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The Third
Cataract’s rugged terrain and treacherous rapids formed a natural northern
gateway to the fertile Dongola Reach, and thus an important strategic point
of control for Nubians and Egyptians.
It was also close to the urban center of Kerma, whose rulers
successfully challenged Egypt’s Pharaohs for control of Nubia in 1650
BC. The presence of Kerman, Egyptian
and Napatan sites in close proximity at Tombos and Hannek makes this area an
excellent place to assess the degree of Egyptian influence on Nubian
civilization and the later emergence of the Napatan Pharaohs.
Now I will tell you about our first season of excavation at Tombos at the
edge of Egypt’s southern empire…
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