The Kerma culture or the Kingdom of Kerma was an early civilization centered in Kerma, Sudan, in ancient Nubia. The culture developed from around 2500 BC, reaching its peak between 1750 BC and 1500 BC. The Kerma culture was based in the southern part of Nubia, or "Upper Nubia", and later extended its reach northward into Lower Nubia and the border of Egypt. The polity seems to have been one of a number of Nile Valley states during the Middle Kingdom of Egypt. The Kerma civilization was an ethnic melting pot, with origins tied to a complex web of cultures native to both the Sahara, and, farther south, parts of Central Africa, as well to as peoples originating from the Levant. In the Kingdom of Kerma's latest phase, lasting from about 1700 to 1500 BC, it absorbed the Sudanese kingdom of Sai and became a sizable, populous kingdom rivalling Egypt. Around 1500 BC, it was absorbed into the New Kingdom of Egypt, but rebellions continued for centuries.