Kerma is one of the largest archaeological sites in ancient Nubia, located along the Nile in northern Sudan roughly 400 miles from Khartoum. It served as the capital of the Kingdom of Kerma and, according to archaeologist Abdelrahman Ali — former director of Sudan's Department of Antiquities — was the largest city on the African continent around 2500 BC. The site's most dramatic surviving feature is the Western Deffufa, a massive mud-brick temple that stands approximately 65 feet tall and was once honeycombed with an intricate network of chambers and corridors. Archaeological work has uncovered thousands of graves and tombs alongside the residential foundations of what was clearly a complex, stratified urban society. Gates made the punishing roughly 400-mile desert crossing from Khartoum to reach this site while tracing the roots of the Kingdom of Kush for Expedition Unknown.
First human settlement at the Kerma locale by hunter-gatherers during the Mesolithic period, per Wikipedia.
Pre-Kerma culture begins taking root in the region, laying the foundations for the later capital city.
Agriculture develops and a sustained cultural tradition begins to form around Kerma.
A full state society flourishes at Kerma, including evidence of copper metallurgy and large-scale royal burials.
The Western Deffufa mud-brick temple is built; a significant shift away from cattle breeding is evidenced in the archaeological record.
Kerma is sacked and burned by Egyptian pharaoh Thutmose I, ending the city's role as a regional power.
Harvard-trained American archaeologist George Reisner conducts excavations at the site.
Josh Gates investigates Kerma in Expedition Unknown Season 12, Episode 1.
Abdelrahman Ali, archaeologist and former director of Sudan's Department of Antiquities, serves as Gates' on-site guide at Kerma. Ali places the city's founding at around 2500 BC and emphasizes to Gates that at its peak Kerma was the largest city on the African continent — a point Gates receives with visible surprise, noting its contemporaneity with Egypt's pyramid age. Ali also frames the Western Deffufa as the largest structure in sub-Saharan Africa at the time, underscoring just how sophisticated and independent this civilization was.
Mainstream archaeology holds that Kerma was not a peripheral outpost of Egyptian influence but the capital of a genuinely autonomous and powerful state — the Kingdom of Kerma — whose roots in the pre-Kerma culture extend back to c. 3500 BC. Wikipedia's record of the site confirms thousands of graves and tombs, evidence of copper metallurgy from c. 2200–2000 BC, and residential quarters surrounding the Deffufa, all pointing to a stratified urban society. The city's eventual destruction by Egyptian pharaoh Thutmose I around 1500 BC speaks to the threat it posed to Egyptian dominance in the Nile corridor.
One of the more telling details the episode surfaces is the initial misreading of the site by George Reisner, who excavated Kerma between 1916 and 1923 and reportedly assumed the Deffufa was Egyptian in origin. This reflects a broader historical pattern in which the sophistication of sub-Saharan African civilizations was incorrectly attributed to outside influence — a framing mainstream Sudanese and international archaeologists have worked to correct over subsequent decades.
Gates' episode does not claim any new archaeological discovery at Kerma; the site has been extensively studied for over a century. What the segment contributes is visibility — bringing a genuinely remarkable and underappreciated ancient city to a wide audience, framed through expert testimony rather than speculation. The episode explores how Kerma challenges simplistic narratives about where early complex civilization developed in Africa.
The locale that is now Kerma was first settled by hunter-gatherers around 8350 BC, making the site's human occupation history stretching back over ten millennia.
Evidence for copper metallurgy at Kerma appears from approximately 2200–2000 BC, indicating an advanced level of technological development for the period.
When American archaeologist George Reisner first excavated the site between 1916 and 1923, he initially believed the Deffufa had been constructed by Egyptians rather than by an independent Nubian civilization.
According to Wikipedia, Kerma is considered one of the largest archaeological sites in ancient Nubia, having produced decades of extensive excavations including thousands of graves and tombs.
Kerma is generally accessible to visitors traveling through northern Sudan, though travelers should check current entry requirements and local advisories before planning a trip. The site includes the imposing Western Deffufa and the foundations of the ancient city, and a local museum provides further context on the excavations and finds. As with most archaeological sites in the region, guided visits are advisable to orient yourself among the sprawling ruins.
Khartoum, Sudan, approximately 400 miles to the south — the closest major international hub, though the town of Kerma itself is near Dongola, which is considerably closer.
The cooler months between November and February offer the most tolerable conditions for visiting this desert region, as summer temperatures in the Nubian Desert can be extreme. Avoiding the peak heat of July and August is strongly recommended.
Kingdom of Kush Pyramid Tombs
The Kingdom of Kush Pyramid Tombs are the direct successor civilization to Kerma's Kingdom of Kush, and Gates has investigated Kushite sites along the same Nile corridor in Sudan.
Alexandria
Alexandria represents the broader ancient North African world that Gates has explored, connecting Egypt and its southern neighbors across millennia of shared and contested Nile Valley history.
Ancient Egyptian tomb (Moses investigation)
The Ancient Egyptian tomb investigation connects thematically to Kerma through the Egyptian pharaoh Thutmose I's destruction of the city, placing both sites within Gates' broader exploration of Egypt-Nubia relations.
Historical data sourced from Wikipedia