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.