Mesoamerica: Archaic and Preclassic Periods which the Atbara and the Blue Nile join with the main stream of the White Nile is known as ‘the island of Meroë.’” According to the article “Kush, Meroë, and Nubia” in the Library of Congress’ Sudan: A Country Study (1991), “During the height of its power in the second and third centuries B.C., Meroë extended over a region from the third cataract in the north to Sawba, near present-day Khartoum, in the south.” The very distance south gave Meroë some protection from invasion from Egypt in the north After Cambyses II, son of Cyrus II of Persia, invaded Egypt in 525 b.c.e., an army he sent into the desert simply disappeared— one of the great mysteries of history With the city of Napata as capital, the rulers at Meroë kept memories of pharoanic Egypt alive, and in early days patterned their court after the Egyptian court After the suicide of Cleopatra in 30 b.c.e., Egypt was ruled by the Rome of Octavian, who was strong enough to reassert power in Upper Egypt, which had become a raiding ground for Meroitic armies A Roman punitive expedition in 23 b.c.e razed Napata Meroë never recovered from the Roman incursion, and by the second century c.e the Nobatae, nomads from the west were able to establish themselves as rulers of Meroë The Roman Empire, however, faced with Germanic invasion and the continuing fight against Parthia in the east, was happy to subsidize the Nobatae as allies and use them to defend Roman Egypt’s southern frontier By this time, however, Ethiopia had become a regional power, in the kingdom of Axum Axum first appeared around 500 b.c.e and thrived in its position on the trade routes from the Middle East, through Arabia from Yemen to the south, and with Egypt Axum was one of the most diverse of the early kingdoms, becoming a commercial and administrative center By this time Rome faced severe pressure throughout its empire and could devote less energy to the Nobatae, Meroë, or the frontiers of Egypt Constantine the Great died in 337 c.e., and a struggle for succession ensued Seizing the moment, Axum invaded Meroë in about 350 and conquered it, destroying Meroë as an independent state However, as Karl W Butzer noted in 1981, Axum too would suffer eclipse largely due to “environmental degradation and precipitous demographic decline.” By about 800 Axum had virtually ceased to exist See also Egypt, culture and religion; Ethiopia, ancient; Yemen Further reading: Butzer, Karl W “Rise and Fall of Axum: Ethiopia: A Geo-Archaeological Interpretation.” American Antiquities (v.46/3, 1981); Gardiner, Alan Egypt of the 273 Pharaohs New York: Oxford University Press, 1964; Grimal, Nicolas A History of Ancient Egypt Trans by Ian Shaw Oxford: Blackwell, 1998; Reader, John Africa: A Biography of the Continent New York: Vintage, 1991 John F Murphy, Jr Mesoamerica: Archaic and Preclassic Periods The geographical region and culture zone called Mesoamerica (literally, “Middle America”) extends from present-day central and southern Mexico as far south as northern Nicaragua (approximately 21 to 13 degrees north latitude) The Archaic Period (8000–2000 b.c.e.) in this vast and variegated region was characterized by the first emergence of settled communities and agriculture The Preclassic Period is conventionally subdivided into Early (2000–1000 b.c.e.), Middle (1000–400 b.c.e.), Late (400 b.c.e.–100 c.e.), and Terminal Preclassic (100–250 c.e.) Economic, political, and cultural developments in each of these periods are marked by both broad similarities and regional variations—periods most fruitfully seen as convenient dating devices rather than fixed horizons characterized by definitive shifts Four major Mesoamerican cultural complexes emerged during the Preclassic: the Olmecs along the Gulf of Mexico littoral, in the Valley of Oaxaca, in the Valley of Mexico, and further east and south in the Maya zone ARCHAIC PERIOD In the early Archaic Period people in various parts of Mesoamerica initiated a shift from nomadic hunting and gathering to more territorially based specialized foraging, a prolonged process culminating in sedentary agriculture The first permanent villages appeared along the Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean, and Pacific seacoasts early in the Archaic, likely a result of the relative abundance of maritime food resources in these areas Sites demonstrating year-round occupation during the Archaic include Cerro de las Conchas on the Chiapas coast, several along the Caribbean coast in contemporary Belize, and inland along rivers at Colha and Cobweb Swamp While the precise origins of Mesoamerican agriculture remain obscure, scholars agree that over many generations people in two principal regions domesticated several species of wild plants during the Archaic that later served as the agricultural basis of Preclassic and Classic Mesoamerican civilizations, most notably maize, squash, beans, and chili peppers, usually grown