A great fort erected beside the Second Cataract of the Nile in Sudanese Nubia, apparently to defend the southern limit of Egyptian pentration under the Middle Kingdom. At least in later times this and neighbouring forts seem to have served primarily as trading stations, ensuring that trade with more southerly regions of the Nile Valley remained in Egyptian hands.
The Macmillan dictionary of archaeology, Ruth D. Whitehouse, 1983Copied