There were not many differences between Egypt and Nubia, but the ones that existed were significant enough to constitute their authority as separate ancient states. The Nile River, the lifeblood of the two civilizations and their founding site, had great impact on both societies through their use of it for irrigation and transportation. Despite the difference in availability of information and written records between the two civilizations, scholars today are still able to infer, and sometimes figure out, what the differences between the societies were based off recovered artifacts. Egypt had many more written records than Nubia, probably because Egypt adopted hieroglyphic writing about 3200 BCE, and Nubia adopted their own writing system of Meroitic about 500 BC, though this Meroitic writing still is not understandable by scholars. The differences, nonetheless, were visible and pronounced in each society, and led to different economic, social, and political standards and cultural practices in each state.
The economic differences between Nubia and Egypt were mostly seen through trade, though they also revealed themselves through other means. First of all, the two countries traded different items and served as trade “corridors” to each other. Egypt had no route to the rest of Africa except through Nubia, and Nubia had no route to Asia except through Egypt. They depended on one another for their cooperation, though that isn’t to say they went without their quarrels.
The next aspect of Nubian and Egyptian difference, despite their abundant similarities, was their social and political organization. At the bottom of the social hierarchy came peasants and slaves; these supplied the hard labor for the agricultural societies of Egypt and Nubia. Next came the governmental and military workers. Egypt was organized into a complex bureaucracy that gave positions of power based on merit, not birth. This gave more people of common birth a chance to advance in society, a feature very different from most ancient societies. Almost immediately after the peasants and government workers came the rulers, or ruler in Egypt’s case. The Egyptian leader, the pharaoh, was theoretically an absolute leader, which did not give much room for a class of nobles as in other ancient societies. The pharaohs built giant tombs for themselves called pyramids, which still stand today as testament to their power. Meanwhile, Nubia was organized into a kingdom, which meant the ruling class was made up of a king and his nobles who supervised the lower classes. Nubia’s social organization was resemblant of Mesopotamia’s, despite the fact that it was farther away than Egypt. Nubian rulers did not build giant pyramids, but still organized lavish smaller pyramids for themselves with riches stored inside. Despite these differences, patriarchal societies emerged in both Egypt and Nubia. Men governed their households and their countries, with little exception, though women still had more influence in society than in Mesopotamia.
Finally, the differences in culture between Egypt and Nubia were obvious and notable. Writing, specifically, was a major cultural difference between these two societies. Egypt, a country famous for its pictographic and ideographic hieroglyphic writing, developed this form of communication by 3200 BCE, possibly as a result of Mesopotamian influence. However, hieroglyphics were cumbersome and time-consuming to write in, so Hieratic emerged at almost the same time as hieroglyphics as a more simple and condensed way of writing than the “priestly” script. While Nubia initially adopted all Egyptian ways of writing and communication, they later developed their own way of communicating. This new form of communication was called Meroitic, and it was so unique from all other ancient languages that scholars are still not able to understand it today. The religions of the two societies were also very different, though Egyptian influence shone through in Nubian religion. Egyptian religion was largely based off sun cults, such as those of Amon, Re, and Aten, though cults such as those of Osiris also emerged. Mummification was also a practice frequented by the wealthy and influential in Egypt, as it was believed to facilitate the transition of the body from one life to another. Nubian religious practices, while adopting some of the same gods and rituals as Egypt, also developed its own distinct gods and customs.
The differences of Egypt and Nubia were not clear on the surface. Egypt wielded great influence over Nubia in its early, weaker days, in all aspects of the Nubian society. However, later in history, Nubia was able to build more of its own culture, and ended up being a distinct, individual, and important society in ancient history.
