View source for History:Kingdom of Kush

{{Short description|c. 780 BCE – c. 350 AD kingdom in Nubia, northeast Africa}}

{{Infobox Former Country
| native_name            = ''Qes''{{nbsp|2}}([[Social:Meroitic language|Meroitic]]){{small|{{sfn|Török|1998|loc=p. 2 (1997 ed.)}}}}
| conventional_long_name = Kingdom of Kush
| common_name            = Kush
| region                 = 
| era                    = [[History:Bronze Age|Bronze Age]] to Late Antiquity
| status                 = 
| status_text            = 
| empire                 = 
| government_type        = Monarchy
| year_start             = {{Circa|780 BC}}&nbsp;
| year_end               = &nbsp;{{Circa|AD 350}}<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Kuckertz |first=Josefine |date=2021 |title=Meroe and Egypt |url=https://escholarship.org/uc/item/6061m848 |journal=UCLA Encyclopedia of Egyptology |language=en |pages=22}}</ref>
| event_start            = Established
| date_start             = 
| event_end              = Disestablished
| date_end               = 
| event1                 = Capital moved to Meroe
| date_event1            = 591 BC
| event_pre              = 
| date_pre               = 
| event_post             = 
| date_post              = 
| p1                     = New Kingdom of Egypt
| flag_p1                = 
| s1                     = Alodia
| flag_s1                = Approximate extension of Alodia based on accounts of Ibn Hawqal.png
| s2                     = Makuria
| flag_s2                = The flag of the 'Kingdom of Dongola' (Makuria) in the "Book of all kingdoms" (C. 1350).png
| s3                     = Nobatia
| flag_s3                = 
| s4                     = Kingdom of Aksum
| flag_s4                = Endubis.jpg
| s5                     = X-Group culture
| flag_s5                = 
| image_flag             = 
| flag                   = 
| flag_type              = 
| image_coat             = 
| symbol                 = 
| symbol_type            = 
| image_map              = File:Kushite heartland and Kushite Empire of the 25th dynasty circa 700 BCE.jpg
| image_map_caption      = Kushite heartland, and Kushite Empire of the Twenty-fifth Dynasty of Egypt, circa 700 BC.<ref>{{Cite journal |title=Dive beneath the pyramids of Sudan's black pharaohs |journal=National Geographic |date=2 July 2019 |url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/2019/07/dive-ancient-pyramid-nuri-sudan/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190702180435/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/2019/07/dive-ancient-pyramid-nuri-sudan/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=July 2, 2019 |language=en}}</ref>
| capital                = Kerma<br>Napata<br>Meroë
| national_motto         = 
| national_anthem        = 
| common_languages       = [[Social:Meroitic language|Meroitic]]<br>[[Social:Egyptian language|Egyptian]]{{sfn|Török|1998|loc=[https://books.google.com/books?id=i54rPFeGKewC&q=%22Kingdom+of+Kush%22+language&pg=PA49 p. 49 (1997 ed.)]}}<br>Blemmyan<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Rilly |first1=Claude |date=2019 |chapter=Languages of Ancient Nubia |editor-last=Raue |editor-first=Dietrich |title=Handbook of Ancient Nubia |publisher=De Gruyter |isbn=978-3-11-041669-5 |pages=133–4 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mXWcDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA134 |access-date=2019-11-20 |quote=The Blemmyan language is so close to modern Beja that it is probably nothing else than an early dialect of the same language.}}</ref><br>[[Social:Nubian languages|Nubian languages]]
| religion               = Kushite religion<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/environment/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/kushite-religion |title=Kushite Religion |website=encyclopedia.com |date= }}</ref><br>Kushite polytheism<br>Ancient Egyptian religion
| currency               = 
| leader1                = 
| leader2                = 
| year_leader1           = 
| year_leader2           = 340–355
| title_leader           = Monarch
| stat_year2             = Meroite phase<ref name="Stearns" />
| stat_pop2              = 1,150,000
| today                  = Sudan<br />[[Place:Egypt|Egypt]]
| demonym                = 
| area_km2               = 
| area_rank              = 
| GDP_PPP                = 
| GDP_PPP_year           = 
| HDI                    = 
| HDI_year               = 
}}

The '''Kingdom of Kush''' ({{IPAc-en|k|ʊ|ʃ|,_|k|ʌ|ʃ}}; [[Social:Egyptian language|Egyptian]]: '''𓎡𓄿𓈙𓈉''' ''kꜣš'', [[Social:Akkadian language|Assyrian]]: [[File:Rassam cylinder Ku-u-si.jpg|60px]] ''Kûsi'', in <small>LXX</small> Χους or Αἰθιοπία; {{lang-cop|{{Script/Coptic|ⲉϭⲱϣ}}}} ''Ecōš''; {{lang-he|כּוּשׁ}} ''Kūš''), also known as the '''Kushite Empire''', or simply '''Kush''', was an ancient kingdom in Nubia, centered along the Nile Valley in what is now northern Sudan and southern [[Place:Egypt|Egypt]].

The region of Nubia was an early cradle of civilization, producing several complex societies that engaged in trade and industry.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|date=2018-07-20|title=The Kingdoms of Kush|url=http://www.nationalgeographic.org/media/kingdoms-kush/|access-date=2020-08-29|website=National Geographic Society|language=en|archive-date=2020-05-05|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200505060417/https://www.nationalgeographic.org/media/kingdoms-kush/|url-status=dead}}</ref> The city-state of Kerma emerged as the dominant political force between 2450 and 1450 BC, controlling the Nile Valley between the first and fourth cataracts, an area as large as Egypt. The Egyptians were the first to identify Kerma as "Kush" and over the next several centuries the two civilizations engaged in intermittent warfare, trade, and cultural exchange.<ref>Alberge, Dalya. "Tomb reveals Ancient Egypt's humiliating secret". ''The Times''. London.</ref>

Much of Nubia came under Egyptian rule during the [[History:New Kingdom of Egypt|New Kingdom period]] (1550–1070 BC). Following Egypt's disintegration amid the [[History:Late Bronze Age collapse|Late Bronze Age collapse]], the Kushites reestablished a kingdom in Napata (now modern Karima, Sudan). Though Kush had developed many cultural affinities with Egypt, such as the veneration of [[Religion:Amun|Amun]], and the royal families of both kingdoms occasionally intermarried, Kushite culture, language and ethnicity was distinct; Egyptian art distinguished the people of Kush by their dress, appearance, and even method of transportation.<ref name=":1" />

In the 8th century BC, King Kashta ("the Kushite") peacefully became King of Upper Egypt, while his daughter, Amenirdis, was appointed as Divine Adoratrice of Amun in [[Religion:Thebes, Egypt|Thebes]].{{sfn|Török|1998|pp=144–6}} His successor Piye invaded Lower Egypt, establishing the Kushite-ruled Twenty-fifth Dynasty. Piye's daughter, Shepenupet II, was also appointed Divine Adoratrice of Amun. The monarchs of Kush ruled Egypt for over a century until the Assyrian conquest, finally being expelled by the Assyrian kings Esarhaddon and Ashurbanipal in the mid-seventh century BC. Following the severing of ties with Egypt, the Kushite imperial capital was located at Meroë, during which time it was known by the Greeks as [[Place:Aethiopia|Aethiopia]].

From the third century BC to the third century AD, northern Nubia would be invaded and annexed by Egypt. Ruled by the [[History:Ptolemaic Kingdom|Macedonians]] and Romans for the next 600 years, this territory would be known in the Greco-Roman world as Dodekaschoinos. It was later taken back under control by the fourth Kushite king, Yesebokheamani. The Kingdom of Kush persisted as a major regional power until the fourth century AD when it weakened and disintegrated from internal rebellion amid worsening climatic conditions. Because the Noba and the Blemmyes were at war with the Kushites the [[History:Kingdom of Aksum|Aksumites]] took advantage of this, capturing Meroë and looting its gold, marking the end of the kingdom and its dissolution into the three polities of [[History:Nobatia|Nobatia]], Makuria and Alodia, though the Aksumite presence in Meroe was likely short lived. Sometime after this event, the Kingdom of Alodia would gain control of the southern territory of the former Meroitic empire including parts of Eritrea.<ref>Derek Welsby (2014): "The Kingdom of Alwa" in "The Fourth Cataract and Beyond". Peeters.</ref>

Long overshadowed by its more prominent Egyptian neighbor, archaeological discoveries since the late 20th century have revealed Kush to be an advanced civilization in its own right. The Kushites had their own unique language and script; maintained a complex economy based on trade and industry; mastered archery; and developed a complex, urban society with uniquely high levels of female participation.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|last=Stirn|first=Isma'il Kushkush, Matt|title=Why Sudan's Remarkable Ancient Civilization Has Been Overlooked by History|url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/sudan-land-kush-meroe-ancient-civilization-overlooked-180975498/|access-date=2020-08-23|website=Smithsonian Magazine|language=en}}</ref>

== Name ==
{{infobox hieroglyphs
|width = 270px
|title=''Kush''
|name = {{center|<hiero>k-G1-S:N25</hiero>}}
|name transcription = k3š
|name explanation = ''Ku'sh''
}}

The native name of the Kingdom was recorded in [[Social:Egyptian language|Egyptian]] as ''{{lang|egy|kꜣš}}'', likely pronounced {{IPA-all|kuɫuʃ}} or {{IPA-all|kuʔuʃ}} in [[Social:Middle Egyptian language|Middle Egyptian]], when the term was first used for Nubia, based on the [[History:New Kingdom of Egypt|New Kingdom]]-era [[Social:Akkadian language|Akkadian]] transliteration of the genitive ''kūsi''.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Goldenberg|first=David M.|title=The Curse of Ham: Race and Slavery in Early Judaism, Christianity, and Islam|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iTyJ3HiNOAsC&pg=PA144 |year=2005|edition=New|publisher=Princeton University Press|isbn=978-0-691-12370-7|page=17}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|title = Esarhaddon and Egypt: An Analysis of the First Invasion of Egypt|last = Spalinger|first = Anthony|date = 1974|journal = Orientalia |series=Nova Series |volume=43 |pages=295–326, XI}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title = The Ancient Egyptian Language: An Historical Study|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=Gd6aAAAAQBAJ&q=ancient+egyptian+allen|publisher = Cambridge University Press|date = 2013-07-11|access-date = 2015-04-15|isbn = 978-1-107-03246-0|first = James P.|last = Allen|page = 53}}</ref>

It is also an ethnic term for the native population who initiated the kingdom of Kush. The term is also displayed in the names of Kushite persons,{{sfn|Török|1998}} such as King Kashta (a transcription of ''kꜣš-tꜣ'' "(one from) the land of Kush"). Geographically, Kush referred to the region south of the first cataract in general. Kush also was the home of the rulers of the 25th Dynasty.<ref name="Van 2011">Van, de M. M. A History of Ancient Egypt. Chichester, West Sussex: Wiley-Blackwell, 2011. Print.</ref>

The name ''Kush'', since at least the time of Josephus, has been connected with the biblical character [[Religion:Cush (Bible)|Cush]], in the [[Religion:Hebrew Bible|Hebrew Bible]] ({{lang-he|כּוּשׁ}}), son of Ham (Genesis 10:6). Ham had four sons named: Cush, Put, Canaan, and [[Religion:Mizraim|Mizraim]] (Hebrew name for Egypt). According to the Bible, Nimrod, a son of Cush, was the founder and king of Babylon, [[Place:Uruk|Erech]], Akkad and Calneh, in [[Place:Shinar|Shinar]] (Gen 10:10).<ref name="kingjamesbibleonline.org">{{Cite web|url=http://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/Genesis-10-10/|title=GENESIS 10:10 KJV "And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar."|website=www.kingjamesbibleonline.org}}</ref> The Bible also makes reference to someone named Cush who is a Benjamite (Psalms 7:1, KJV).<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/Psalms-Chapter-7/|title=PSALMS CHAPTER 7 KJV|website=www.kingjamesbibleonline.org}}</ref>

In Greek sources Kush was known as ''Kous'' (Κους) or ''Aethiopia'' (Αἰθιοπία).{{sfn|Török|1998|loc=p. 69 ff (1997 ed.)}}

== History ==

=== Origins ===
{{multiple image|perrow = 2|total_width = 350|caption_align = center
| align     = left|
| direction = horizontal
| header    = Kerma culture<br /><small>(c.2500 BC–c.1550 BC)</small>
| image1    = Wallpaper group-pmg-4.jpg
| caption1  = Kerma bowl, 1700-1550 BC. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
| image2    = Exposition Nubia, Land of the Black Pharaohs – Mirror. Kerma Period, 1700-1550 BC.jpg
| caption2  = Mirror. End of Kerma Period, 1700-1550 BC. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
| footer    = 
}}

==== Kerma culture (2500–1500 BC) ====

The Kerma culture was an early civilization centered in Kerma, Sudan. It flourished from around 2500 BC to 1500 BC in ancient [[Place:Nubia|Nubia]]. The Kerma culture was based in the southern part of Nubia, or "Upper Nubia" (in parts of present-day northern and central Sudan), and later extended its reach northward into Lower Nubia and the border of Egypt.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1= Hafsaas-Tsakos |first1= Henriette |title= The Kingdom of Kush: An African Centre on the Periphery of the Bronze Age World System |journal= Norwegian Archaeological Review |date=2009 |volume=42 |issue=1 |pages= 50–70 |doi= 10.1080/00293650902978590 |s2cid= 154430884 |url= https://www.academia.edu/2380609 }}</ref> The polity seems to have been one of several Nile Valley states during the [[History:Middle Kingdom of Egypt|Middle Kingdom of Egypt]]. In the Kingdom of Kerma's latest phase, lasting from about 1700–1500 BC, it absorbed the Sudanese kingdom of Sai and became a sizable, populous empire rivaling Egypt.

==== Egyptian Nubia (1504–1070 BC) ====
[[File:Nubian Prince Hekanefer bringing tribute for King Tut, 18th dynasty, Tomb of Huy.jpg|thumb|Nubian Prince Heqanefer bringing tribute for The Egyptian King Tutankhamun, 18th dynasty, Tomb of Huy. {{Circa|1342}} – {{Circa| 1325}} BC]]Mentuhotep II, the 21st century BC founder of the Middle Kingdom, is recorded to have undertaken campaigns against Kush in the 29th and 31st years of his reign. This is the earliest Egyptian reference to ''Kush''; the [[Place:Nubia|Nubia]]n region had gone by other names in the Old Kingdom.<ref>''Historical Dictionary of Ancient and Medieval Nubia'', Richard A. Lobban Jr., p. 254.</ref> Under Thutmose I, Egypt made several campaigns south.

The Egyptians ruled Kush in the New kingdom beginning when the Egyptian King Thutmose I occupied Kush and destroyed its capital, Kerma.<ref>De Mola, Paul J. "Interrelations of Kerma and Pharaonic Egypt". Ancient History Encyclopedia: https://www.worldhistory.org/article/487/</ref>

This eventually resulted in their annexation of Nubia {{Circa|1504 BC}}. Around 1500 BC, Nubia was absorbed into the [[History:New Kingdom of Egypt|New Kingdom of Egypt]], but rebellions continued for centuries. After the conquest, Kerma culture was increasingly Egyptianized, yet rebellions continued for 220 years until {{Circa|1300 BC}}. Nubia nevertheless became a key province of the New Kingdom, economically, politically, and spiritually. Indeed, major pharaonic ceremonies were held at Jebel Barkal near Napata.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.jebelbarkal.org/|title=Jebal Barkal: History and Archaeology of Ancient Napata|access-date=21 March 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130602094858/http://jebelbarkal.org/|archive-date=2 June 2013|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}</ref> As an Egyptian colony from the 16th century BC, Nubia ("Kush") was governed by an Egyptian Viceroy of Kush.

Resistance to the early eighteenth Dynasty Egyptian rule by neighboring Kush is evidenced in the writings of Ahmose, son of Ebana, an Egyptian warrior who served under Nebpehtrya Ahmose (1539–1514 BC), Djeserkara Amenhotep I (1514–1493 BC), and Aakheperkara Thutmose I (1493–1481 BC). At the end of the Second Intermediate Period (mid-sixteenth century BC), Egypt faced the twin existential threats—the Hyksos in the North and the Kushites in the South. Taken from the autobiographical inscriptions on the walls of his tomb-chapel, the Egyptians undertook campaigns to defeat Kush and conquer Nubia under the rule of Amenhotep I (1514–1493 BC). In Ahmose's writings, the Kushites are described as [[Engineering:Archery|archers]], "Now after his Majesty had slain the Bedoin of Asia, he sailed upstream to Upper Nubia to destroy the Nubian bowmen."<ref>{{Cite book|title=Writings from Ancient Egypt|last=Wilkinson|first=Toby|publisher=Penguin Classics|year=2016|isbn=978-0-14-139595-1|location=United Kingdom|pages=19}}</ref> The tomb writings contain two other references to the Nubian bowmen of Kush. By 1200 BC, Egyptian involvement in the Dongola Reach was nonexistent.

Egypt's international prestige had declined considerably towards the end of the Third Intermediate Period. Its historical allies, the inhabitants of [[Place:Canaan|Canaan]], had fallen to the [[History:Middle Assyrian Empire|Middle Assyrian Empire]] (1365–1020 BC), and then the resurgent [[History:Neo-Assyrian Empire|Neo-Assyrian Empire]] (935–605 BC). The Assyrians, from the tenth century BC onwards, had once more expanded from northern [[Place:Mesopotamia|Mesopotamia]], and conquered a vast empire, including the whole of the [[Place:Near East|Near East]], and much of [[Earth:Anatolia|Anatolia]], the eastern Mediterranean, the [[Earth:Caucasus|Caucasus]] and [[History:History of Iran#Early Iron Age|early Iron Age Iran]].

According to Josephus Flavius, the biblical Moses led the Egyptian army in a siege of the Kushite city of Meroe. To end the siege Princess Tharbis was given to Moses as a (diplomatic) bride, and thus the Egyptian army retreated back to Egypt.<ref>Flavius Josephus. 'Antiquities of the Jews'. Whiston 2-10-2.</ref>

=== Kingdom of Kush (1070 BC) ===

[[File:Counterweight for a necklace with three images of Hathor. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston ©Hans Ollermann.jpg|thumb|Counterweight for a necklace with three images of Hathor, Semna (1390–1352 BC), Egyptian Nubia. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.]]With the disintegration of the New Kingdom around 1070 BC, ''Kush'' became an independent kingdom centered at Napata in modern northern Sudan.<ref>Morkot, Robert G. "On the Priestly Origin of the Napatan Kings: The Adaptation, Demise, and Resurrection of Ideas in Writing Nubian History" in O'Connor, David and Andrew Reid, eds. ''Ancient Egypt in Africa (Encounters with Ancient Egypt) (University College London Institute of Archaeology Publications)'' Left Coast Press (1 Aug 2003) {{ISBN|978-1-59874-205-3}} p.151</ref> This more-Egyptianized "Kingdom of Kush" emerged, possibly from Kerma, and regained the region's independence from Egypt. The extent of cultural/political continuity between the Kerma culture and the chronologically succeeding Kingdom of Kush is difficult to determine. The latter polity began to emerge around 1000 BC, 500 years after the end of the Kingdom of Kerma.{{Citation needed|date=July 2021}}

The Kush rulers were regarded as guardians of the state religion and were responsible for maintaining the houses of the gods. Some scholars{{who|date=December 2013}} believe the economy in the Kingdom of Kush was a redistributive system. The state would collect taxes in the form of surplus produce and would redistribute to the people. Others believe that most of the society worked on the land and required nothing from the state and did not contribute to the state. Northern Kush seems to have been more productive and wealthier than the Southern area.<ref name="Welsby, Derek A 1996">{{harvnb |Welsby |1996 |p={{page needed|date=December 2021}}}}</ref>

Dental trait analysis of fossils dating from the Meroitic period in Semna, in northern Nubia near Egypt, found that they displayed traits similar to those of populations inhabiting the Nile, [[Place:Horn of Africa|Horn of Africa]], and [[Place:Maghreb|Maghreb]]. Traits from mesolithic and southern Nubia around Meroe however indicated a closer affinity with other sub-Saharan dental records. It is indicative of a north–south gradient along the Nile river.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Irish|first1=Joel D.|title=Dental morphological affinities of Late Pleistocene through recent sub-Saharan and North African peoples|journal=Bulletins et Mémoires de la Société d'anthropologie de Paris|date=1998|volume=10|issue=3|pages=237–272|doi=10.3406/bmsap.1998.2517|url=http://www.persee.fr/docAsPDF/bmsap_0037-8984_1998_num_10_3_2517.pdf|access-date=17 June 2017}} {{dead link|date=March 2022 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

[[File:Temple Amon Napata elevation 2.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.2|Amun temple of Jebel Barkal, originally built during the Egyptian New Kingdom but greatly enhanced by Piye]]

==== Kushite conquest of Egypt (25th Dynasty) ====

By the eighth century BC, the new Kushite kingdom emerged from the Napata region of the upper Dongola Reach. The first Napatan king, Alara founded the Napatan, or 25th, Kushite dynasty at Napata in [[Place:Nubia|Nubia]], now Sudan. Alara dedicated his sister to the cult of [[Religion:Amun|Amun]] at the rebuilt Kawa temple, while temples were also rebuilt at Barkal and Kerma. A Kashta [[Stele|stele]] at Elephantine, places the Kushites on the Egyptian frontier by the mid-eighteenth century. This first period of the kingdom's history, the 'Napatan', was succeeded by the 'Meroitic', when the royal cemeteries relocated to Meroë around 300 BC.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Edwards |first1=David |title=The Nubian Past |date=2004 |publisher=Routledge |location=Oxon |isbn=978-0-415-36988-6 |pages=2,75,112,114–117,120}}</ref>

[[File:Rulers of Kush, Kerma Museum.jpg|thumb|right|Statues of various rulers of the late 25th Dynasty–early Napatan period: Tantamani, Taharqa (rear), Senkamanisken, again Tantamani (rear), Aspelta, Anlamani, again Senkamanisken. Kerma Museum.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Elshazly |first1=Hesham |title=Kerma and the royal cache |url=https://www.academia.edu/3714044 |language=en}}</ref>]]

Alara's successor Kashta extended Kushite control north to Elephantine and [[Religion:Thebes, Egypt|Thebes]] in [[Place:Upper Egypt|Upper Egypt]]. Kashta's successor Piye seized control of Lower Egypt around 727&nbsp;BC.<ref>Shaw (2002) p. 345</ref> Piye's 'Victory Stela', celebrating these campaigns between 728 and 716 BC, was found in the Amun temple at Jebel Barkal. He invaded an Egypt fragmented into four kingdoms, ruled by King Peftjauawybast, King Nimlot, King Iuput II, and King Osorkon IV.<ref name=David>{{Cite book |last1=Edwards |first1=David |title=The Nubian Past |date=2004 |publisher=Routledge |location=Oxon |isbn=978-0-415-36988-6 |pages=2, 75, 77–78}}</ref>{{rp|115,120}}

Why the Kushites chose to enter Egypt at this crucial point of foreign domination is subject to debate. Archaeologist Timothy Kendall offers his own hypotheses, connecting it to a claim of legitimacy associated with Jebel Barkal.<ref name="Kendall, T.K. 2002">Kendall, T.K., 2002. Napatan Temples: a Case Study from Gebel Barkal. The Mythological Nubian Origin of Egyptian Kingship and the Formation of the Napatan State. Tenth International Conference of Nubian Studies. Rome, September 9–14, 2002.</ref> Kendall cites the Victory Stele of Piye at Jebel Barkal, which states that "[[Religion:Amun|Amun]] of Napata granted me to be ruler of every foreign country," and "Amun in Thebes granted me to be ruler of the Black Land (Kmt)". According to Kendall, "foreign lands" in this regard seems to include Lower Egypt while "Kmt" seems to refer to a united Upper Egypt and Nubia.<ref name="Kendall, T.K. 2002" />

Piye's successor, Shabataka, defeated the Saite kings of northern Egypt between 711 and 710 BC and installed himself as king in Memphis. He then established ties with Sargon II of the [[History:Neo-Assyrian Empire|Neo-Assyrian Empire]].<ref name=David />{{rp|120}} After the reign of Shabaka, Pharaoh Taharqa's army undertook successful military campaigns, as attested by the "list of conquered Asiatic principalities" from the Mut temple at Karnak and "conquered peoples and countries (Libyans, Shasu nomads, Phoenicians?, Khor in Palestine)" from Sanam temple inscriptions.{{sfn|Török|1998|pp=132-3, 153-84}} However the regions in the southern Levant claimed by Shabataka were 
seen by Assyria as under their dominion, and imperial ambitions of both the Mesopotamian based Assyrian Empire and Kushite Empire made war with the 25th dynasty inevitable. In 701 BC, Taharqa and his army aided [[History:Kingdom of Judah|Judah]] and King Hezekiah in withstanding a siege by King Sennacherib of the Assyrians (2 Kings 19:9; Isaiah 37:9).<ref name=Aubin>{{Cite book|title=The Rescue of Jerusalem|date=2002|publisher=Soho Press, Inc.|isbn=1-56947-275-0|location=New York, NY|pages=x, 141–144|last1=Aubin|first1=Henry T.}}</ref> There are various theories (Taharqa's army,<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Rescue of Jerusalem|date=2002|publisher=Soho Press, Inc.|isbn=1-56947-275-0|location=New York, NY|pages=x, 127, 129–130, 139–152|last1=Aubin|first1=Henry T.}}</ref> disease, divine intervention, Hezekiah's surrender or agreeing to pay tribute) as to why the Assyrians failed to take the city.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Rescue of Jerusalem|date=2002|publisher=Soho Press, Inc.|isbn=1-56947-275-0|location=New York, NY|pages=x, 119|last1=Aubin|first1=Henry T.}}</ref> Historian László Török mentions that Egypt's army "was beaten at Eltekeh" under Taharqa's command, but "the battle could be interpreted as a victory for the double kingdom", since Assyria did not take Jerusalem, however the Egyptian and Kushite forces withdrew to Egypt and the Assyrian king Sennacherib appears to have occupied part of the Sinai.{{sfn|Török|1998|p=170}}

[[File:Pyramids of Nuri (cropped).jpg|thumb|Pyramids of Nuri, built between the reigns of Taharqa (circa 670 BC) and Nastasen (circa 310 BC).]]

The power of the 25th Dynasty reached a climax under Taharqa. The Nile valley empire was as large as it had been since the New Kingdom. New prosperity{{sfn|Török|1998}} revived Egyptian culture.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Diop|first=Cheikh Anta|title=The African Origin of Civilization|year=1974|publisher=Lawrence Hill Books|location=Chicago, Illinois|isbn=1-55652-072-7|pages=219–221}}</ref> Religion, the arts, and architecture were restored to their glorious Old, Middle, and New Kingdom forms. The Kushite pharaohs built or restored temples and monuments throughout the Nile valley, including Memphis, Karnak, Kawa, and Jebel Barkal.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Bonnet|first=Charles|title=The Nubian Pharaohs|year=2006|publisher=The American University in Cairo Press|location=New York|isbn=978-977-416-010-3|pages=142–154}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web | url=http://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47d9-5ab7-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99 | title= (still image) Aethiopen. Barkal [Jebel Barkal]. Nördliche Pyramidengruppe. Pyr. 15: a. Nordwand; b. Westwand., (1849–1856)|author=Digital Collections, The New York Public Library |access-date=August 20, 2020 |publisher=The New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox, and Tilden Foundations}}</ref> It was during the 25th dynasty that the Nile valley saw the first widespread construction of pyramids (many in modern Sudan) since the Middle Kingdom.<ref name="Mokhtar1990">{{Cite book|last=Mokhtar|first=G.|title=General History of Africa|year=1990|publisher=University of California Press|location=California, USA|isbn=0-520-06697-9|pages=161–163}}</ref><ref name="Emberling2011">{{Cite book|last=Emberling|first=Geoff|title=Nubia: Ancient Kingdoms of Africa|year=2011|publisher=Institute for the Study of the Ancient World|location=New York|pages=9–11}}</ref><ref name="Silverman1997">{{Cite book|last=Silverman|first=David|title=Ancient Egypt|year=1997|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=New York|isbn=0-19-521270-3|pages=[https://archive.org/details/ancientegypt00davi_0/page/36 36–37]|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/ancientegypt00davi_0/page/36}}</ref> The Kushites developed their own script, the [[Social:Meroitic alphabet|Meroitic alphabet]], which was influenced by Egyptian writing systems {{Circa|700–600 BC}}, although it appears to have been wholly confined to the royal court and major temples.<ref name="autogenerated1" />

==== Assyrian conquest of Egypt ====
[[File:Senkamanisken slaying enemies at Jebel Barkal (detail).jpg|thumb|King Senkamanisken slaying enemies at Jebel Barkal.<ref>{{Cite journal |title=Jebel Barkal guide |pages=97–98 |url=http://www.jebelbarkal.org/frames/VisGuide.pdf}}</ref>]]

Taharqa and his Judean allies initially defeated the Assyrians at Ashkelon when war broke out in 674 BC.{{cn|date=September 2023}} The relatively small Assyrian force had first defeafed Canaanite and Arab tribes in the region and then immediately marched at great speed on Ashkelon, leaving them exhausted.{{cn|date=September 2023}} However, in 671 BC, the Assyrian King Esarhaddon started the Assyrian conquest of Egypt with a larger and better prepared force. The Assyrians advanced rapidly and decisively. Memphis was taken, and Taharqa fled to Nubia, while his heir and other family members were taken to the Assyrian capital [[Place:Nineveh|Nineveh]] as prisoners. Esarhaddon boasted how he "deported all Aethiopians from Egypt, leaving not one to pay homage to me" However, the native Egyptian vassal rulers installed by Esarhaddon as puppets were unable to effectively retain full control of the entire country, and Taharqa was able to regain control of Memphis. Esarhaddon's 669 BC campaign to once more eject Taharqa was abandoned when Esarhaddon died in Harran on the way to Egypt, leaving Esarhaddon's successor, Ashurbanipal the task. He defeated Taharqa, driving his forces back into Nubia, and Taharqa died in Napata soon after in 664 BC.<ref name=David />{{rp|121}}

Taharqa's successor, Tantamani sailed north from Napata, through Elephantine, and to Thebes with a large army, where he was "ritually installed as the king of Egypt."<ref name="Török98_185">{{harvnb|Török|1998|p=185}}</ref> From Thebes, Tantamani began his attempt at reconquest{{r|Török98_185}} and regained control of a part of southern Egypt as far as Memphis from the native Egyptian puppet rulers installed by the Assyrians.<ref name=Welsby>{{harvnb |Welsby |1996 |pp=64–65}}</ref> Tantamani's dream stele states that he restored order from the chaos, where royal temples and cults were not being maintained.{{r|Török98_185}} After defeating Sais and killing Assyria's vassal, Necho I, in Memphis, "some local dynasts formally surrendered, while others withdrew to their fortresses."{{r|Török98_185}}{{rp|185}} Tantamani proceeded north of Memphis, invading Lower Egypt and, besieged cities in the Delta, a number of which surrendered to him.{{Citation needed|date=August 2020}} The Assyrians, who had maintained only a small military presence in the north, then sent a large army southwards in 663 BC. Tantamani was decisively routed, and the Assyrian army sacked Thebes to such an extent it never truly recovered. Tantamani was chased back to Nubia, but he continued to try and assert control over Upper Egypt until {{Circa| 656 BC}}. At this date, a native Egyptian ruler, Psamtik I son of Necho, placed on the throne as a vassal of Ashurbanipal, took control of Thebes.{{sfn|Török|1998}}<ref>Georges Roux – Ancient Iraq pp. 330–332</ref> The last links between Kush and Upper Egypt were severed after hostilities with the Saite kings in the 590s BC.<ref name=David />{{rp|121–122}}

==== Achaemenid period ====
[[File:Reliefs in Persepolis نگاره های تخت جمشید 05.jpg|thumb|Kushite delegation on a Persian relief from the Apadana palace ({{Circa|500 BC}})]]

Herodotus mentioned an invasion of Kush by the Achaemenid ruler Cambyses ({{Circa|530 BC}}). By some accounts Cambyses succeeded in occupying the area between the first and second Nile cataract,<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Dandamaev |first1=M. A. |title=A Political History of the Achaemenid Empire |date=1989 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=9004091726 |pages=80–81 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ms30qA6nyMsC&pg=PA80 |language=en}}</ref> however Herodotus mentions that "his expedition failed miserably in the desert."<ref name="Welsby" />{{rp|65–66}} Achaemenid inscriptions from both Egypt and Iran include Kush as part of the Achaemenid empire.<ref name=DS>{{Cite book |last1=Sircar |first1=Dineschandra |title=Studies in the Geography of Ancient and Medieval India |date=1971 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |isbn=9788120806900 |page=25 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AqKw1Mn8WcwC&pg=PA25 |language=en}}</ref> For example, the DNa inscription of Darius I ({{reign|522|486|era=BC}}) on his tomb at Naqsh-e Rustam mentions ''Kūšīyā'' ([[Social:Old Persian cuneiform|Old Persian cuneiform]]: 𐎤𐎢𐏁𐎡𐎹𐎠, pronounced ''Kūshīyā'') among the territories being "ruled over" by the [[Place:Achaemenid Empire|Achaemenid Empire]].<ref>[https://www.livius.org/sources/content/achaemenid-royal-inscriptions/dna/? Line 30 of the DNa inscription]</ref><ref name=DS /> Derek Welsby states "scholars have doubted that this Persian expedition ever took place, but... archaeological evidence suggests that the fortress of Dorginarti near the second cataract served as Persia's southern boundary."<ref name="Welsby" />{{rp|65–66}}

==== Meroitic period (542 BC–4th century AD) ====
Kushite civilization continued for several centuries. According to Welsby, "throughout the Saite, Persian, Ptolemaic, and Roman periods, the Kushite rulers—the descendants of the XXVth Dynasty pharaohs, and the guardians of the Temple of Amun at Jebel Barkal<ref>{{Cite web | url=http://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47d9-5aa9-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99 | title= (still image) Aethiopen. Dynastie XXV, 3. Barkal [Jebel Barkal]. Grosser Felsentempel, Ostwand der Vorhalle., (1849–1856)|author=Digital Collections, The New York Public Library |access-date=August 20, 2020 |publisher=The New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox, and Tilden Foundations}}</ref>—could have pressed their 'legitimate' claim for control of Egypt and they thus posed a potential threat to the rulers of Egypt."<ref name="Welsby" />{{rp|66–67}} Aspelta moved the capital to Meroë, considerably farther south than Napata, possibly {{Circa| 591 BC}},<ref name="Ohaegbulam1990">{{Cite book|author=Festus Ugboaja Ohaegbulam|title=Towards an understanding of the African experience from historical and contemporary perspectives|url=https://archive.org/details/towardsunderstan00ohae|url-access=registration|access-date=17 March 2011|date=1 October 1990|publisher=University Press of America|isbn=978-0-8191-7941-8|page=[https://archive.org/details/towardsunderstan00ohae/page/66 66]}}</ref> just after the sack of Napata by Psamtik II. Martin Meredith states the Kushite rulers chose Meroë, between the Fifth and Sixth Cataracts, because it was on the fringe of the summer rainfall belt, and the area was rich in iron ore and hardwood for iron working. The location also afforded access to trade routes to the Red Sea. The Kush traded iron products with the Romans, in addition to gold, ivory and slaves. The Butana plain was stripped of its forests, leaving behind [[Chemistry:Slag|slag]] piles.<ref name=Martin>{{Cite book |last1=Meredith |first1=Martin |title=The Fortunes of Africa |date=2014 |publisher=Public Affairs |location=New York |isbn=978-1-61039-635-6 |pages=43–44}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Shillington |first1=Kevin |title=History of Africa |date=2012 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |location=London |isbn=978-0-230-30847-3 |pages=50–51}}</ref>

[[File:Jewelry found on the Mummy of Nubian King AMANINATAKILEBTE (538-519 BC). Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.jpg|thumb|Jewelry found on the Mummy of Nubian King Amaninatakilebte (538-519 BC), Nuri pyramid 10. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.]]
[[File:Gold flower shaped Diadem, found in te Pyramid of King Talakhamani (435–431 B.C.).jpg|thumb|Gold flower shaped diadem, found in the Pyramid of King Talakhamani (435–431 BC), Nuri pyramid 16. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.]]

In about 300 BC the move to Meroë was made more complete when the monarchs began to be buried there, instead of at Napata. One theory is that this represents the monarchs breaking away from the power of the priests at Napata. According to Diodorus Siculus, a Kushite king, "Ergamenes", defied the priests and had them slaughtered. This story may refer to the first ruler to be buried at Meroë with a similar name such as Arqamani,<ref>Fage, J. D.: Roland Anthony Oliver (1979) ''The Cambridge History of Africa'', Cambridge University Press. {{ISBN|0-521-21592-7}} p. 228 [https://books.google.com/books?id=hb8YXTINiDMC&dq=Ergamenes+is+Arqamani&pg=PA228]</ref> who ruled many years after the royal cemetery was opened at Meroë. During this same period, the Kushite authority may have extended some 1,500&nbsp;km along the Nile River valley from the Egyptian frontier in the north to areas far south of modern Khartoum and probably also substantial territories to the east and west.<ref>Edwards, page 141</ref>

===== Ptolemaic period =====
There is some record of conflict between the Kushites and Ptolemies. In 275 or 274 BC, Ptolemy II (r. 283–246 BC) sent an army to Nubia, and defeated the Kingdom of Kush, annexing to Egypt the area later known as Triakontaschoinos. In addition, There was a serious revolt at the end of Ptolemy IV, around 204 BC, and the Kushites likely tried to interfere in Ptolemaic affairs.<ref name="Welsby" />{{rp|67}} It has been suggested that this led to Ptolemy V defacing the name of Arqamani on inscriptions at Philae.<ref name="Welsby" />{{rp|67}} "Arqamani constructed a small entrance hall to the temple built by Ptolemy IV at selchis and constructed a temple at Philae to which Ptolemy contributed an entrance hall."<ref name="Welsby" />{{rp|66}} There is evidence of Ptolemaic occupation as far south as the second cataract, but recent finds at Qasr Ibrim, such as "the total absence of Ptolemaic pottery" have cast doubts on the effectiveness of the occupation. Dynastic struggles led to the Ptolemies abandoning the area, so "the Kushites reasserted their control...with Qasr Ibrim occupied" (by the Kushites) and other locations perhaps garrisoned.<ref name="Welsby" />{{rp|67}}

===== Roman period =====
According to Welsby, after the Romans assumed control of Egypt, they negotiated with the Kushites at Philae and drew the southern border of Roman Egypt at Aswan.<ref name="Welsby" />{{rp|67}} Theodor Mommsen and Welsby state the Kingdom of Kush became a client Kingdom, which was similar to the situation under Ptolemaic rule of Egypt. Kushite ambition and excessive Roman taxation are two theories for a revolt that was supported by Kushite armies.<ref name="Welsby" />{{rp|67–68}} The ancient historians, Strabo and Pliny, give accounts of the conflict with Roman Egypt.

[[File:Prince Arikankharer Slaying His Enemies, Meroitic, beginning of first century AD, sandstone - Worcester Art Museum - IMG 7535.JPG|left|thumb|Meroitic prince smiting his enemies (early first century AD)]]

Strabo describes a war with the Romans in the first century BC. According to Strabo, the Kushites "sacked Aswan with an army of 30,000 men and destroyed imperial statues...at Philae." A "fine over-life-size bronze head of the emperor Augustus" was found buried in Meroe in front of a temple.<ref name="Welsby" />{{rp|68}} After the initial victories of Kandake (or "Candace") Amanirenas against Roman Egypt, the Kushites were defeated and Napata sacked.<ref name="afraf.oxfordjournals.org">[https://web.archive.org/web/20080910215200/http://afraf.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/reprint/XXVIII/CIX/55.pdf Arthur E. Robinson, "The Arab Dynasty of Dar For (Darfur): Part II", ''Journal of the Royal African Society'' (Lond). XXVIII: 55–67 (October, 1928)]</ref> Remarkably, the destruction of the capital of Napata was not a crippling blow to the Kushites and did not frighten Candace enough to prevent her from again engaging in combat with the Roman military. In 22 BC, a large Kushite force moved northward with intention of attacking Qasr Ibrim.{{r|jackson2002}}{{rp|149}}
Alerted to the advance, Gaius Petronius, prefect of Roman Egypt, again marched south and managed to reach Qasr Ibrim and bolster its defenses before the invading Kushites arrived. Welsby states after a Kushite attack on Primis (Qasr Ibrim),<ref name="Welsby" />{{rp|69–70}} the Kushites sent ambassadors to negotiate a peace settlement with Petronius. The Kushites succeeded in negotiating a peace treaty on favorable terms.<ref name="afraf.oxfordjournals.org" /> Trade between the two nations increased{{r|jackson2002}}{{rp|149}} and the Roman Egyptian border being extended to "Hiera Sykaminos (Maharraqa)."<ref name="Welsby" />{{rp|70}} This arrangement "guaranteed peace for most of the next 300 years" and there is "no definite evidence of further clashes."<ref name="Welsby" />{{rp|70}}

It is possible that the Roman emperor [[Biography:Nero|Nero]] planned another attempt to conquer Kush before his death in AD 68.<ref name="jackson2002">{{Cite book | title=At Empire's Edge: Exploring Rome's Egyptian Frontier | publisher=Yale University Press | author=Jackson, Robert B. | year=2002 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pkBctdZcn84C | isbn=0-300-08856-6}}</ref>{{rp|150–151}} Nero sent two centurions upriver as far as Bahr el Ghazal River in 66 AD in an attempt to discover the source of the Nile, per [[Biography:Seneca the Younger|Seneca]],<ref name=Martin />{{rp|43}} or plan an attack, per Pliny. Kush began to fade as a power by the first or second century AD, sapped by the war with the Roman province of Egypt and the decline of its traditional industries.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/specials/1624_story_of_africa/page90.shtml|title=BBC World Service – The Story of Africa|website=www.bbc.co.uk}}</ref> However, there is evidence of third century AD Kushite Kings at Philae in demotic and inscription.<ref name="Welsby" />{{rp|71}} It has been suggested that the Kushites reoccupied lower Nubia after Roman forces were withdrawn to Aswan. Kushite activities led others to note "a de facto Kushite control of that area (as far north as Philae) for part of the third century AD.<ref name="Welsby" />{{rp|71}} Thereafter, it weakened and disintegrated due to internal rebellion.{{Citation needed|date=August 2020}} In the mid-4th century, Kush attacked [[History:Kingdom of Aksum|Axum]], perhaps in a dispute over the region's ivory trade. Axum responded with a large force, sacking Meroe and leading the civilization to go in decline.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Kingdom of Axum|url=https://www.worldhistory.org/Kingdom_of_Axum/|access-date=2020-12-10|website=[[Organization:World History Encyclopedia|World History Encyclopedia]]}}</ref> Christianity began to gain over the old pharaonic religion and by the mid-sixth century AD the Kingdom of Kush was dissolved.<ref name="Welsby, Derek A 1996" />

== Language and writing ==
[[File:Meroitische Inschrift, Meroe 1. Jh. n. Chr., Aegyptisches Museum, Muenchen-1.jpg|thumb|left|Meroitic [[Engineering:Ostracon|ostracon]]]]

The [[Social:Meroitic language|Meroitic language]] was spoken in Meroë and Sudan during the Meroitic period (attested from 300 BC). It became extinct around 400 AD. It is uncertain to which language family the Meroitic language is a part of. Kirsty Rowan suggests that Meroitic, like the [[Social:Egyptian language|Egyptian language]], belongs to the [[Social:Afroasiatic languages|Afro-Asiatic]] family. She bases this on its sound inventory and phonotactics, which she argues are similar to those of the Afro-Asiatic languages and dissimilar from those of the Nilo-Saharan languages.<ref>Rowan, Kirsty (2011). "Meroitic Consonant and Vowel Patterning". ''Lingua Aegytia'', 19.</ref><ref>Rowan, Kirsty (2006), [http://www.soas.ac.uk/linguistics/research/workingpapers/volume-14/file37822.pdf "Meroitic – An Afroasiatic Language?"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151227133051/http://www.soas.ac.uk/linguistics/research/workingpapers/volume-14/file37822.pdf |date=2015-12-27 }} ''{{abbr|SOAS|School of Oriental and African Studies}} Working Papers in Linguistics'' 14:169–206.</ref>
Claude Rilly proposes that Meroitic, like the Nobiin language, belongs to the [[Social:Eastern Sudanic languages|Eastern Sudanic]] branch of the [[Social:Nilo-Saharan languages|Nilo-Saharan]] family, based in part on its syntax, morphology, and known vocabulary.<ref>{{Cite book |author1=Rilly, Claude |author2=de Voogt, Alex |date=2012 |title=The Meroitic Language and Writing System |location=Cambridge, UK |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-107-00866-3 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |author=Rilly, Claude |year=2004 |url=http://www.ddl.ish-lyon.cnrs.fr/projets/clhass/PageWeb/ressources/Isolats/Meroitic%20Rilly%202004.pdf |title=The Linguistic Position of Meroitic |journal=Sudan Electronic Journal of Archaeology and Anthropology |access-date=2017-11-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923213222/http://www.ddl.ish-lyon.cnrs.fr/projets/clhass/PageWeb/ressources/Isolats/Meroitic%20Rilly%202004.pdf |archive-date=2015-09-23}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Rilly |first=Claude |date=2016 |chapter=Meroitic |editor-last1=Stauder-Porchet |editor-first1=Julie |editor-last2=Stauder |editor-first2=Andréas |editor-last3=Willeke |editor-first3=Wendrich |title=UCLA Encyclopedia of Egyptology |location=Los Angeles |publisher=[[Organization:University of California, Los Angeles|UCLA]] |chapter-url=https://escholarship.org/uc/item/3128r3sw }}</ref>

In the Napatan Period Egyptian hieroglyphs were used: at this time writing seems to have been restricted to the court and temples. From the second century BC, there was a separate Meroitic writing system. The language was written in two forms of the [[Social:Meroitic alphabet|Meroitic alphabet]]: Meroitic Cursive, which was written with a stylus and was used for general record-keeping; and Meroitic Hieroglyphic, which was carved in stone or used for royal or religious documents. It is not well understood due to the scarcity of bilingual texts. The earliest inscription in Meroitic writing dates from between 180 and 170 BC. These hieroglyphics were found engraved on the temple of Queen Shanakdakhete. Meroitic Cursive is written horizontally, and reads from right to left.<ref name="Howf">{{Cite book|last1=Fischer|first1=Steven Roger|title=History of Writing|date=2004|publisher=Reaktion Books|isbn=1-86189-588-7|pages=133–134|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iYMXnSko5QwC|access-date=16 January 2015}}</ref> This was an alphabetic script with 23 signs used in a hieroglyphic form (mainly on monumental art) and in a cursive form. The latter was widely used; so far some 1,278 texts using this version are known (Leclant 2000). The script was deciphered by Griffith, but the language behind it is still a problem, with only a few words understood by modern scholars. It is not as yet possible to connect the Meroitic language with other known languages.<ref name="autogenerated1">{{Cite web|url=http://www.digitalegypt.ucl.ac.uk/nubia/mwriting.html|title=Meroitic script|website=www.digitalegypt.ucl.ac.uk}}</ref> For a time, it was also possibly used to write the [[Social:Old Nubian language|Old Nubian language]] of the successor Nubian kingdoms.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.digitalegypt.ucl.ac.uk/nubia/mwriting.html |title="Meroe: Writing", ''Digital Egypt,'' University College, London |publisher=Digitalegypt.ucl.ac.uk |access-date=2012-09-06}}</ref>

== Technology, medicine, and mathematics ==
=== Technology ===
The natives of the Kingdom of Kush developed a type of water wheel or [[Engineering:Scoop wheel|scoop wheel]], the [[Engineering:Saqiyah|saqiyah]], named kolē by the Kush.<ref name=Mokhtar1981_309>{{Cite book |author1=Ki-Zerbo, J. |author2=Mokhtar, G. |date=1981 |title=Ancient civilizations of Africa |publisher=Unesco. International Scientific Committee for the Drafting of a General History of Africa |isbn=978-0-435-94805-4 |page=309 |access-date= 2012-06-19 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gB6DcMU94GUC&pg=PA309 }}</ref> The saqiyah was developed during the Meroitic period to improve irrigation. The introduction of this machine had a decisive influence on agriculture especially in Dongola as this wheel lifted water 3 to 8 meters with much less expenditure of labor and time than the shaduf, which was the previous chief irrigation device in the kingdom. The shaduf relied on human energy but the saqiyah was driven by buffalos or other animals.{{r|Mokhtar1981_309}} The people of Kerma, ancestors to the Kushites, built bronze kilns through which they manufactured objects of daily use such as razors, mirrors and [[Engineering:Tweezers|tweezers]].{{sfn|Bianchi|2004|p=81}}

[[File:Der große Hafir von Musawwarat fungiert jetzt als Tränke für die Tiere und Herden in der Region.jpg|thumb|upright=1.5|The "Great Hafir" (reservoir) at Musawwarat es-Sufra]]

The Kushites developed a form of [[Earth:Reservoir|reservoir]], known as a hafir, during the Meroitic period. Eight hundred ancient and modern hafirs have been registered in the Meroitic town of Butana.<ref name=Hintze1963_222>{{harvnb|Hintze|1963|pp=222–4}}</ref>
The functions of hafirs were to catch water during the rainy season for storage, to ensure water is available for several months during the dry season as well as supply drinking water, irrigate fields, and water cattle.{{r|Hintze1963_222}} The Great Hafir, or Great Reservoir, near the Lion Temple in Musawwarat es-Sufra is a notable hafir built by the Kushites.<ref name="The Great Hafir" /> It was built to retain the rainfall of the short, wet season. It is 250&nbsp;m in diameter and 6.3&nbsp;m deep.<ref name="The Great Hafir">{{Citation |last=Näser |first=Claudia |chapter=The Great Hafir at Musawwarat es-Sufra: Fieldwork of the Archaeological Mission of Humboldt University Berlin in 2005 and 2006 |chapter-url=https://www.academia.edu/2639941 |editor1=Godlewski, Włodzimierz |editor2= Łajtar, Adam |title=Between the Cataracts. Proceedings of the 11th Conference of Nubian Studies, Warsaw University, 27 August – 2 September 2006, Part two, fascicule 1: Session papers, PAM Suppl. Series 2.2/1 |location=Warsaw |year=2010 |pages=39–46 |language=en |access-date=2020-10-04}}</ref>{{r|Hintze1963_222}}

[[Chemistry:Bloomery|Bloomeries]] and [[Engineering:Blast furnace|blast furnace]]s could have been used in metalworking at Meroë.{{sfn|Humphris|Charlton|Keen|Sauder|2018|p= 399}} Early records of bloomery furnaces dated at least to seventh and sixth century BC have been discovered in Kush. The ancient bloomeries that produced metal tools for the Kushites produced a surplus for sale.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Collins |first1=Robert O. |last2=Burns |first2=James M. |date=8 February 2007 |title=A History of Sub-Saharan Africa |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-86746-7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PZcX2jQFTRcC&pg=PA61}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6tsaBtp0WrMC&pg=PA173 |title=The Nubian Past: An Archaeology of the Sudan |first=David N. |last=Edwards |date=29 July 2004 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-0-203-48276-6}}</ref>{{sfn|Humphris|Charlton|Keen|Sauder|2018|pp=399–416}}

=== Medicine ===
Nubian mummies studied in the 1990s revealed that Kush was a pioneer of early antibiotics.<ref>{{Cite journal |author=Armelagos, George |date=2000 |title=Take Two Beers and Call Me in 1,600 Years: Use of Tetracycline by Nubians and Ancient Egyptians |journal=Natural History |volume=109 |s2cid=89542474 |pages=50–3 }}</ref>

[[Chemistry:Tetracycline|Tetracycline]] was being used by Nubians, based on bone remains between 350 AD and 550 AD. The antibiotic was in wide commercial use only in the mid 20th century. The theory states that earthen jars containing grain used for making beer contained the bacterium [[Biology:Streptomyces|streptomyces]], which produced tetracycline. Although Nubians were not aware of tetracycline, they could have noticed that people fared better by drinking beer. According to Charlie Bamforth, a professor of biochemistry and brewing science at the University of California, Davis, "They must have consumed it because it was rather tastier than the grain from which it was derived. They would have noticed people fared better by consuming this product than they were just consuming the grain itself."<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Roach |first=John |date=17 May 2005 |title=Antibiotic Beer Gave Ancient Africans Health Buzz |journal=National Geographic |url=http://www.houblon.net/spip.php?article2100 |access-date=28 January 2021 |archive-date=7 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210207142106/http://www.houblon.net/spip.php?article2100 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

=== Mathematics ===
Based on engraved plans of Meroitic King Amanikhabali's pyramids, Nubians had a sophisticated understanding of mathematics as they appreciated the harmonic ratio. The engraved plans is indicative of much to be revealed about Nubian mathematics.{{sfn|Bianchi|2004|p=230}} The [[Place:Nubia|ancient Nubians]] also established a system of geometry which they used in creating early versions of sun clocks.<ref>{{Cite journal|title=Gnomons at Meroë and Early Trigonometry|first=Leo|last=Depuydt|date=1 January 1998|journal=The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology|volume=84|pages=171–180|doi=10.2307/3822211|jstor=3822211}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.archaeology.org/online/news/nubia.html|title=Neolithic Skywatchers|date=27 May 1998|first=Andrew|last=Slayman|website=Archaeology Magazine Archive|access-date=17 April 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110605234044/http://www.archaeology.org/online/news/nubia.html|archive-date=5 June 2011|url-status=live}}</ref> During the Meroitic period in Nubian history, the Nubians used a trigonometric methodology similar to the Egyptians.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vO5FCVIxz2YC&q=nubia&pg=PA744|title=A History of Ancient Mathematical Astronomy|last=Neugebauer|first=O.|date=2004-09-17|publisher=Springer Science & Business Media|isbn=978-3-540-06995-9|language=en}}</ref>

== Military ==

[[File:Meroë, the City of the Ethiopians - being an account of a first season's excavations on the site, 1909-1910 (1911) (14741938026).jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|Relief of a battle scene on temple Meroe 250 (also known as "Sun Temple"), 1st century AD]]

During the siege of Hermopolis in the eighth century BC, siege towers were built for the Kushite army led by Piye, in order to enhance the efficiency of Kushite archers and [[Engineering:Sling (weapon)|slingers]].<ref name="Siege Warfare in Ancient Egypt">{{Cite web |url=https://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/siegewarfare.html| title=Siege warfare in ancient Egypt |publisher=Tour Egypt|access-date=23 May 2020}}</ref>
After leaving Thebes, Piye's first objective was besieging Ashmunein. Following his army's lack of success he undertook the personal supervision of operations including the erection of a siege tower from which Kushite archers could fire down into the city.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Dodson |first=Aidan |date=1996 |title=Monarchs of the nile |publisher=American Univ. in Cairo Press |isbn=978-9774246005 |page=178 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Jsq0AHsC-YMC&q=Kushite+siege+towers&pg=PA178}}</ref>
Early shelters protecting [[Social:Sapper|sapper]]s armed with poles trying to breach mud-brick ramparts gave way to battering rams.<ref name="Siege Warfare in Ancient Egypt" />

[[Engineering:Archery|Bowmen]] were the most important force components in the Kushite military.<ref name="Jim Hamm 2000. pp. 138-152">Jim Hamm. 2000. The Traditional Bowyer's Bible, Volume 3, pp. 138-152</ref> Ancient sources{{which|date=October 2021}}{{who|date=October 2021}} indicate that Kushite archers favored one-piece bows that were between six and seven feet long, with a draw strength so powerful that many of the archers used their feet to bend their bows. However, composite bows were also used in their arsenal.<ref name="Jim Hamm 2000. pp. 138-152" /> Greek historian Herodotus indicated that primary bow construction was of seasoned palm wood, with arrows made of cane.<ref name="Jim Hamm 2000. pp. 138-152" /> Kushite arrows were often poisoned-tipped.

Elephants were occasionally used in warfare during the Meroitic period, as seen in the war against Rome around 20 BC.<ref name="Rome's Enemies">{{Cite book|last=Nicolle|first=David|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/26551074|title=Rome's enemies.|date=26 March 1991|publisher=Osprey|others=Illustrated by Angus McBride|isbn=1-85532-166-1|location=London|pages=11–15|oclc=26551074}}</ref>

== Architecture ==
[[File:Sudan Meroe Pyramids 30sep2005 2.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|The pyramids of Meroe – [[Organization:UNESCO|UNESCO]] World Heritage.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Gebel Barkal and the Sites of the Napatan Region |website=UNESCO – World Heritage Convention |url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1073}}</ref>]]

During the [[History:Bronze Age|Bronze Age]], [[Place:Nubia|Nubia]]n ancestors of the Kingdom of Kush built speoi (a speos is a temple or tomb cut into a rock face) between 3700 and 3250 BC. This greatly influenced the architecture of the [[History:New Kingdom of Egypt|New Kingdom of Egypt]].{{sfn|Bianchi|2004|p=227}}
Tomb monuments were one of the more recognizable expressions of Kushite architecture. Uniquely Kushite tomb monuments were found from the beginning of the empire, at el Kurru, to the decline of the kingdom. These monuments developed organically from Middle Nile (e.g. A-group) burial types. Tombs became progressively larger during the 25th dynasty, culminating in Taharqa's underground rectangular building with "aisles of square piers...the whole being cut from the living rock."<ref name="Welsby" />{{rp|103}} Kushites also created pyramids,<ref>{{Cite web | url=http://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47d9-5abf-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99 | title= (still image) Aethiopen. Begerauîeh [Begrawiya]. Pyramidengruppe A. Pyr. 9. Südwand., (1849–1856)|author=Digital Collections, The New York Public Library |access-date=August 20, 2020 |publisher=The New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox, and Tilden Foundations}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web | url=http://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47d9-5acc-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99 | title= (still image) Aethiopen. Begerauîeh [Begrawiya]. Pyramidengruppe A. Pyr. 15. Pylon., (1849–1856)|author=Digital Collections, The New York Public Library |access-date=August 20, 2020 |publisher=The New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox, and Tilden Foundations}}</ref> mud-brick temples (deffufa), and masonry temples.<ref>{{Cite web | url=http://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47d9-5adc-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99 | title= (still image) Aethiopen. Naga [Naqa]. Tempel a. Vorderseite des Pylons., (1849–1856)|author=Digital Collections, The New York Public Library |access-date=August 20, 2020 |publisher=The New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox, and Tilden Foundations}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web | url=http://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47d9-5ad5-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99 | title= (still image) Aethiopen. Begerauîeh [Begrawiya]. Pyramidengruppe A. Pyr. 31. Pylon., (1849–1856)|author=Digital Collections, The New York Public Library |access-date=August 20, 2020 |publisher=The New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox, and Tilden Foundations}}</ref> Kushites borrowed much from Egypt, as it relates to temple design. Kushite temples were quite diverse in their plans, except for the Amun temples which all have the same basic plan. The Jebel Barkal and Meroe Amun temples are exceptions with the 150&nbsp;m long Jebel Barkal being "by far the largest 'Egyptian' temple ever built in Nubia."<ref name="Welsby" />{{rp|118}} Temples for major Egyptian deities were built on "a system of internal harmonic proportions" based on "one or more rectangles each with sides in the ratio of 8:5"<ref name="Welsby" />{{rp|133}}<ref>{{Cite web | url=http://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47d9-5acb-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99 | title= (still image) Aethiopen. Begerauîeh [Begrawiya]. Pyramidengruppe A. Pyr. 14. Westwand., (1849–1856)|author=Digital Collections, The New York Public Library |access-date=August 20, 2020 |publisher=The New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox, and Tilden Foundations}}</ref> Kush also invented Nubian vaults.

[[File:Naqa Apedamak temple.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|left|The so-called "Roman kiosk" (right) and temple of Apedemak (left), Naqa (1st century AD)]]

Piye is thought to have constructed the first true pyramid at el Kurru. Pyramids are "the archetypal tomb monument of the Kushite royal family" and found at "el Kurru, Nuri, Jebel Barkal, and Meroe."<ref name="Welsby" />{{rp|105}} The Kushite pyramids are smaller with steeper sides than northern Egyptian pyramids. The Kushites are thought to have copied the pyramids of New Kingdom elites, as opposed to Old and Middle Kingdom pharaohs.<ref name="Welsby" />{{rp|105–106}} Kushite housing consisted mostly of circular timber huts with some apartment houses with several two-room apartments. The apartment houses likely accommodated extended families.{{Citation needed|date=March 2021}}

The Kushites built a stone-paved road at Jebel Barkal, are thought to have built piers/harbors on the Nile river, and many wells.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/19/science/19kush.html?8dpc=&_r=1&adxnnl=1&oref=slogin&adxnnlx=1182262099-4sntH5YApEoKiDu/wy49HQ John Noble Wilford, "Scholars Race to Recover a Lost Kingdom on the Nile"], ''{{wipe|New York Times}}'' (June 19, 2007)</ref>

== Kush and Egyptology ==
On account of the Kingdom of Kush's proximity to Ancient Egypt – the first cataract at Elephantine usually being considered the traditional border between the two polities – and because the 25th dynasty ruled over both states in the eighth century BC, from the Rift Valley to the Taurus mountains, historians have closely associated the study of Kush with Egyptology, in keeping with the general assumption that the complex sociopolitical development of Egypt's neighbors can be understood in terms of Egyptian models.{{Citation needed|date=October 2021}} As a result, the political structure and organization of Kush as an independent ancient state has not received as thorough attention from scholars, and there remains much ambiguity especially surrounding the earliest periods of the state.{{Citation needed|date=October 2021}} Edwards has suggested that the study of the region could benefit from increased recognition of Kush as a state in its own right, with distinct cultural conditions, rather than merely as a secondary state on the periphery of Egypt.<ref name="edwards 1998">{{Cite web|title=David N. Edwards, "Meroe and the Sudanic Kingdoms", "Journal of African History" (UK). Vol. 39 No. 2 (1998), pp 175–193|url=http://journals.cambridge.org/download.php?file=%2F22648_C6A5D4D0922E24022C27DEA7035B07DB_journals__AFH_AFH39_02_S002185379700717Xa.pdf&cover=Y&code=2a79b8f52131a8547fc0936b8a4b398c}}</ref>

== Gallery ==
<gallery class="center" widths="225" heights="250">
File:Taharqo, Black Pharaohs Cache (Dukki Gel ) , Kerma Museum,Sudan (2).jpg|Portrait of Taharqa, Kerma Museum
File:The Archer King, National Museum of Sudan, Khartoum, Sudan, North-East Africa (cropped).jpg|The "Archer King", an unknown king of Meroe, 3rd century BC. [[Organization:National Museum of Sudan|National Museum of Sudan]].
File:Shrine of the 25th dynasty pharaoh and Kushite King Taharqa Egypt 7th century BCE.jpg|Taharqa's shrine, Ashmolean museum in Oxford, UK
File:Taharqa's kiosk. Karnak Temple.jpg|Taharqa's kiosk, Karnak Temple
File:Pharaoh Taharqa of Ancient Egypt's 25th Dynasty.jpg|Pharaoh Taharqa of Ancient Egypt's 25th Dynasty. Ashmolean Museum, Oxford UK
File:Vaso con decoración de rostros de demonios. Época meroítica.jpg|Meroitic pottery, Nelluah (Egyptian Nubia)
</gallery>

== See also ==
* [[Place:Aethiopia|Aethiopia]] is an ancient Greek geographical term which referred to the regions of Sudan and areas south of the Sahara desert.
* List of monarchs of Kush
* Merowe Dam
* Nubiology
* Twenty-fifth Dynasty of Egypt family tree

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

=== Sources ===
* {{Cite book |last=Bianchi |first=Robert Steven |date=2004 |title=Daily Life of the Nubians |publisher=Greenwood |isbn=978-0-313-32501-4
}}
* {{Cite book |author=Edwards, David N. |title=The Nubian Past |publisher=Routledge |location=London |year=2004 |pages=348 Pages |isbn=0-415-36987-8}}
* {{Cite book |editor1-last=Fisher | editor1-first=Marjorie M. | editor2-last=Lacovara |editor2-first=Peter |editor3-last=Ikram |editor3-first=Salima |editor3-link=Salima Ikram |display-editors = 3 |editor4-last=D'Auria |editor4-first=Sue |title=Ancient Nubia: African Kingdoms on the Nile |publisher=The American University in Cairo Press | year=2012 | isbn= 978-977-416-478-1
}}
* {{Cite book |last=Hintze |first=Fritz |date=1963 |chapter=Musawwarat as Sufra. Preliminary Report on the Excavations of the Institute of Egyptology, Humboldt University, Berlin, 1961–62 |volume=XI |title=Kush: Journal of the Sudan Antiquities Service |publisher=The Service |chapter-url=http://sfdas.com/IMG/pdf/kush_xi_part_ii.pdf
}}
* {{Cite journal |last1=Humphris |first1=Jane |last2=Charlton |first2=Michael F. |last3=Keen |first3=Jake |last4=Sauder |first4=Lee |last5=Alshishani |first5=Fareed |display-authors=1 |date=June 2018 |title=Iron Smelting in Sudan: Experimental Archaeology at The Royal City of Meroe |journal=Journal of Field Archaeology |volume=43 |issue=5 |pages=399–416 |doi=10.1080/00934690.2018.1479085 |doi-access=free
}}
* {{Cite book |author=Leclant, Jean |title=The empire of Kush: Napata and Meroe |publisher=UNESCO |location=London |year=2004 |pages=1912 Pages |isbn=1-57958-245-1}}
* {{Cite book |author=Oliver, Roland |title=The Cambridge History of Africa Volume 3 1050 – c. 1600 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge |date=1975 |isbn=0-521-20981-1}}
* {{Cite book |author=Oliver, Roland |title=The Cambridge history of Africa. Vol. 2, From c. 500 BC to AD 1050 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge |date=1978 |isbn=0-521-20981-1}}
* {{Cite book |author=Shillington, Kevin |title=Encyclopedia of African History, Vol. 1 |publisher=Routledge |location=London |year=2004 |pages=1912 Pages |isbn=1-57958-245-1
}}
* {{Cite book |last=Török |first=László |date=1998 |chapter=The Kingdom of Kush: Handbook of the Napatan-Meroitic Civilization |title=Handbook of Oriental Studies |others=Section 1 the Near and Middle East |location=Leiden |publisher=Brill |isbn=978-9004104488
}}
*{{Cite book |last=Welsby |first=Derek |title=The Kingdom of Kush: the Napatan and Meroitic empires |publisher=Published for the Trustees of the British Museum by British Museum Press |publication-place=London |year=1996 |isbn=978-0-7141-0986-2 |oclc=34888835}}

== Further reading ==
* {{Cite book |last=Baud |first=Michel |title=Méroé. Un empire sur le Nil |year=2010 |publisher=Officina Libraria |isbn=978-8889854501 |language=fr }}
* {{Cite book |last=Breyer |first=Francis |title=Einführung in die Meroitistik |year=2014 |publisher=Lit |isbn=978-3-643-12805-8 |language=de }}
* {{Cite book |author1-last=Valbelle |author1-first=Dominique |author2-last=Bonnet |author2-first=Charles |title=The Nubian Pharaohs |year=2006 |publisher=The American University in Cairo Press |isbn=978-9774160103 }}
* {{Cite book |last=Yvanes |first=Elsa |chapter=Clothing the elite? Patterns of textile production and consumption in ancient Sudan and Nubia |chapter-url=https://www.academia.edu/38111132 |year=2018 |title=Dynamics and Organisation of Textile Production in Past Societies in Europe and the Mediterranean |volume=31 |pages=81–92 }}

== External links ==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070621204134/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/06/070619-gold-nile.html Dan Morrison, "Ancient Gold Center Discovered on the Nile", National Geographic News]
* [http://www.wsu.edu:8080/~dee/CIVAFRCA/KUSH.HTM "Civilizations in Africa: Kush", Washington State University] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070501062512/http://www.wsu.edu:8080/~dee/CIVAFRCA/KUSH.HTM |date=2007-05-01 }}
*[https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/ancient-africa-queens-nubia "Remembering the Remarkable Queens Who Ruled Ancient Nubia"] at Atlas Obscura, December 15, 2021
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20190519102901/http://www.africankingdoms.com/ African Kingdoms {{!}} Kush]
* {{usurped|[https://web.archive.org/web/20051027005838/http://www.ancientsudan.org/ Ancient Sudan (Nubia) website]}}
* [https://www.jstor.org/pss/593008 Joseph Poplicha, "The Biblical Nimrod and the Kingdom of Eanna", ''Journal of the American Oriental Society'', Vol. 49, (1929), pp. 303–317]
* [http://www.kerma.ch/index.php?lang=en Kerma website] Official website of the Swiss archeological mission to Sudan.
* Josefine Kuckertz: ''Meroe and Egypt.'' In Wolfram Grajetzki, Solange Ashby, Willeke Wendrich (eds.): ''UCLA Encyclopedia of Egyptology.'' Los Angeles 2021, {{ISSN|2693-7425}} ([https://escholarship.org/uc/item/6061m848 online]).
{{History of Nubia footer|state=collapsed}}{{Kushite religion footer|state=collapsed}}{{Kushite Monarchs footer|state=collapsed}}{{Empires}}


[[Category:Former kingdoms]]

{{Sourceattribution|Kingdom of Kush}}