Nubia: Lost Civilizations

Lost Civilizations #2

by Sarah M. Schellinger

Drawing on the latest archaeological and textual discoveries, a revealing look at the rich and dynamic civilization of Nubia.
 
Nubia, the often-overlooked southern neighbor of Egypt, has been home to groups of vibrant and adaptive peoples for millennia. This book explores the Nubians’ religious, social, economic, and cultural histories, from their nomadic origins during the Stone Ages to their rise to power during the Napatan and Meroitic periods, and it concludes with the recent struggles for diplomacy in North Sudan. Situated among the ancient superpowers of Egypt, Aksum, and the Greco-Roman world, Nubia’s connections with these cultures shaped the region’s history through colonialism and cultural entanglement. Sarah M. Schellinger presents the Nubians through their archaeological and textual remains, reminding readers that they were a rich and dynamic civilization in their own right.

Genres: History, Africa, Nonfiction, Egypt

208 pages, Hardcover

Published January 3, 2023

Reviews

[Christopher · Rating 4 out of 5]

Back in my late teens, before it was displaced by Native American history, premodern African history was my second favorite topic. Nubia in particular was my favorite region to study both for its longevity and because of its role as both the connection and the barrier between Egypt and the lands further south. My first ever college history paper was written on the iron industry in Meroe and the definite role it played in kicking of much of Africa's iron age as well as the possible role it had in deforestation/desertification and thus the environmental reasons Nubia never could quite come back to its classical era heights later on. For a long time, Nubia was a better steward of old Egyptian culture than Egypt herself was.

Despite once having voraciously read anything Nubia related, once this phase passed I no longer engaged with the topic until this week, when I decided to read a more modern and thus archeologically updated big history of the country. When it comes to meeting the criteria of overview history, Schellinger's Nubia: Lost Civilizations fits the bill perfectly. She gives us the premodern through early medieval run down with a very short summary of the history after that point. Emphasis is rightly kept from the Kerma-Meroe periods when Nubia was most dynamic.

[Rebecca Hill · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nubia has often been overshadowed by their powerful neighbors. However, they were a powerhouse in their own right. As they shared a border with Egypt, they were often intermingled with the Egyptian people, but they had a vibrant and rich culture of their own, and left evidence of a rich, and cultured civilization.

Schellinger has done a fabulous job in fleshing out the Nubian culture, tying some of it back to Egyptian influences, and drawing it back.

Great read!

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book read like a survey or archaeological finds. There is so little easily available about Nubia that the book is still a treasure. It just wasn't a very engaging treasure. It includes photos of various archaeological finds. If this was in a local library, I would definitely look through it and read a bit if it interests you. I would not purchase this book for myself. Thank you libraries everywhere for what you make possible.

[Annarella · Rating 5 out of 5]

I knew very little about Nubia and the Nubia civilisations. I knew that some pharaos came from Nubia but not much more.
This is a well researched and informative book that helped me to learn more about this fascinating place.
It's highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this arc, all opinions are mine