What was the purpose of Egyptian forts in Nubia?

Most of the Egyptian forts in Nubia were built between 1962-1878 BCE. They were strongly defensible, featuring crenelations, dry moats and ramparts. They housed barracks, storage spaces, administrative buildings, and temples. Situated on Nilotic banks or islands, they also had docking stations for boats. They functioned as satellite centers reporting to the vizier (governor) of the Southern City (Thebes), regulating  trade, mining and shipping activities in the colonized south. The forts were also military bases involved in controlling the movements and resources of the colonized, embargoing non-Egyptian boats headed north, and violently suppressing resistance. Further they served as ideological tools, attempting to alter local collective memory and a sense of place. Scan the blue QR code nearby to listen to a text from the Semna fort. Scan the red QR code nearby to see these forts looked like.