Made from about 1900 B.C. to 1500 B.C. — the 400 years the gold-processing center was in operation — the graves feature the characteristic Kushite funerary practice, appearing as closely packed circular shafts lined with stone.
Among the artifacts found in the burial grounds were pottery vessels and objects that appear to have been made in the center of the kingdom, a city called Kerma, some 225 miles downstream.
Apart from one tiny gold bead, there was no trace of gold objects in the burials, suggesting that the precious metal was not used locally. The residents simply shipped their gold to Kerma, according to Emberling.
"In exchange, they received a few high-status, symbolic gifts such as fine ceramic vessels and faience (earthenwater) scarab seals. It appears to have been a system of unequal exchange of precious objects, rather than extensive payments in subsistence goods, that connected these areas," Emberling said.
The discovery is giving Kush some prominence outside the shadow of Egypt, according to Gil Stein, director of the Oriental Institute in Chicago.
"Until now, virtually all that we have known about Kush came from the historical records of their Egyptian neighbors, and from limited explorations of monumental architecture at the Kushite capital city Kerma," Stein said in a statement. "The excavations at Hosh el-Geruf will allow scholars to understand the rural sources of the riches of Kush."
