BEFORE KERMA · c. 8500–2500 BCE

Before Nubia

When the desert still held rain

Before Kerma, Middle Nile communities were already making pottery in a wetter landscape than today’s.

Museum documentation · free public access, no account required.

Neolithic vessels of the Middle Nile decorated with incised and stamped geometric bands — **DECLARED VISUAL RECONSTRUCTION · EXISTING EDITORIAL RESOURCE · TRACEKEEPERS**
Generated reconstruction · Declared visual hypothesis
Declared visual reconstruction for museographic context; it is not a photograph of the original nor documentary evidence.

History and context

Before Kerma, the Middle Nile passed through a changing climate world. When the Sahara was wetter, mobile groups combined fishing, hunting, gathering and herding, and marked clay with combs and rocking motions long before building cities. As the rains retreated, people, herds and knowledge concentrated again beside the river.

Neolithic communities perfected a pottery of geometric designs and built networks between cataracts, deserts and savannas. Later, the so-called A-Group of Lower Nubia exchanged products with Egypt without losing its own material culture, while in the Kerma region settlements and cemeteries accumulated. The Kushite capital was born on millennia of local experience, not as a copy from the north.

Evidence and interpretation

Documented fact: Set of handmade vessels covered with incised or stamped bands that turn the whole surface into rhythm. The decoration was obtained with combs, rocking and pressure on wet clay. These pieces show a technical tradition proper to the Middle Nile, prior to Kerma and much earlier than the Egyptian expansion southwards. Interpretation and caution: The geometric patterns reveal technique and aesthetic choice, but do not allow reconstruction of a symbolic code or individual identity. Historical transition: Aridification concentrated people, herds and knowledge beside the river; these communities and regional networks prepared the social landscape from which Kerma arose. Limit of the transition: A-Group and Pre-Kerma were not incomplete versions of Egypt nor a single ethnicity; their relations with Kerma include continuity, displacement and change still debated.

Catalogue facts

Previous period: c. 8500–2500 BCE
Sphere of influence: Middle Nile, cataracts and corridors between present-day Sudan and Lower Nubia
Threshold element: Geometric pottery of the Sudanese Neolithic
Element date: V–IV millennium BCE
Location: Middle Nile, present-day Sudan
Material or support: hand-modelled pottery, incised and stamped
Time frame: c. 8500–2500 BCE
Documented fact 01: Sudanese pottery is among the earliest in Africa.
Documented fact 02: Livestock was central to economy and identity.
Documented fact 03: The A-Group was an indigenous Nubian tradition and also an intermediary with Egypt.
Visual credit: Sue Fleckney · CC BY-SA 2.0

A SHARED TOPIC, DIFFERENT MOMENTS

Objects connected through time

Follow a topic across the collections. A shared tag is a way to compare objects, not proof that one culture influenced another.

The order uses the midpoint of each approximate date range; ranges can overlap. Spacing does not represent elapsed time. Swipe, scroll or use the arrows. With the sequence focused, use ← / →, Home or End.

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V–IV millennium BCE

Before Nubia

Nubia, Kerma and Kush

Interval of the V–IV millennia BCE of the element, not of the entire preceding period.

Current record

Ceramics39 dated objects

5 / 39In the centre: Before Nubia

Also connected, without a comparable date (17)

These objects are not placed after the others: an unknown date does not mean a more recent object.

A Kerma vessel deposited at AbydosAncient Egypt · Second Intermediate Period
A tradition that inventsBatwa / Twa histories · collected in 1993 or 1995
A vase travels; the rite changesIberians · No individual dating published on this record
AkrotiriGreek worlds · c. 1700–1500 BCE
Dia’s strataMande Worlds · 9th century BCE–2nd millennium CE
Early potteryMande Worlds · before ca. 9400 cal BCE
Jenne-jeno contextsMande Worlds · ca. 250 BCE–1400 CE
Liédena FlaskEtruscans and Rome · Roman period · individual chronology not published in the entry
LothalIndus civilisation · ca. 2400–1600 BCE
Made in GaramaGaramantes · I millennium BCE–I millennium CE
Nile towards NubiaAncient Egypt · ca. 3300–2800 BCE
The unfinished gestureBatwa / Twa histories · 1947
Three hundred lives in the sandYayoi Japan · Mainly 4th century BCE–3rd century CE
Travelling objectsGaramantes · Mainly Roman period
Trumpet from NumantiaIberians · No individual dating published on this record
Urns from AdichanallurVedic and later Indian worlds · Iron Age · samples towards 665 and 467 BCE
Vessels without a languageBantu-speaking worlds · Urewe, broad regional range ca. 800 BCE–650 CE

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Clay

Dolní Věstonice I · ≈29,000–27,000 years · Prehistory
Before Sumer · mid-6th–5th millennium BCE · Sumer
Twin-chambered vessel from Cova de l’Or · Early Neolithic · VI–V millennia BCE · Prehistory
Before Egypt · ca. 4400–3800 BCE · Ancient Egypt
Before Nubia · V–IV millennium BCE · Nubia, Kerma and Kush — You are viewing
Before Gojoseon · Middle Neolithic, c. 4000 BCE · Gojoseon and early Korea
Bevel-rimmed bowl · ca. 3500–3000 BCE · Sumer
Susa accounting bulla · 3500–2900 BCE · proto-urban period; towards 3300 BCE as a guide, not exact date · Sumer
Jemdet Nasr · c. 3100–2900 BCE · Sumer
Account of malt and barley · c. 3100–2900 BCE · Sumer
Before Yayoi · Middle Jōmon, ca. 3000 BCE · Yayoi Japan
Vasiliki · ca. 2500–2200 BCE · Greek worlds
Before Ancient China · c. 2500–2000 BCE · Ancient China
Longshan · c. 2500–2000 BCE · Ancient China
Before the Hittites · c. 19th century BCE · Hittites
Before Pre-Inca Cultures · Kotosh-Mito Tradition, c. 2200–1500 BCE; the enclosure is usually situated around 1800 BCE. · Pre-Inca cultures
Queen of the Night · 19th–18th centuries BCE · Sumer
Plimpton 322 · Paleo-Babylonian period · around 1800 BCE · Sumer
Sumerian King List · Towards 1800 BCE · Sumer
Love song to Shu-Sin · Paleo-Babylonian copy, around 1900–1600 BCE according to CDLI · Sumer
Si.427 tablet · Towards 1900–1600 BCE · paleobabylonian; uncertain chronological attribution in CDLI · Sumer
Phaistos Disc · ≈1700–1650 BCE · Greek worlds
Sumerian Flood of Nippur · Towards 1650 BCE · Sumer
Boğazköy Archive · Above all 17th–13th centuries BCE · Hittites
Linear B · c. 1375 BCE · Greek worlds
Alaksandu of Wilusa · c. 1300 BCE · Hittites
Treaty with Egypt · c. 1259 BCE, year 21 of Ramesses II · Hittites
Flood Tablet · 7th century BCE · Sumer
Babylonian map of the world · Towards 700–500 BCE · Sumer
Glazed brick guards · 522–486 BCE · Achaemenid Persia
Rations for women and children · Towards 509–493 BCE · Achaemenid Persia
Urewe vessel · regional range c. 800 BCE–650 CE · Bantu-speaking worlds

Without a comparable date (not part of the chronological order):

Vessels

Before Sumer · mid-6th–5th millennium BCE · Sumer
Twin-chambered vessel from Cova de l’Or · Early Neolithic · VI–V millennia BCE · Prehistory
Before Egypt · ca. 4400–3800 BCE · Ancient Egypt
Before Nubia · V–IV millennium BCE · Nubia, Kerma and Kush — You are viewing
Before Gojoseon · Middle Neolithic, c. 4000 BCE · Gojoseon and early Korea
Bevel-rimmed bowl · ca. 3500–3000 BCE · Sumer
Uruk Vase · ca. 3300–3000 BCE · Sumer
Before Yayoi · Middle Jōmon, ca. 3000 BCE · Yayoi Japan
Vasiliki · ca. 2500–2200 BCE · Greek worlds
Before the Greeks · c. 2400–2200 BCE · Greek worlds
Before Ancient China · c. 2500–2000 BCE · Ancient China
Longshan · c. 2500–2000 BCE · Ancient China
Kerma vessel · c. 1802–1640 BCE · Nubia, Kerma and Kush
Grave Circle A and Chrysolakkos · 18th–16th centuries BCE · Greek worlds
Before Vedic India · c. 1900–1300 BCE · Vedic and later Indian worlds
Jue · c. sixteenth century BCE · Ancient China
Pithos · c. 1450–1375 BCE · Greek worlds
Tutankhamun's grave goods · death towards 1323 BCE · Ancient Egypt
Stag Vessel · 14th–13th centuries BCE · Hittites
Valchitran · second half of the 14th century–beginning of the 13th century BCE, according to NAIM; other publications use wider intervals from the Late Bronze. · Thracians
Liding · 12th–11th centuries BCE · Ancient China
Before the Iberias · Final Bronze, c. 1000 BCE · Iberians
Grey bowl from Hastinapura · c. 1100–800 BCE in the classical sequence of Hastinapura · Vedic and later Indian worlds
Before Etruscans and Rome · ca. 850–800 BCE · Etruscans and Rome
The urn under the helmet · 9th–8th centuries BCE · Etruscans and Rome
Tomb 1 at Kuntur Wasi · c. 800 BCE · Pre-Inca cultures
Regolini-Galassi tomb · ca. 675–650 BCE · Etruscans and Rome
The great Greek krater of Vix · ≈530–500 BCE · Greek worlds
Scorțaru cauldron · 6th–5th centuries BCE · Thracians
Vix Tomb · c. 500 BCE · Celtic worlds
Orpheus among the Thracians · circa 440 BCE; attributed to the London Painter E 497. · Thracians
Twenty-six voiceless signs · 5th–4th centuries BCE · Scythians and Saka
Rogozen · mainly 5th–4th centuries BCE; The set has a history of accumulation, not a single manufacturing date. · Thracians
Grave goods of Baza and Toya · First half of the 4th century BCE · Iberians
The Attic krater that took on a new life in Cástulo · 4th century BCE · Greek worlds
The silver amphora of Chertomlyk · 4th century BCE · Greek worlds
The Kul-Oba vase · 4th century BCE · Greek worlds
Faces of the Steppe · Second half of the 4th century BCE · Scythians and Saka
Poroina Mare Rhyton · Second half of the 4th century BCE · Thracians
Borovo · 4th century BC C.; 350–300 BCE in the ISAW catalog. · Thracians
Leipzig Fish Plate · Last third 4th–early 3rd century BCE · Greek worlds
Golyamata Kosmatka · End of the 4th century – beginning of the 3rd century BCE; ritual burial at the beginning of the III according to Iskra. · Thracians
Panagyurishte · late 4th century – early 3rd century BCE, towards 300 BCE · Thracians
Dove of the Amarejo · 3rd century BCE · Iberians
Mairena Hoard · 3rd century BCE · Iberians
Vase from Chão de Lamas · Piece: III–II centuries BCE · concealment ≈110–76 BCE · Iberians
Vas dels Guerrers · 3rd–early 2nd century BCE · Iberians
Warriors' Vase · 3rd–2nd centuries BCE · Iberians
The dismantled cauldron · 2nd–1st centuries BCE · Celtic worlds
Kalathos of Alcorisa · 2nd–1st centuries BCE · Iberians
Patera from Perotito · Second half of the 2nd–beginnings of the 1st century BCE · Iberians
Urewe vessel · regional range c. 800 BCE–650 CE · Bantu-speaking worlds
Two rows of coffins · Mainly Middle Yayoi, 2nd century BCE–1st century CE · Yayoi Japan
Ceramics that continued · Last third of the 2nd century BCE–1st century CE · Iberians
Roman glass oinochoe · Late 1st century BCE–early 1st century CE · Etruscans and Rome
Gladiators Cup of Chavagnes · 25–75 CE · Etruscans and Rome
Egyptian oil lamp with a fish, held in Laon · 3rd–4th centuries CE · Ancient Egypt
Laon lamp with fish · 3rd–4th centuries CE · Etruscans and Rome
Water in a shell · 1816–1826 · San histories

Without a comparable date (not part of the chronological order):

A Kerma vessel deposited at Abydos · Second Intermediate Period · Ancient Egypt
A tradition that invents · collected in 1993 or 1995 · Batwa / Twa histories
A vase travels; the rite changes · No individual dating published on this record · Iberians
Early pottery · before ca. 9400 cal BCE · Mande Worlds
Liédena Flask · Roman period · individual chronology not published in the entry · Etruscans and Rome
Made in Garama · I millennium BCE–I millennium CE · Garamantes
Oil in a calabash · ca. 1947 · Batwa / Twa histories
The unfinished gesture · 1947 · Batwa / Twa histories
Travelling objects · Mainly Roman period · Garamantes
Urns from Adichanallur · Iron Age · samples towards 665 and 467 BCE · Vedic and later Indian worlds
Vessels without a language · Urewe, broad regional range ca. 800 BCE–650 CE · Bantu-speaking worlds

Engraving

Engraved ochre from Blombos · ≈77,000–75,000 years · Prehistory
Altamira · Assemblage ≈36,000–13,000 BP · bison ≈18,400–15,300 cal BP · Prehistory
Lascaux · ≈23,500–21,000 cal BP · debated contextual estimate · Prehistory
Rondelle de Mas-d'Azil · ≈18,000–16,000 years · Prehistory
Lamp from La Mouthe · ≈20,500–13,000 years · Magdalenian framework · Prehistory
Engraved stone from Çakmaktepe · PPNA · site proposal: ≈9600–8800 BCE, provisional · Prehistory
Twin-chambered vessel from Cova de l’Or · Early Neolithic · VI–V millennia BCE · Prehistory
Before Nubia · V–IV millennium BCE · Nubia, Kerma and Kush — You are viewing
Before Gojoseon · Middle Neolithic, c. 4000 BCE · Gojoseon and early Korea
Cylinder seal · c. 3500–3100 BCE · Sumer
Guadancil idol-plaque · 3750–2500 cal BCE · Iberians
Staff of Anta 4 · Late 4th–first half of the 3rd millennium BCE. · Prehistory
Linear A · c. 1700–1500 BCE · Greek worlds
The Cascajal Block · Proposed c. 1000–900 BCE · Maya worlds
Las Limas · c. 1000–600 BCE · Maya worlds
Motagua jade · c. 900–600 BCE · Maya worlds
The Tello Obelisk · c. 800–500 BCE · Pre-Inca cultures
Twenty-six voiceless signs · 5th–4th centuries BCE · Scythians and Saka
The Raimondi Stele · c. 400–200 BCE according to MNAAHP · Pre-Inca cultures
Dove of the Amarejo · 3rd century BCE · Iberians
Urewe vessel · regional range c. 800 BCE–650 CE · Bantu-speaking worlds
Lukasa · 19th–20th centuries · Bantu-speaking worlds

Without a comparable date (not part of the chronological order):

A tradition that invents · collected in 1993 or 1995 · Batwa / Twa histories
Engraved stone · Before ≈39,000 cal BP · Prehistory
Ishango, without genealogical shortcut · More than 20,000 years; context ca. 25,000–20,000 BP · Batwa / Twa histories
Vessels without a language · Urewe, broad regional range ca. 800 BCE–650 CE · Bantu-speaking worlds
Writing with gaps · Diverse chronologies · Garamantes

A closer look

About 1 min to read · 1 section. Further reading and sources · free access. Editorial review recorded: September 5, 2026.

A settlement visible by the holes of its posts

The excavation of Pre-Kerma identified more than 250 storage pits and numerous holes where wooden posts once stood. Their groupings allow the recognition of huts, palisades, granaries and rectangular buildings: vanished architecture that can still be traced from the ground. The 1997 report situated this complex organisation around 3000 BCE and distinguished several occupations without demonstrating complete continuity between them. Later urbanism therefore had local antecedents, but the similarity of organisation does not prove an uninterrupted political succession.

Research · Matthieu Honegger · The Pre-Kerma Settlement, Genava 1997Access recorded: September 5, 2026.

The region before this culture

c. 8500–2500 BCE · Middle Nile, cataracts and corridors between present-day Sudan and Lower Nubia

c. 8500–6000 BCE · Debated
The Green Sahara
Fisher, hunter and gatherer groups moved across lakes and riverbanks with very early pottery; the chronology of initial herding remains debated.
c. 6000–3500 BCE · Documented
Aridification and return to the Nile
The gradual withdrawal of rains concentrated populations and herds beside the river and reinforced local ceramic traditions.
c. 3800–2500 BCE · Debated
A-Group and Pre-Kerma
Nubian networks mediated with Egypt while the Upper Nile accumulated the communities that preceded Kerma.

What changes and what we should not assume

Aridification concentrated people, herds and knowledge beside the river; these communities and regional networks prepared the social landscape from which Kerma arose.

A-Group and Pre-Kerma were not incomplete versions of Egypt nor a single ethnicity; their relations with Kerma include continuity, displacement and change still debated.

Geometric pottery of the Sudanese Neolithic

V–IV millennium BCE · Middle Nile, present-day Sudan

A set of handmade vessels covered with incised or stamped bands that turn the entire surface into rhythm. The decoration was obtained using combs, rocking motions and pressure on the wet clay. These pieces show a technical tradition proper to the middle Nile, preceding Kerma and much earlier than the Egyptian expansion southwards. At a glance they dismantle the idea of Nubia as a mere Egyptian periphery and restore prominence to an ancient local aesthetic.

The geometric patterns reveal technique and aesthetic choice, but do not allow the reconstruction of a symbolic code or an individual identity.

hand-modelled pottery, incised and stamped

Wikimedia Commons · Neolithic_pottery,_National_Museum_of_Sudan,_Khartoum,_Sudan,_North-East_Africa.jpg · Sue Fleckney · CC BY-SA 2.0

Time frame: c. 8500–2500 BCE
Documented fact 01: Sudanese pottery is among the earliest in Africa.
Documented fact 02: Livestock was central to economy and identity.
Documented fact 03: The A-Group was an indigenous Nubian tradition and also an intermediary with Egypt.

Sources and references

Expand this antecedent and consult its sources

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History and context

Evidence and interpretation

Catalogue facts

Before Nubia

Dolní Věstonice I

Before Sumer

Twin-chambered vessel from Cova de l’Or

Before Egypt

Before Nubia

Before Gojoseon

Bevel-rimmed bowl

Before Yayoi

Vasiliki

Before the Greeks

Cemetery R-37

Before Ancient China

Longshan

Kerma vessel

Burial at K IV

Before Vedic India

Osmankayası and Ilıca

Grey bowl from Hastinapura

Before Etruscans and Rome

The urn under the helmet

Ceramic stand 1010

Ishtar Gate

Glazed brick guards

Orpheus among the Thracians

The Attic krater that took on a new life in Cástulo

Thoth in the form of a baboon

Leipzig Fish Plate

Dove of the Amarejo

Vas dels Guerrers

Warriors' Vase

Northern mound

Kalathos of Alcorisa

Urewe vessel

Two rows of coffins

Ceramics that continued

Egyptian oil lamp with a fish, held in Laon

Laon lamp with fish

Kabusanza, ca. 400

Missing grave goods

A closer look

A settlement visible by the holes of its posts

The region before this culture

The Green Sahara

Aridification and return to the Nile

A-Group and Pre-Kerma

What changes and what we should not assume

Geometric pottery of the Sudanese Neolithic

Sources and references

Did you enjoy this exhibit?