Ancient Nubia provides a clear and up-to-date account of the past of Nubia, both in Egypt and in the Sudan, from the earliest human activity known there in old Stone Age times to the coming of Islam in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries AD. The archaeology and ancient history have been obscure until very recently, and this book fills a gap in making the story of Nubia more widely known.

In non-technical language, the book shows the main results of archaeological and historical research from the nineteenth century beginnings of such studies until the present day. For much of this time, Nubia was an archaeological backwater, but the work during the Aswan High Dam salvage campaign brought it to the world's attention. Interest is now growing rapidly, with several world-class museums opening exhibitions and galleries devoted to Nubian material.

Ancient Nubia provides background and detailed information, aimed at the general reader and undergraduates, on the Nubian past, dealing with the area's first contacts with Egypt, the beginnings of urban life, Egyptian occupation in the New Kingdom, the growth of an independent state, Napata and Meroe, Christian Nubia and Islam.

It describes the country and the people, and gives details of the monuments and artefacts of the ancient Nubians and their fascinating culture, which survived centuries of change and periods of foreign rule.