasons, religious worship, aromatherapy, meditation, and ceremonial reasons. It ...
,
ebony Ebony is a dense black/brown hardwood, coming from several species in the genus '' Diospyros'', which also includes the persimmon tree. A few ''Diospyros'' species, such as macassar and mun ebony, are dense enough to sink in water. Ebony is fin ...
and
ivory Ivory is a hard, white material from the tusks (traditionally from elephants) and Tooth, teeth of animals, that consists mainly of dentine, one of the physical structures of teeth and tusks. The chemical structure of the teeth and tusks of mamm ...
, which were gathered from the southern riverine area. They also bartered carnelian from the Western Desert as well as gold mined from the Eastern Desert in exchange for Egyptian craft products, olive oil, and other items from the Mediterranean basin. A-Group dwellings consisted mostly of reed huts and rock shelters, with most settlements taking the form of temporary settlements and pastoralist communities. A substantial A-Group settlement is at the site of Afyeh in
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, ...
, where the remains of houses with stone foundation slabs have also been found. The location, architecture, and material culture of Afyeh, along with its uniqueness in Nubia, suggest that it may have been an Egyptian ( Naqadian) outpost. A-Group Nubians were semi-nomadic herders and rudimentary agriculturalists who also practised extensive fishing, hunting and gathering. Evidence of agriculture first appears in the Terminal A-Group period, c. 3200–3000 BC (contemporary with Naqada IIIB).


Social Organization

Ceramic decorative motifs conserved among the A-Group and the settlement at Kadero, located northeast of
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 ...
, suggests that the two groups were influenced by one another, whether directly or indirectly through trade with Egypt. Additionally, the existence of an elite group in Kadero parallels the evidence of an elite group within the A-Group.
Cemetery L
at Qustul provides evidence of an elite burial, containing nearly 200 pottery vessels, some containing expensive imports from Egypt and Palestine. There is little evidence outside of Cemetery L to suggest social stratification of the A-Group. However, there is evidence that the A-Group moved from a pastoralist society to a more sedentary society by the end of the 4th millennium BC, which could suggest that the conditions were right to develop more complex social organization.


A-Group Pottery

The two main types of pottery created during the A-Group period were eggshell ceramics and black-topped red ware. Eggshell ceramics are characterized by their eggshell-thin walls. Black-topped red ware pottery was created by oxidizing the clay, rich in iron, creating the distinctive red color. Subsequently, the rim was dipped in sawdust to cut off oxygen supply, creating the "black-topped" rim.


Cemeteries L, V, and W of Qustul and Debate About the Origins of Dynastic Egypt

Almost all knowledge about the A-Group comes from cemeteries, as few settlements have been excavated. Cemetery L is a royal cemetery dating back to the A-Group, and excavated by archaeologist Bruce Williams. Cemetery L contains tombs of rulers and high officials, Cemetery V contains tombs of other officials, and Cemetery W exclusively contains burials of people with lesser status. Excavations at Cemetery L yielded an
incense burner A censer, incense burner, perfume burner or pastille burner is a vessel made for burning incense or perfume in some solid form. They vary greatly in size, form, and material of construction, and have been in use since ancient times throughout t ...
, which was adorned with ancient Egyptian royal iconography. Williams asserted that the royal monarchy of Egypt originated in Qustul. He based his reasoning on Cemetery L from three archaeological finds: the size of the tombs, their expensive contents, and royal iconography (such as pottery vessels and stone censers). Furthermore, Williams received backlash from William Y. Adams and Maria Carmela Gatto. Gatto argued that Bruce Williams explicitly denied making such a sweeping claim, saying that he was only trying to raise the possibility that dynastic Egypt originated near Qustul, and Nubia facilitated that process. Gatto additionally referenced the Red Crown from the late Naqada I vessel, referenced above, claiming that Nubia almost certainly did not play a pivotal role in the rise of the Egyptian monarchy. While she also mentions that the tombs found in Qustul were comparable to that of Egyptian ruler's tombs, William Y. Adams suggests that the large size and contents of their grave support a different story than the one Williams paints, relating back to social stratification. He states that the large tombs and their contents provide evidence for a stratified society, one that archaeologists previously had not envisioned in the A-group period. He claims that this evidence cannot be extended and correlated to the Egyptian monarchy. Adams also argues that the Qustul incense burner found in the cemetery may be better suited to prove that the monarchy was situated somewhere near the Nile Valley instead of the monarchy being initially situated in Nubia.


Tracing the A-Group

From excavations at A-Group cemeteries, archaeologists have been tracing the genetic and ancestral lineage between A-Group Nubians and other societies. The specimens found in A-Group cemeteries typically had hair of a black or dark brown hue. On average, the men were 169.9 cm in height and the women stood around 155.5 cm. Some individuals were wrapped in leather and positioned on reed mats. All of the tombs contained various burial items, including personal ornaments, utensils and ceramics. According to a study of Nubian dental affinities by Joel Irish in 2005, traits characterizing Late Paleolithic samples from Nubia are common in recent populations south of the Sahara, whereas traits shared by Final Neolithic and later Nubians more closely emulate those found among groups originating to the north, i.e. in Egypt and, to a diminishing degree, greater North Africa, West Asia, and Europe. Irish concluded that genetic discontinuity occurred in Nubia sometime after the late Pleistocene. Dental trait analysis of A-Group fossils found affinities with populations inhabiting
Northeast Africa Northeast Africa, or Northeastern Africa, or Northern East Africa as it was known in the past, encompasses the countries of Africa situated in and around the Red Sea. The region is intermediate between North Africa and East Africa, and encompasses ...
, the
Nile valley 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 longest river i ...
, and East Africa. Among the sampled populations, the A-Group people were nearest to the
Kerma Kerma was the capital city of the Kerma culture, which was founded in present-day Sudan before 3500 BC. Kerma is one of the largest archaeological sites in ancient Nubia. It has produced decades of extensive excavations and research, including t ...
culture bearers,
Kush KUSH 1600 AM is a radio station licensed to Cushing, Oklahoma. The station broadcasts a Full service format, consisting of local and national talk, sports Sport is a physical activity or game, often competitive and organized, tha ...
populations in Upper Nubia, and to Ethiopians. This is followed by the Meroitic, X-Group and Christian period inhabitants of Lower Nubia and the Kellis population in the Dakhla Oasis, as well as
C-Group The C-Group culture is an archaeological culture found in Nubia, Lower Nubia, which dates from 2400 BCE to 1550 BCE. It was named by George A. Reisner. With no central site and no written evidence about what these people called themselves, Re ...
and Pharaonic era skeletons excavated in Lower Nubia and
ancient Egypt Ancient Egypt () was a cradle of civilization concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in Northeast Africa. It emerged from prehistoric Egypt around 3150BC (according to conventional Egyptian chronology), when Upper and Lower E ...
ians (
Naqada Naqada (Egyptian Arabic: ; Coptic language: ; Ancient Greek: , Ancient Egyptian: ''Nbyt'') is a List of cities and towns in Egypt, town on the west bank of the Nile in Qena Governorate, Egypt, situated ca. 20 km north of Luxor. It include ...
, Badari,
Hierakonpolis Nekhen (, ), also known as Hierakonpolis (; , meaning City of Hawks or City of Falcons, a reference to Horus; ) was the religious and political capital of Upper Egypt at the end of prehistoric Egypt ( 3200–3100 BC) and probably also during th ...
, Abydos and Kharga in
Upper Egypt Upper Egypt ( ', shortened to , , locally: ) is the southern portion of Egypt and is composed of the Nile River valley south of the delta and the 30th parallel North. It thus consists of the entire Nile River valley from Cairo south to Lake N ...
; Hawara in
Lower Egypt Lower Egypt ( ') is the northernmost region of Egypt, which consists of the fertile Nile Delta between Upper Egypt and the Mediterranean Sea, from El Aiyat, south of modern-day Cairo, and Dahshur. Historically, the Nile River split into sev ...
). In 2020, Kanya Godde analysed a series of crania which included two Egyptian (predynastic Badarian and Naqada series), a series of A-Group Nubians, and a Bronze Age series from
Lachish Lachish (; ; ) was an ancient Canaanite and later Israelite city in the Shephelah ("lowlands of Judea") region of Canaan on the south bank of the Lakhish River mentioned several times in the Hebrew Bible. The current '' tell'' by that name, kn ...
, Palestine. The two pre-dynastic series had strongest affinities, followed by closeness between the Naqada and the Nubian series. Further, the Nubian A-Group plotted nearer to the Egyptians, and the Lachish sample placed more closely to Naqada than Badari. According to Godde, the spatial-temporal model applied to the pattern of biological distances explains the more distant relationship of Badari to Lachish than Naqada to Lachish, as gene flow will cause populations to become more similar over time. Overall, both Egyptian samples included were more similar to the Nubian series than to the Lachish series.


Comparative A-Group Culture

More recent and broader studies have determined that the distinct pottery styles, differing burial practices, different grave goods and the distribution of sites all indicate that the
Naqada Naqada (Egyptian Arabic: ; Coptic language: ; Ancient Greek: , Ancient Egyptian: ''Nbyt'') is a List of cities and towns in Egypt, town on the west bank of the Nile in Qena Governorate, Egypt, situated ca. 20 km north of Luxor. It include ...
people and the Nubian A-Group people were from different cultures. Kathryn Bard further states that "Naqada cultural burials contain very few Nubian craft goods, which suggests that while Egyptian goods were exported to Nubia and were buried in A-Group graves, A-Group goods were of little interest further north." Nubian excavations in Serra East found that the bodies buried in the A-Group cemeteries would lay on either side with their head facing south or east. Similar to that of a curled-up position, their hands could be found near the face and their legs folded-in upwards. Leather wrappings were also found in the burials as a means of clothing and bags. However, this leather wrapping was not typically found in more lavish cemeteries, such as Cemetery L at Qustul. As for distinct pottery styles, decorative vessels were more likely to be found in larger tombs at Qustul, whereas simpler burial arrangements contained ripple-burnished or simple vessels. However, the archaeological cemeteries at Qustul are no longer available for excavations since the flooding of
Lake Nasser Lake Nasser ( ', ) is a large reservoir (water), reservoir in southern Egypt and northern Sudan. It was created by the construction of the Aswan Dam, Aswan High Dam and is one of the List of reservoirs by volume, largest man-made lakes in the wo ...
. According to
David Wengrow David Wengrow Society of Antiquaries of London, FSA (born 25 July 1972) is a British archaeologist and Professor of Comparative Archaeology at the UCL Institute of Archaeology, Institute of Archaeology, University College London. He co-authored ...
, the A-Group polity of the late 4th millenninum BC is poorly understood since most of the archaeological remains are submerged underneath Lake Nasser. Frank Yurco stated that depictions of pharonic iconography such as the royal crowns, Horus falcons and victory scenes were concentrated in the Upper Egyptian Naqada culture and A-Group Nubia. He further elaborated that:
"Egyptian writing arose in Naqadan Upper Egypt and A-Group Nubia, and not in the Delta cultures, where the direct Western Asian contact was made, further vititates the Mesopotamian-influence argument".
Oshiro Michinori argued, in reference to the A-Group culture, that the external influence from Nubia on the formation of Ancient Egypt in the pre-dynastic period to the dynasty period predates influence from eastern Mesopotamia. He notes an increase in the appreciation of the contribution of Nubia in the south to Ancient Egyptian culture at the time of his writing. According to him, chiefs of the same cultural level as Upper Egyptian powers existed in Lower Nubia and exhibited pharaonic iconography before the unification of Egypt.


Existence of the B-Group

It was originally determined by Reisner that the A-Group culture came to an end around 3100 BC, when it was destroyed by the First Dynasty rulers of Egypt. Reisner originally identified a B-Group and C-Group culture that existed within Nubia following the fall of the A-Group. However, the B-group theory became obsolete when Henry S. Smith demonstrated from funerary evidence that it was an impoverished manifestation of the A-Group culture while the culture was starting to disintegrate. With the existential crisis of the B-Group, it is suggested that these burials were simply poorer versions of A-group burials and that the span of the A-group culture lasted beyond 3100 BC.


References


External links

*
Regional variations in the so-called “A-Group” Culture of Lower Nubia
* Hans-Åke Nordstrom
Maria Gatto: Hunting for the Exclusive Nubian A-Group People; Renée Friedman: Setting the Scene


*




Maria Carmela Gatto: The Nubian A-group: a reassessment
{{DEFAULTSORT:A-Group Culture History of Nubia Neolithic cultures of Africa 4th-millennium BC establishments 4th-millennium BC disestablishments 1907 archaeological discoveries Archaeological cultures in Egypt Archaeological cultures in Sudan Archaeology of North Africa Sudan