Qasr Ibrim: 5000 years of cultural continuity and change in Nubia
11-12-2009 Taffeh-zaal Rijksmuseum van Oudheden
During the first half on the twentieth century, the course of Nubian cultural development was generally understood in terms of what I call a “migrationist” model. That is, each major cultural change, over a period of 5,000 years, was attributed to the coming of a new people bringing new cultural practices. When I began to work in the area in 1959, however, I very soon became dissatisfied with this mode of explanation. To my anthropologist’s eye there was much more similarity than difference between each cultural period and the next. I began therefore to advocate a “continuationist” model of explanation in which Nubian prehistory and history are seen as a continuum of cultural development, among a single people, in which migrations have played only a minor part.
The continuationist model has found general acceptance and is today the standard paradigm for understanding Nubian prehistory and history. In the present lecture I will offer an overview of that development during the last 5,000 years, identifying the major cultural changes and their probable source, as well as the things that have not changed.
Dr. W.Y. Adams, anthropologist and archaeologist, is considered the Nestor of Nubian studies.
This lecture forms part of the symposium "Qasr Ibrim, between Egypt and Africa: A case study of cultural exchange".
Deze Engelstalige lezing wordt gehouden op vrijdagavond 11 december 2009 in de Taffeh-zaal van het Rijksmuseum van Oudheden.