A settlement on the river plain
Kerma lies south of the Nile’s Third Cataract in present-day northern Sudan, where an alluvial plain meets arid surroundings. Water and cultivable land attracted long-term settlement. The archaeological mission dates the ancient city’s principal occupation to approximately 2500–1500 BCE.
Regional surveys show shifting river channels and earlier settlements concentrating toward usable water sources. Kerma continued older village traditions, organizing agriculture, storage and public buildings within a denser urban space.
From wood and earth to mudbrick houses
Early buildings used posts and earth; mudbrick became increasingly important. Middle Kerma houses were often rectangular. Classic-period layouts included two ranges of rooms across a courtyard, while some wooden and earthen buildings remained in use. Construction changed gradually within the same city.
Houses, storage and access routes were interconnected. Excavation plans reveal streets between residences and buildings around the public center. Rebuilt defenses preserve different phases of walls, bastions and entrances.
The Deffufa at the center
Repeated rebuilding of the principal sanctuary produced the massive mudbrick structure now called the Western Deffufa. Chapels, stores and workshops surrounded it, with a palace and a large circular building nearby; archaeologists interpret the latter as a royal audience or gathering space.
The Deffufa remained central to the city and its circulation routes. Continued construction brought ritual, authority and provisioning into a public district with several uses.
Pottery workshops near houses
Pottery production left direct traces near residences. Excavators identified reddened brick walls, accumulated ash and round or oval installations, interpreting some as firing facilities. One workshop also had a kiln with a firebox and firing floor.
Circular vessel-base impressions survived on hardened ash surfaces nearby. Researchers suggest that potters used these supports to shape vessels. The workshop remains link preparation, shaping and firing, showing production embedded within urban residential space.
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Herds and wider connections
Domestic animals dominate the city’s faunal remains, with cattle, sheep and goats important. Cattle skulls placed around tombs show herds participating in funerals and the expression of status as well as food supply. Researchers suggest that some animals may have arrived from farther afield.
Seal impressions also document the management of goods. Kerma connected surrounding settlements, Nile transport and Egypt; goods from different sources joined local craft products in the city. Food production, workshops and material flows supported this early Upper Nubian center.