{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,10]],"date-time":"2026-06-10T16:18:20Z","timestamp":1781108300326,"version":"3.54.1"},"reference-count":48,"publisher":"National Academy of Sciences","issue":"18","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,27]],"date-time":"2026-04-27T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1777248000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/100016653","name":"Rust Family Foundation","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["RFF-2023-209"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["RFF-2023-209"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100016653","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"name":"Kitty Picken","award":["n\/a"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["n\/a"]}]},{"name":"Roger and Ann Cogswell","award":["n\/a"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["n\/a"]}]},{"name":"Steve Klinksy","award":["n\/a"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["n\/a"]}]},{"name":"Kelsey Museum of Archaeology","award":["n\/a"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["n\/a"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.pnas.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A."],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,5]]},"abstract":"<jats:p>The Nile River played a central role in ancient civilizations of Northeast Africa, yet its response to Holocene climate change and its impact on societies along its course remain poorly understood. Here we show how climatic and environmental changes over the past 12,500 y shaped the riverine landscape below the Nile\u2019s Fourth Cataract and affected the Nubian empire of Kush in northern Sudan. Using 26 sediment cores dated by optically stimulated luminescence and radiocarbon, with additional chronological constraints from pottery typology, we reconstruct the evolution of the Nile near Napata, the major urban center of ancient Kush at Jebel Barkal (near present-day Karima). Napata, renowned for its pyramids, temples, and palaces, flourished from about 1070 BCE to 350 CE and is now a UNESCO World Heritage site. Our results reveal that the Early\u2013Middle Holocene Nile deeply incised its valley, followed by widespread floodplain buildup around 4,000 y ago as rainfall and river flow patterns changed. During the Late Holocene, the Nile River near Jebel Barkal remained remarkably stable, due to its narrow valley with constrained outflow and enhanced sediment deposition from upstream energy dissipation at the cataract. This long-term stability promoted fertile floodplain development and, together with the sacred prominence of Jebel Barkal, fostered enduring settlement and ritual activity. These findings demonstrate how hydroclimatic change, geomorphic stability, and cultural adaptation were intertwined in shaping the environmental foundation of ancient Nubia.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1073\/pnas.2529986123","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,27]],"date-time":"2026-04-27T19:05:09Z","timestamp":1777316709000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1073\/pnas.cm10313","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Holocene Nile dynamics shaped the physical and cultural landscape of ancient Nubia"],"prefix":"10.1073","volume":"123","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1032-8224","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jan","family":"Peeters","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Jebel Barkal Archaeological Project, Kelsey Museum of Archaeology, College of Literature, Science, and the Arts, University of Michigan","place":["Ann Arbor"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0207-4655","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Timotheus G.","family":"Winkels","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Jebel Barkal Archaeological Project, Kelsey Museum of Archaeology, College of Literature, Science, and the Arts, University of Michigan","place":["Ann Arbor"]},{"name":"Water & Environment Group, Transport and Infrastructure, William Sale Partnership","place":["Nieuwegein, The Netherlands"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5235-3057","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Pawel","family":"Wolf","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Jebel Barkal Archaeological Project, Kelsey Museum of Archaeology, College of Literature, Science, and the Arts, University of Michigan","place":["Ann Arbor"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0007-4451-1039","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Tim B. B.","family":"Skuldb\u00f8l","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Jebel Barkal Archaeological Project, Kelsey Museum of Archaeology, College of Literature, Science, and the Arts, University of Michigan","place":["Ann Arbor"]},{"name":"House on the Hill\u2014A Danish Archaeological Research and Consultancy Unit","place":["Glesborg, Denmark"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3870-5060","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Elizabeth L.","family":"Chamberlain","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Netherlands Centre for Luminescence dating, Wageningen University","place":["Wageningen, The Netherlands"]},{"name":"Soil Geography & Landscape Group, Soil Science cluster, Wageningen University","place":["Wageningen, The Netherlands"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4909-2500","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Saskia","family":"B\u00fcchner-Matthews","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Jebel Barkal Archaeological Project, Kelsey Museum of Archaeology, College of Literature, Science, and the Arts, University of Michigan","place":["Ann Arbor"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Sami M.","family":"Elamin","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Jebel Barkal Archaeological Project, Kelsey Museum of Archaeology, College of Literature, Science, and the Arts, University of Michigan","place":["Ann Arbor"]},{"name":"National Corporation for Antiquities and Museums","place":["Khartoum, Sudan"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"El-Hassan A.","family":"Mohamed","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Jebel Barkal Archaeological Project, Kelsey Museum of Archaeology, College of Literature, Science, and the Arts, University of Michigan","place":["Ann Arbor"]},{"name":"National Corporation for Antiquities and Museums","place":["Khartoum, Sudan"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4811-4029","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Geoff","family":"Emberling","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Jebel Barkal Archaeological Project, Kelsey Museum of Archaeology, College of Literature, Science, and the Arts, University of Michigan","place":["Ann Arbor"]},{"name":"Kelsey Museum of Archaeology, College of Literature, Science, and the Arts, University of Michigan","place":["Ann Arbor"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"341","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,27]]},"reference":[{"key":"e_1_3_4_1_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.earscirev.2018.01.010"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_2_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1126\/science.1130989"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_3_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1007\/s10437-015-9191-x"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_4_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.4324\/9780203482766"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_5_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1038\/ngeo2329"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_6_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.epsl.2015.12.014"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_7_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0076514"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_8_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.oneear.2020.03.002"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_9_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1126\/science.1154913"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_10_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.quascirev.2011.07.006"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_11_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.epsl.2013.01.009"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_12_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.quascirev.2015.05.031"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_13_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.quascirev.2015.09.024"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_14_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.quascirev.2015.10.030"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_15_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1038\/s41561-024-01471-9"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_16_2","first-page":"73","article-title":"Jebel Barkal 2018\u20132023: New research on the Napatan and Meroitic city","volume":"28","author":"Emberling G.","year":"2024","unstructured":"G. Emberling , Jebel Barkal 2018\u20132023: New research on the Napatan and Meroitic city. Sudan Nubia 28, 73\u201398 (2024).","journal-title":"Sudan Nubia"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_17_2","first-page":"159","volume-title":"Nubia in the New Kingdom: Lived Experience, Pharaonic Control and Indigenous Traditions","author":"Kendall T.","year":"2017","unstructured":"T. Kendall, A. El-H, H. Mohamed, J. Wilson, D. Klotz. Haynes, \u201cJebel Barkal in the New Kingdom: An emerging picture\u201d in Nubia in the New Kingdom: Lived Experience, Pharaonic Control and Indigenous Traditions, N. Spencer, A. Stevens, M. Binder, Eds. (British Museum Publications on Egypt and Sudan\/Peeters, 2017), vol. 3, pp. 159\u2013192."},{"key":"e_1_3_4_18_2","first-page":"82","volume-title":"The Oxford History of the Ancient Near East","author":"Emberling G.","year":"2023","unstructured":"G. Emberling, \u201cKush under the Dynasty of Napata\u201d in The Oxford History of the Ancient Near East, K. Radner, N. Moeller, D. T. Potts, Eds. (Oxford University Press, 2023), pp. 82\u2013160."},{"key":"e_1_3_4_19_2","first-page":"115","article-title":"The Qatar-Sudan Archaeological Project\u2014The Meroitic town of Hamadab and the Palaeo-environment of the Meroe region","volume":"19","author":"Wolf P.","year":"2015","unstructured":"P. Wolf, The Qatar-Sudan Archaeological Project\u2014The Meroitic town of Hamadab and the Palaeo-environment of the Meroe region. Sudan Nubia 19, 115\u2013131 (2015).","journal-title":"Sudan Nubia"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_20_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1484\/M.NUBIA-EB.5.128053"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_21_2","first-page":"15","volume-title":"Archaeology by the Fourth Nile Cataract: Survey and Excavations on the Left Bank of the River and on the Islands between Amri and Kirbekan","author":"Wolf P.","year":"2023","unstructured":"P. Wolf, B. Gabriel, R. Bussert, R. Schomacker, \u201cThe landscape of the Fourth Nile Cataract and its geomorphologic evolution\u201d in Archaeology by the Fourth Nile Cataract: Survey and Excavations on the Left Bank of the River and on the Islands between Amri and Kirbekan, D. A. Welsby, Ed. (Archaeopress, 2023), pp. 15\u201345."},{"key":"e_1_3_4_22_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1130\/G34037.1"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_23_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.quascirev.2015.10.040"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_24_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.quascirev.2010.02.018"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_25_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1002\/gea.21631"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_26_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1002\/gea.21894"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_27_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1038\/s41561-024-01451-z"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_28_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.15184\/aqy.2025.10185"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_29_2","first-page":"50","article-title":"Settlement in the heartland of Napatan Kush: Preliminary results of magnetic gradiometry at El-Kurru, Jebel Barkal and Sanam","volume":"20","author":"Tucker G.","year":"2016","unstructured":"G. Tucker, G. Emberling, Settlement in the heartland of Napatan Kush: Preliminary results of magnetic gradiometry at El-Kurru, Jebel Barkal and Sanam. Sudan Nubia 20, 50\u201356 (2016).","journal-title":"Sudan Nubia"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_30_2","volume-title":"The River Nile: Geology, Hydrology and Utilization","author":"Said R.","year":"1993","unstructured":"R. Said, The River Nile: Geology, Hydrology and Utilization (Pergamon, 1993)."},{"key":"e_1_3_4_31_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.quascirev.2015.02.004"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_32_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.5194\/cp-15-555-2019"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_33_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.earscirev.2025.105128"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_34_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1051\/0004-6361:20041335"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_35_2","first-page":"59","article-title":"Molecular records of climate variability and vegetation response since the late Pleistocene in the Lake Victoria basin","volume":"55","author":"Berke M. A.","year":"2012","unstructured":"M. A. Berke , Molecular records of climate variability and vegetation response since the late Pleistocene in the Lake Victoria basin. East Africa. Q. Sci. Rev. 55, 59\u201374 (2012).","journal-title":"East Africa. Q. Sci. Rev."},{"key":"e_1_3_4_36_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3389\/feart.2020.585770"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_37_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.quascirev.2021.107012"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_38_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/S0012-8252(03)00078-3"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_39_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1111\/ecog.04990"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_40_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.quascirev.2017.09.016"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_41_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1038\/s43247-024-01379-7"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_42_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jasrep.2019.03.003"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_43_2","first-page":"320","article-title":"Excavations at Gebel Barkal, 1996. Report of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Sudan Mission","volume":"17","author":"Kendall T.","year":"1997","unstructured":"T. Kendall, Excavations at Gebel Barkal, 1996. Report of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Sudan Mission. Kush 17, 320\u2013354 (1997).","journal-title":"Kush"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_44_2","first-page":"85","article-title":"Defining a city in Napatan Kush: Geophysical prospection at Sanam","volume":"23","author":"Tucker G.","year":"2019","unstructured":"G. Tucker, I. Vincentelli, G. Emberling, Defining a city in Napatan Kush: Geophysical prospection at Sanam. Sudan Nubia 23, 85\u201394 (2019).","journal-title":"Sudan Nubia"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_45_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1038\/s41467-017-00957-y"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_46_2","volume-title":"Soil Survey Manual","author":"Ditzler C.","year":"2017","unstructured":"C. Ditzler, K. Scheffe, H. C. Monger, Eds., Soil Survey Manual (U.S. Department of Agriculture, 2017)."},{"key":"e_1_3_4_47_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1017\/RDC.2020.41"},{"key":"e_1_3_4_48_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1002\/2013PA002553"}],"container-title":["Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/pnas.org\/doi\/pdf\/10.1073\/pnas.2529986123","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,5]],"date-time":"2026-05-05T15:01:04Z","timestamp":1777993264000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/pnas.org\/doi\/10.1073\/pnas.2529986123"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,27]]},"references-count":48,"journal-issue":{"issue":"18","published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,5]]}},"alternative-id":["10.1073\/pnas.2529986123"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1073\/pnas.2529986123","relation":{},"ISSN":["0027-8424","1091-6490"],"issn-type":[{"value":"0027-8424","type":"print"},{"value":"1091-6490","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,27]]},"assertion":[{"value":"2025-10-21","order":0,"name":"received","label":"Received","group":{"name":"publication_history","label":"Publication History"}},{"value":"2026-03-10","order":2,"name":"accepted","label":"Accepted","group":{"name":"publication_history","label":"Publication History"}},{"value":"2026-04-27","order":3,"name":"published","label":"Published","group":{"name":"publication_history","label":"Publication History"}}],"article-number":"e2529986123"}}