Ross Larry. Nubia and Egypt. 10,000 B.C. to 400 A.D.: From Prehistory to the Meroitic Period

With a Foreword by Gregory Kirk Anderson. — Lampeter, Ceredigion, Wales: The Edwin Mellen Press, 2013. — ISBN: 978-0-7734-2646-7.Nubia. The name conjures the mystery and myth of a forgotten culture rendered mute by time. But the pyramids and sphinxes of its northern neighbor, Egypt, have commanded the attention of men for millennia. Since inspiring the rise of modern archeology in the late eighteenth century, the land has been scoured for its secrets.
Massive temples with imposing columns have emerged from its sands, and dark burial chambers have come to light. Their vivid murals, treasure troves, and decoded hieroglyphics proclaim Egypt's history, customs, religion, and might. In contrast, Nubia appears a nation of country cousins whose rustic culture became assimilated in the sophisticated civilization of its northern masters.
Dr. Larry Ross challenges this conventional view with a comprehensive scholarly work that synthesizes and scrupulously documents the latest archeological research. Nubia, it appears, was not all that rustic, nor were Nubia and Egypt all that distinct. Indeed, "Egyptian culture" is now known to have sprung from a Nubian root. Nubian gold made Nubia the first trading hub along the Nile, and trade made the early Nubians more sophisticated and cosmopolitan than their neighbors to the north. The first pottery in Africa arose in Nubia, and the Pharonic tradition with its cult symbols began with Nubian rulers. The first pharaohs were of Nubian ancestry as surely as Nubian gold flowed through Pharonic coffers. The traditional distinction between Egypt and Nubia oversimplifies the complex relationship of two neighbors intertwined in one cultural area.