Nubia is the name given since the Middle Ages to the region along the Nile between Aswan (in Egypt) and Khartoum (in Sudan). Sudan In contrast to the widespread and fertile Egyptian valley, the Nile in Nubia becomes narrower and flows between steep banks that make agricultural and cattle exploitation very difficult, except in a few areas. As a consequence, the resources that roused the interest of Egyptian monarchs were of a very different nature: copper, hard stone, semi-precious stones and especially gold Nubia is divided in two distinct geographical and cultural regions. Lower Nubia, which lies between the first and second cataracts, fell under Egyptian influence with the first dynasties and was occupied during the New Kingdom. Upper Nubia, which extended south of the second cataract along the Nile down to the sixth cataract, was the cradle of two major states: the Kingdom of Kerma. conquered by Egypt in 1500 B.C.; and the Kingdom of Kush, conquered by Egypt between 728 and 662 B.C., during the 25th dynasty. Kingdom of Kush In the 6th century B.C., Egyptian armies invaded Upper Nubia and destroyed the city of Napata, capital of Kush. The Kushite monarchy had to move further south to Meroë, in the fifth cataract. In spite of these defeats, Meroitic kings continued to see themselves as the true heirs of the Egyptian monarchy.