Art: New Light on a Dark Kingdom

A glittering trove of Nubian objects in Brooklyn

The slow flooding of the Nile Valley southward from Aswan's High Dam drowned many Egyptian-built temples and, in effect, the whole of ancient Lower Nubia. But instead of a total loss, the result has been something of a windfall. For the threat inspired 30 expeditions from 25 countries to excavate frantically ahead of the advancing waters, turning up a largesse of Nubian finds that gave added weight to a long held thesis: that Nubia, which extended 1,000 miles south of Aswan in what is now...

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