Nubian / Kushite Timeline

2500 BCE – 400 CE · 5 sites

Archaeological sites hub

All sites in this period

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Country Record

Earliest Known Site in Egypt

Abu Simbel

1264 BCE – 1244 BCE

The twin rock temples of Abu Simbel, carved by Ramesses II (c. 1264–1244 BCE) in Nubia, showcase colossal statues and a celebrated solar alignment; they were famously relocated in the 1960s to escape the rising Lake Nasser.

422

Bronze AgeDynastic Egypt

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Country Record

Longest Recorded History in Sudan

Meroë

800 BCE – 350 CE

Ancient capital of the Kingdom of Kush, Meroë flourished from 800 BCE to 350 CE, famed for its steep-sided pyramids, advanced iron industry, and role as a trade nexus linking Africa, the Mediterranean, and the Middle East.

322

Iron AgeClassicalHellenistic

The Western Deffufa, a colossal mudbrick temple at the ancient Nubian capital of Kerma, Sudan

Continent Record

Earliest Known Site in Africa

Kerma

2500 BCE – 1500 BCE

The capital of one of the earliest and most powerful kingdoms of ancient sub-Saharan Africa — a Nubian city on the Nile in what is now Sudan that flourished from roughly 2500 to 1500 BCE, rivaling and at times threatening pharaonic Egypt. Its centrepiece, the Western Deffufa, is a colossal mudbrick temple that remains one of the largest ancient man-made structures in Africa outside Egypt, and its royal tombs contained some of the most spectacular burials ever excavated in the Nile Valley.

Bronze Age

Jebel Barkal sandstone butte and temple ruins beside the Nile, Sudan

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Continent Record

Oldest Complex in Africa

Jebel Barkal

1450 BCE – 400 CE

A sandstone butte and temple complex at the Fourth Cataract bend of the Nile in Sudan, sacred to Amun and the religious heart of Napata, capital of the Kushite 25th Dynasty kings who ruled Egypt. UNESCO-listed with Napatan–Meroitic cemeteries.

111

Bronze AgeIron AgeDynastic Egypt

Lion Temple of Apedemak at Naqa with royal reliefs, Sudan

Country Record

Known by the Most Names in Sudan

Naqa

200 BCE – 300 CE

A Meroitic temple city in the Butana steppe of Sudan, with the Lion Temple of Apedemak, a Roman-inspired kiosk, and a large Amun temple. Part of the UNESCO Island of Meroë serial property with Musawwarat es-Sufra.

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Iron AgeClassicalHellenistic