Kush, Early Kingdom of

Although the world is familiar with the material, architectural, and cultural achievements of ancient Egypt, few know of the neighboring kingdoms of Kush, civilizations centered to the south of Egypt, in the area called Nubia (in present-day Sudan). Over the course of ancient history, two great civilizations rose and fell in the region the Egyptians knew as Kush. Today, the older of the two is better known by the name of a modern town in Sudan, Kerma (or Karmah), where the ruins of its capital stand. The more recent Nubian civilization is the kingdom usually known as Kush.

Before the late 1970s scholars wrongly saw Karmah and Kush as little more than Egyptian colonial outposts. Racist beliefs that black Africans were incapable of establishing “advanced” cultures and civilizations contributed to the misconception. Modern archaeologists have restored Karmah and Kush to their proper places among the great cultures in world history. Today, scholars agree that Karmah and Kush were no mere copies of Egypt. Although at times during their history they borrowed, sometimes heavily, from Egyptian culture, they were indigenous, black African societies comparable to Egypt in importance, power, material wealth, and cultural development.

The civilizations of Karmah and Kush occupied the Nile Valley between present-day Khartoum (in Sudan) and Aswan (in Egypt). These civilizations were rich in natural resources such as gold, copper, diorite (a semiprecious stone), and the hard stone necessary for Egyptian building projects. They lay along trade routes connecting Egypt with West and Central Africa, and both civilizations grew wealthy from this trade.

Karmah

Even before the first pharaohs united Egypt around 3000 B.C.E., the black Africans of Nubia had developed one of the world’s most advanced cultures. Recent archaeological finds have revealed that the region’s people were producing sophisticated ceramics by 8000 B.C.E., even earlier than the people of Egypt. Indeed, it seems likely that Nubia contributed as much to ancient Egypt’s development as Egypt did to Nubia’s.

During Egypt’s Old Kingdom (2575–2134 B.C.E.), the kingdom known as Karmah extended its rule over much of Nubia. Archaeologists divide its history into three periods: Early Karmah, 2400–2000 B.C.E.; Middle Karmah, 2000–1668 B.C.E.;and Classic Karmah, 1668–1570 B.C.E. Each period can be distinguished by unique styles of pottery, tomb building, and burial practices. By 1700 B.C.E. the kingdom’s capital had grown to be a town of about 10,000. This complex society had several economic and social classes, with a king at the top, a priestly class, and an aristocracy. A firm agrarian base permitted the development of specialized occupations, including skilled artisans, and an army. The town’s eastern cemetery grew to hold approximately 30,000 graves.

Graves of the Early Karmah period were small and grew in size and complexity over time, suggesting that a distinct ruling class gradually accumulated wealth and power. An abundance of Egyptian articles in the graves indicates a greater contact between the two civilizations in the Middle Karmah period. The Classic Karmah period was the most prosperous for Karmah, which traded extensively with both the Egyptians at Thebes and the Hyksos people who dominated much of Egypt at the time.

Egypt had long viewed Karmah, which it called Kush, as a threat, particularly to its economic interests in lower Nubia. Egypt controlled the area of lower Nubia in times of political stability and withdrew from it during times of political or social upheaval. Egypt experienced such a period of upheaval beginning around 1640 B.C.E., when the Hyksos (most likely from present-day Syria) conquered lower, or northern, Egypt. The weakened armies of upper, or southern, Egypt withdrew from lower Nubia, which Karmah took over. Soldiers from Karmah fought on both sides in the warfare between the Egyptians and the Hyksos.

By 1570 B.C.E. the Egyptians began a national war of liberation, first against Karmah. During the war, the pharaoh Kamose intercepted a message from the Hyksos ruler to the new king of Karmah inviting Karmah to join forces with Hyksos in a conquest of Egypt so that the two powers could share the spoils. To prevent such an alliance, Egypt reconquered lower Nubia and then drove the Hyksos from Egypt. It then waged a series of attacks against Karmah until around 1450 B.C.E., when Egypt destroyed the kingdom and its capital. Egypt then occupied Nubia for approximately 500 years, and the Nubians (or Kushites) absorbed Egyptian culture.

Kush

Around 1075 B.C.E., Egypt entered a period of instability and the governors of Kush attempted to assert their independence from Egypt. Egypt responded by invading and reoccupying Nubia in 1070 B.C.E. By the ninth century B.C.E., however, Egypt had disintegrated into several competing states, and Nubia regained its independence. Around 850 B.C.E., a kingdom arose to dominate Nubia from Napata, the former Egyptian colonial capital.

In about 750 B.C.E. King Piye of Kush invaded Egypt, then splintered into more than eleven independent principalities. Piye and his brother Shabaka conquered and united Egypt. Shabaka founded what is known as Egypt’s Twenty-Fifth Dynasty. For almost 100 years, Egypt was ruled by a succession of Kushites, generally considered fair and benevolent rulers. This period represented the height of Kushite power, when Kush controlled an empire stretching from present-day Khartoum to the Mediterranean Sea.

Kush had absorbed much of Egypt’s culture. Kushites worshiped many of the Egyptian gods, most importantly, Amon. The Kushites believed the ka (spirit or soul) of Amon resided at Jebel Barkal, just outside Napata. They constructed a temple to Amon there, around which developed a priestly class with great power. Kush’s rulers considered themselves the true pharaohs of Egypt and maintained the ancient pharaonic traditions. Many Egyptians, however, considered the pharaohs of the Twenty-Fifth Dynasty to be foreigners and rejected their legitimacy. In 674 B.C.E. the Assyrians, with an empire based in present-day Iraq, invaded Egypt and defeated the army of the Kushite pharaoh Taharqa, who then fled to Napata. Although he attempted to retake Egypt, Taharqa and his successors ultimately failed. By approximately 663 B.C.E., Kush had permanently lost control of Egypt.

Egypt subsequently ousted the Assyrians and reestablished its forts in lower Nubia. Around 590 B.C.E., the Egyptian ruler Psammetichus II invaded upper Nubia, decisively defeating the Kushite army and possibly briefly taking Napata. The kings of Kush fled to the town of Meroë in about 590 B.C.E., although Napata remained an important religious center. Each king, until around 300 B.C.E., returned there to be crowned and to be buried.

The move to Meroë marked a cultural and political change in Kush. No longer preoccupied with the Egyptian borderlands, Kush began to face south and return to its Nubian roots. Meroitic replaced Egyptian as the official language, as did a unique form of writing, which scholars have yet to decipher. The god Apedemak, depicted as a man with a lion’s head, supplanted Amon as the national deity. Meroë developed ironworking technology, which was new to Africa at that time. Today large and numerous slag heaps testify to the large-scale production of iron.

The first century C.E.. was the high point of Meroitic culture and politics; after this Meroë began a slow decline. Several factors may have caused the decline, including a rerouting of the trade between Egypt and West and Central Africa to bypass Meroë, soil erosion caused by cattle overgrazing, deforestation (probably because of the vast amounts of timber needed to fuel iron furnaces), and declining agricultural yields. The last known king of Kush, Yesbokheamani, ruled from approximately 283 to 300 C.E.. After his death, Kush’s history remains unknown. The final reference to it comes from King Ezana of Aksum (in present-day Ethiopia).

See also Egypt, Ancient Kingdom of.

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