1000 BC to 1500

Beyond the Sudd

For thousands of years cattle herders and farmers have lived on the plains and floodlands of the upper Nile, following the rise and fall of the river. The vast Sudd swamp cuts them off from Kush and the Christian Nubian kingdoms to the north. Over the centuries Nilotic peoples spread across the region, and Luo speaking groups move south toward today's Uganda and Kenya.