political force between 2450 and 1450 BC, controlling the Nile Valley between the first and fourth cataracts, an area as large as Egypt. The Egyptians were the first to identify Kerma as "Kush" probably from the indigenous ethnonym "Kasu", and over the next several centuries the two civilizations engaged in intermittent warfare, trade, and cultural exchange.

Much of Nubia came under Egyptian rule during the New Kingdom period (1550-1070 BC). Following