1 BGU History - The Kushites Conquer the Nile Region

The Kushites conquer the Nile region

1st Bacc History

Ms. Claudia Cabrera

• For centuries, Egypt dominated Nubia and the Nubian kingdom of Kush, which lasted between 2000 and 1000 BC.
• During this time, Egyptian armies raided and even occupied Kush for a brief period.
• As Egypt fell into decline during the Hyksos period, Kush began to emerge as a regional power. Nubia now established its own Kushite dynasty on the throne of Egypt.

People of Nubia

• Nubia lay south of Egypt between the first cataract of the Nile, an area of churning rapids, and the division of the river into the Blue Nile and the White Nile.
• The Nile provided the best north-south trade route.
• Several Nubian kingdoms, including Kush, served as a trade corridor.
• They linked Egypt and the Mediterranean world to the interior of Africa and to the Red Sea.
• Goods and ideas flowed back and forth along the river for centuries.
• The first Nubian kingdom, Kerma, arose shortly after 2000 BC.

The interaction of Egypt and Nubia

• Pharaohs forced Egyptian rule on Kush.
• Egyptian governors, priests, soldiers, and artists strongly influenced the Nubians.
• Kush’s capital, Napata, became the center for the spread of Egyptian culture to Kush’s other African trading partners.
• Kushite princes went to Egypt, learned their language and worshiped their gods.
• adopted the customs and clothing styles of the upper class.
• they Kushite nobles returned home bringing back royal rituals and hieroglyphic writing.

• With Egypt’s decline, beginning about 1200 BC, Kush regained its independence.
• The Kushites viewed themselves as more suitable guardians of Egyptian values than the Libyans.
• They sought to guard these values by conquering Egypt and ousting its Libyan rulers.

Piankhi Captures the Egyptian Throne

• In 751 BC, a Kushite king named Piankhi overthrew the Libyan dynasty that had ruled Egypt for more than 200 years.
• united the Nile Valley from the delta in the north to Napata in the south.
• his descendants became Egypt’s 25th Dynasty.
• erected a monument in his homeland of Kush with words inscribed his victory
• provided a catalog of Egyptian riches, such as silver, gold, and copper.

• In 671 BC, the Assyrians, a warlike people from Southwest Asia, conquered Egypt.
• The Kushites fought bravely, but retreat south along the Nile.
• There the Kushites would experience a golden age, despite their loss of Egypt.

King Piankhi

Lamassu - Assyrian king Sargon II

statues of rulers - napatan period