Ancient

African Kingdoms
A Captivating Guide to Civilizations of Ancient Africa
Such as the Land of Punt, Carthage, the Kingdom of
Aksum, the Mali Empire, and the Kingdom of Kush
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Table of Contents
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Part 1: Ancient Africa
Introduction
Chapter 1 – The Kingdom of Kush
Chapter 2 – The Land of Punt
Chapter 3 – Carthage
Chapter 4 – The Kingdom of Aksum
Chapter 5 – The Ghana Empire
Chapter 6 – The Mali Empire
Conclusion
Part 2: The Kingdom of Kush
Introduction
Chapter 1 – Nubia and the Emergence of the Kingdom of Kush
Chapter 2 – From Alara to the Twenty-Fifth Dynasty
Chapter 3 – The Rulers of the Twenty-Fifth Dynasty
Chapter 4 – Relations between Kush and Egypt Continue
Chapter 5 – Kush between the 6 th and 3 rd Centuries
Chapter 6 – The Meroitic Dynasty
Chapter 7 – The Last Centuries of the Kingdom of Kush
Chapter 8 – The Society of Kush
Conclusion
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References
 Part 1: Ancient Africa
A Captivating Guide to Ancient African Civilizations,
Such as the Kingdom of Kush, the Land of Punt,
Carthage, the Kingdom of Aksum, and the Mali Empire
with its Timbuktu
Introduction
Africa is the continent where the first humans were born. They explored the vast
land and produced the first tools. And although we migrated from that continent,
we never completely abandoned it. From the beginning of time, humans lived
and worked in Africa, leaving evidence of their existence in the sands of the
Sahara Desert and the valleys of the great rivers, such as the Nile and Niger.
Some of the earliest great civilizations were born there, and they give us an
insight into the smaller kingdoms of ancient Africa.
Egypt is the main source of knowledge of many neighboring kingdoms that were
just as rich and developed. Unfortunately, they were forgotten in time, as other
civilizations and kingdoms replaced them as the continent’s power bases. Only
recently are we rediscovering the might of the Kingdom of Aksum, the political
prowess of Kush, and the richness of the mysterious Punt. The early medieval
kingdoms of Ghana and Mali are still being researched due to their unique pre-
Muslim culture and their own outlook on Islam.
Because of the huge diversity that is the history of Africa, learning about it may
be a bit of a challenge. Even though humanity started in that place, we somehow
lost interest in it. And although the archaeology programs founded in the mid-20
th
century helped resolve this somewhat, we are still trying to eliminate the
ignorance and racial prejudice of colonial times. Africa keeps many secrets, and
they are there, ripe for the picking. The kingdoms discussed in this book serve as
an inspiration to future generations to explore what lies below the African
ground and behind its oral traditions.
As the home of the many pharaohs, Queen Sheba, Hannibal Barca, and Mansa
Musa, Africa deserves our full attention. It has stories to tell us and cultural
riches to share with us. Africa is where paganism, Christianity, and Islam left
their trails and created a cultural fusion that is unique to the continent. Some
modern countries are popular tourist destinations, while others are war-torn
lands still unable to industrialize. This polarity of Africa can be traced to ancient
times, and the world-shaping events that occurred here need to be studied and
understood.
Chapter 1 – The Kingdom of Kush

The Kushite Empire at its peak in 700 BCE

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/84/Kushite_empire_700bc.jpg
The ancient history of the Middle Nile Region was constantly determined by the
conflicts that arose between Egypt and Nubia. Both kingdoms wanted
supremacy over the Middle Nile Region, as it would open trade with the rest of
Africa. For Egypt’s New Kingdom (16 th century–11 th century BCE), it was of
great importance to keep Nubia pacified so it could use its riches to expand its
influence over the territories of the Levant (historical region of Syria). But
around 1650 BCE, Lower Nubia came under the control of the Kerma kingdom.
Through diplomacy, this kingdom gained control over the trade between Egypt
and Africa.
It is this Kerma kingdom that appears in the Egyptian sources as the Kingdom of
Kush. The names of the earliest Kush leaders remain unknown, but they had to
fight the Egyptian rulers for their dominion. The earliest sources mention
Kamose of the Seventeenth Dynasty of Egypt (ruled c. 1555–1550 BCE)
fighting the Kush Kingdom; his successor, Ahmose I, picked up where he left
off. These rulers began a systematic conquest of Nubia. Kamose secured Lower
Nubia, but he was unsuccessful in expanding Egypt farther to the south. It was
only during the reign of Thutmose (Tuthmosis) III, around 1460 BCE, that Egypt
finally managed to control the southern territories as far as the Fourth Cataract of
the Nile.
The Cataracts of the Nile are lengths of the river that are shallow and rapid.
Whitewater and small waterfalls occupy some of these areas, which are not
navigable. In total, there were six Cataracts, but some are now sunken under the
artificial lakes. But even those that do not exist anymore are remembered in
history books because they represented natural borders, landmarks, and
waypoints of importance. The Nubian regions from the First to the Fourth
Cataract of the Nile were under the overseers’ governance. Their official title
was “King’s Sons,” which changed under the rule of Amenhotep II to “King’s
Sons of Kush.” Their role was similar to that of a viceroy, and many historians
describe them as such. Those who bore this title were not necessarily related to
the Egyptian king; they were often elevated to the position due to their
endeavors as royal administrators and bureaucrats. During the Middle Kingdom
(c. 1975–1640 BCE), Upper and Lower Nubia were a part of Egypt. They shared
the same economy, administration, and ideology. At this time, the Egyptians
built their temples in the Kush region, devoting them to their gods and pharaohs,
such as Re-Harakhte, Amun-Ra, Ptah, Horus, Hathor, and Isis. The worship of a
living ruler reached its pinnacle with Ramesses II.
The natives of the Kush regions were Egyptianized to various degrees. The rich
families adopted Egyptian names and were allowed Egyptian education. They
were even buried in Egyptian-style tombs, which indicates they adopted the
religion and the funerary customs of their rulers. At first, scholars believed that
all of the natives integrated Egyptian culture into their lives, and this opinion is
supported by the material items found in the region. However, with Egypt being
the center of the economy, it is natural for everyday items to be of Egyptian
origin. The indigenous population had its own customs when it came to
mortuary tradition. Even though they used Egyptian equipment, as none other
was available, all the evidence suggests they had their own indigenous rites and
religions. There are frequent mentions of the goddess Nhsmks , as well as other
iconographical evidence of various cults that were not of Egyptian origin.
The End of Egyptian Domination
The name Kush was given to Nubia by the Egyptians of the Middle Kingdom. It
stands as a designation for the indigenous people of the Nubian region, who
were known as the Kushites. However, the term “Kush” can also be found in the
personal names of some of the rulers of the region, such as King Kashta, whose
name can be translated as “of the lands of Kush.” The earliest sources of the
history of the Kingdom of Kush are of Egyptian origin. Because of the constant
conflicts in the Nubian region, the lands of Kush were those south of the Nile’s
First Cataract, which needed to be conquered. After the reign of Kamose, these
lands were under Egyptian dominion for nearly five centuries (from c. 1550–
1069 BCE). Although Nubia was swiftly incorporated into the Egyptian New
Kingdom after the initial conquests of Kamose and Ahmose I, the region was
still the birthplace of many rebellions. There are constant mentions of various
uprisings of the Kush regions from the reign of Thutmose IV (r. 1401–1390
BCE) until Ramesses III (1186–1154 BCE) in numerous sources. Every ruler
had to fight the local people to keep control of the region.
The reasons for these rebellions are unknown, but there is a theory that the
conflict arose over Lower Nubia’s mines, which were rich in gold. The areas of
the Fifth and Sixth Cataracts of the Nile were also troubled by conflict, which
was probably caused by the political interference of the southern regions that
were free of Egypt’s dominion. The Kush elite grew stronger in the most
southern parts of Egypt-controlled Nubia, around the Napata region. There, after
the Egyptian withdrawal from Upper Nubia during the Twentieth Dynasty
(1189–1077 BCE), the rule was passed to the local elite. However, it is not clear
whether these indigenous rulers had complete freedom or were vassal kings of
Egypt. Some historians suggest that it was Ramesses III who withdrew his
kingdom from the Napata region all the way to Kawa, which lay on the east bank
of the Nile.
Both of these theories are contradicted by the written evidence of Ramesses IX,
who collected Nubian tribute and who gifted the agricultural land in the region.
Nevertheless, it seems as if the Egyptian administration of the regions south of
the Third Nile’s Cataract was very weak. The northern regions continued to be
under the strong influence of Egypt until the late 12 th century, though. During
the reign of Ramesses XI (1098–1069), Egyptian dominion reached the southern
areas up until the Second Cataract.
There is no evidence that can suggest the withdrawal of Egypt from Upper
Nubia was due to the aggression of local rulers. However, it occurred during the
decline of the political and economic power of the later pharaohs. At the same
time, Egypt abandoned Palestine due to the migration of the Eastern
Mediterranean Sea Peoples, who greatly influenced Egypt’s central government.
With the decline of the Kingdom of Egypt, the ideology of the Nubian regions
changed. Suddenly, the populace supported the return of local socio-political
structures, or at least what was left of them after five centuries of Egyptian rule.
It became impossible for the pharaohs to maintain the hierarchy in Nubia
because their economy had suffered. Due to the poor economy, their military
power was weakened, and as such, Egypt couldn’t afford to quell the Kush
rebellions anymore. The permanent economic crisis started with the rule of
Ramesses IX. By the time of Ramesses XI, a civil war had erupted, instigated by
the conflict between Viceroy of Kush Panehesy and High Priest of Amun
Amenhotep. The reason for this conflict remains unknown, but during it, the
economic crisis was of such intensity that even the army started looting tombs.
Famine followed the war, and the atrocities committed by both the viceroy and
the high priest shocked the people of Egypt.
The conflict ended with the rise of powerful men, as Paiankh became the next
viceroy of Kush, and Herihor replaced High Priest Amenhotep. The descendants
of Herihor would become the rulers of Egypt in what is known as the Twenty-
first, Twenty-second, and Twenty-third Dynasties. Their time coincided with the
renaissance period that followed, a period when Egypt underwent renovations
and recovery after the civil war. However, Panehesy kept Lower Nubia for
himself, and Paiankh constantly tried to return these territories under the control
of Egypt. The conflict between an ex-viceroy of Kush and the new one ended
with a treaty that limited Egypt’s authority to the region between the First and
Second Cataracts of the Nile. The rest of the southern Nubian territories
remained independent.
The descendants of Herihor regained limited control over the whole Nile Valley
between the First and Second Cataracts. This brought the gold mines of the
Middle Nile Region back under Egyptian control. The members of the royal
family were also appointed as the viceroys of Kush, which meant they claimed
the rule over all of Nubia, even though it was limited to one region. The last
viceroy of Kush, Pamiu, governed the region from 775 to 750 BCE. With the
Kushites establishing control over Lower Nubia, the office of the viceroy ceased
to exist. By the time of Pamiu, the viceroy’s influence was limited only to the
temple domains of the region, signifying that the Nubian area under Egypt’s
control shrank even more. In the following years, the pharaohs would continue
with the efforts to regain some of the lost territories because it was this area that
controlled the trade with the rest of Africa. When it was clear that Kush was lost
to the Egyptians, trade contacts were established. These contacts went as far
south as the Sixth Cataract of the Nile, and they are mentioned in both Egyptian
and Assyrian sources.
The Unification of Successor States
There is written and archaeological evidence for the continuous depopulation of
Lower Nubia from the end of the New Kingdom until the Twenty-fifth Dynasty.
However, some scholars believe that the depopulation didn’t happen. The
illusion was created by the people of Nubia, who started changing their burial
practices at this point in history. Many are yet left to be discovered, and there is
simply not enough evidence that leads to a unified view on the matter. There are
some new promising discoveries, like the necropolis at El-Kurru, which are
dated to this period, but much of the work is left to be done, and more sources
need to be discovered. Because of the lack of evidence, the period between the
11 th century and 8 th century BCE remains obscured.
What is evident is the survival of the indigenous chiefdoms, which overlooked
the production of goods and its local redistribution. Once the viceregal
government collapsed, the native social structure resurfaced. Small-scale polities
were created to replace Egypt’s government system. The Egyptized elite of the
society rose to become leaders, with each creating his own successor state of
Nubia. However, the newly created states were bound to become less developed
social and economic structures, as they were left to rely on local resources once
Egypt withdrew. They had no imperial military help from Egypt either, and they
were left to the mercy of their rivals and enemies who surrounded them.
Egypt continued to attack the Nubian region, wanting to reintegrate it into the
imperial government. This, and the failing economic administration of the
successor states, led to the increased need for the successor states to unify. But it
was the lack of natural resources that finally pushed the region to unite. Some
regions of Nubia were rich in mines, while others had arable lands. The
redistribution of resources had to be brought under a single administration. The
El-Kurru chiefdom became the leading political entity of the unification of the
Nubian region, as they possessed the gold mines between the Fourth and Fifth
Cataracts of the Nile. El-Kurru also held secure routes for the caravans that
traded inside Nubia and with the interior of Africa. To be clear, though, the
original name of the chiefdom is not recorded. El-Kurru is just the name of the
modern village where the town was discovered.
The El-Kurru chiefs traded with Egypt, and they kept peaceful relations with the
Egypt-controlled regions of Lower Nubia. There is evidence of material items of
both cultures found all over the Nile Valley, which suggests that some kind of
trade existed. During the 8 th century, the influence of the Kingdom of Kush
stretched to the Second Cataract of the Nile, which was where the Egyptian
authority in the south ended, but the Kushites did not expand only to the north.
The south proved to be of equal interest, as it was the way by which trade with
the rest of Africa occurred. It seems that the trade with Ethiopia was well
developed, as items made out of ivory and lapis lazuli were found in the tombs
of the Kushite chiefs of El-Kurru.
Unfortunately, some regions lack the evidence that would speak about their
history before the unification with the rest of the Kushite kingdoms. One such
region is the Butana, which was not a part of Egypt, as the Kushites annexed in
the mid-8 th century. This suggests that the region was independent, but there is
no evidence that speaks of its history or culture. The settlement in Meroe
contains some of the graves of El-Kurru chiefs, which were dated to before the
annexation period. This indicates that the connection between the Kush and
Butana region was of much earlier date. Meroe became the political center of the
region after the conquest by the El-Kurru dynasty. There is evidence of a
marriage between the El-Kurru dynasty and the local princes of the Butana
region, which speaks in favor of a peaceful unification rather than conquest. The
Meroitic-speaking population of the Butana region was acculturated to the
Egyptianized El-Kurru within just a few generations.
The Twenty-fifth Dynasty and the Kingdom of Kush
The El-Kurru dynasty spread its authority from the Butana region in the south to
Lower Nubia in the north by the mid-8 th century. At this point, the first recorded
king of the Kingdom of Kush emerged. His name was Alara, and he ruled a
complex state. The Egyptian religion was already accepted among the Kushite
leaders to some degree. However, Alara placed his own sister as a priestess of
Amun, establishing the first official cult of an Egyptian deity. It is speculated
that the trade in gold and exotic animals were what allowed the Kushites to
convert from chiefdoms to a complex kingdom. Thanks to its geographical
position, the El-Kurru chiefdom had an advantage over the rest of the Nubian
states and proved to be the competent leaders of the unification.
This period of the Kingdom of Kush is known as the Napatan period because the
kingdom was centered around the city of Napata. However, it is unknown when
and how the Kingdom of Kush rose around Napata, as there is no written or
archaeological evidence that provides proof. Alara’s successor was Kashta, and
it is believed that the two Kushite kings were brothers; however, this is just a
theory, as no concrete evidence supports this claim.
It was with Kashta that the relationship between the Kingdom of Kush and
Egypt tightened. The evidence suggests that Kashta imposed his authority over
Upper Egypt peacefully. The descendants of Pharaoh Osorkon III withdrew from
Thebes to make room for the growing power of the Kushite king, but they
continued to enjoy a high social status in the city and were even buried there.
Kashta also managed to place his daughter, Amenirdis I, in the position of the
Divine Adoratrice of Amun, a successor to the position of God’s Wife of Amun.
This title previously belonged to the daughter of Pharaoh Osorkon III,
Shepenupet I. The appointment of Kashta’s daughter served to prove the
legitimacy of the reign of Kashta’s successors in Upper Egypt. The appointment
of the Divine Adoratrice of Amun symbolized the transition of power from one
pharaoh to another. In this case, the appointment of Kashta’s daughter meant that
he was next in line to become the pharaoh. It also meant that the dynasty
beginning with Kashta was legitimate, as it was approved by the god Amun.
Amenirdis I guaranteed that Kashta’s successors would be legitimate rulers of
Egypt.
But why did the Theban princes accept the alliance with the Kushites from the
south and the eventual power shift? It was due to the fact that the already-
fragmenting Egyptian state was facing an invasion from Libyan chieftains. The
Kingdom of Kush would help provide the safety of its southern borders.
However, there are no sources that offer an insight into the achievements of
Kushite King Kashta. Nothing is known about his activities, either in the
Kingdom of Kush or in Upper Egypt. Napata is still a rich archaeological site,
and artifacts remain to be excavated. However, the Egyptianization of the
Kushites continued under his rule and even intensified. The evidence of this is
found in the southern region of the Butana, where Egyptian-style coffins were
excavated from tombs. Over the next century, the Kushites adopted Egyptian
literacy and used it to articulate the Kushite ideology of power. However, the
traditional Kushite social structures continued to exist, and they actually
coexisted with Egyptian social relations and concepts.
Kashta probably died in 747 BCE and was buried in the necropolis of El-Kurru
in an Egyptian-style pyramid. He was buried with all the Egyptian traditions,
even though his tomb was plundered at some point in history. He was succeeded
by Piye, who was probably his son, but the relationship between the two remains
to be proven.
As it further proves the Egyptianization of the Kush elite, Piye took the five-part
title that was similar to the one that belonged to Thutmose III. Pharaoh
Thutmose III had conquered Kush, and this new Kushite king, Piye, would, in
turn, conquer Egypt and start the Twenty-fifth Dynasty. While Thutmose III was
crowned in Thebes, the Kushite ruler of Upper Egypt was installed in Napata,
announcing the political shift that was about to happen. In one of his royal
speeches, which was recorded on a stela, Piye claimed Amun had appointed him
as the king of Nubia so that he could extend the Kushite influence and conquer
Egypt. He also announced himself absolute overlord above all other kings.
However, in the same speech, he declared that Egypt’s political situation
wouldn’t change as long as all its kings and chiefs recognized his supremacy and
paid him tribute.
Another stela from Napata mentioned Piye and his army going to Thebes to gift
the temple of Amun. The presence of his army suggests that some kind of
conflict between the Kingdom of Kush and Egypt took place in the fourth year
of Piye’s reign, but it could be that the Kushite king had to defend his borders
from the Great Chiefs of the West (probably a threat from Memphis). There are
no records that describe the events of the next fifteen years in the Kingdom of
Kush, but Assyrian sources speak about their advancement toward Egypt and the
appointment of an Arabian tribe at Gaza, which served as the gatekeeper over
Egypt. In Egypt, Tefnakht, Prince of Sais, consolidated his power and founded
the short-lived Twenty-fourth Dynasty during this period.
At first, Piye recognized the authority of Tefnakht, but when the Egyptian
pharaoh attacked Hermopolis, Piye ordered his Kushite forces from Thebes to
relieve the city after its rulers appealed for help. Piye’s army successfully drew
back Tefnakht’s forces and laid siege to Hermopolis. Piye decided to leave
Napata and take personal control of his army. He triumphed over the Egyptians
and entered the city of Hermopolis, where he received homage from the local
rulers. Then he marched his forces toward Memphis, where a part of Tefnakht’s
army was stationed. After the victory there, he received affirmation of his rule at
the sanctuary of Ptah. In Memphis, the chief of the Ma (a region of the Nile
Delta), Iuput II, submitted to Piye. Next, Piye entered Heliopolis after receiving
the submission of its prince, who confirmed his kingship in a ceremony of
enthronement. Fifteen local rulers submitted to Piye after this ceremony, and
Tefnakht realized he had to start the negotiations. Although Tefnakht agreed to
recognize Piye’s authority, he remained the ruler of an independent region of the
western Nile Delta. Once Piye returned to Napata, Tefnakht assumed the royal
title again, breaking his allegiance to the Kushites.
Piye didn’t bother with establishing his own administration in the newly
conquered regions. He was satisfied with reinstalling local rulers who would
take care of the governance but pay tribute to him as vassals. The conquest itself
was recorded on the Great Triumphal Stela, which was written by Egyptian
literary stylistic rules. Because of this, the stela is not a precise and objective
record, but it was a literary work that served to spread the propaganda of King
Piye. The stela details the attempt of Pharaoh Tefnakht and his ally Nimlot, the
ruler of Hermopolis, to unify Lower and Upper Egypt through conquest, which
was thwarted by the efforts of Piye.
The conflict ultimately resulted in the king of Kush becoming the supreme ruler
of Egypt. Although local rulers were allowed to keep their title of king, the title
of pharaoh now belonged only to Piye. It is not known how many years Piye
ruled, but there is no evidence that suggests he returned to Egypt after the
conquest.
Piye’s successor, Shabaqo (716-702 BCE), moved the capital from Napata to
Memphis because of the closing threat of the Assyrians, who, at the time, were
under the rule of Sargon II. It is unknown if Shabaqo was Piye’s son or brother.
Shabaqo tried to annihilate the local dynasties, and he placed Sais and the region
of Pharbaitos under his direct control. But instead of completely getting rid of
the local rulers, he subdued their authority under the centralized government.
The vassal kingdoms were now under the authority of the local governors.
However, this would change once Egypt received its first blow by the Assyrians,
after which the local dynasties would revert to power.
But during Shabaqo’s rule, Egypt and Assyria were fairly friendly. King Yamani
of Ashdod, who rose up against the rule of Sargon II, sought refuge in Egypt.
However, Shabaqo didn’t want to deepen the animosity with Assyria, and in the
year 712 BCE, he decided to extradite the asylum seeker to maintain peace.
After securing the peace, Shabaqo concentrated on strengthening his dynasty’s
position in the Egyptian half of his kingdom. To achieve this, he appointed his
son, Horemakhet as the high priest of Amun in Thebes. It is possible that
Shabaqo felt the need to reinforce his authority over Egypt because his
succession wasn’t patrilinear as Egyptian tradition demanded. This would mean
that he was, indeed, Piye’s brother. The Kushite tradition was different, and it
allowed for collateral succession (succession by relatives).
Shabaqo died in 702 at Memphis, but his body was moved to his ancestral tomb
in El-Kurru. He was succeeded by Shebitqo (705–690 BCE), his son. Although
Shebitqo was crowned in Thebes, just like his father, he ruled from Memphis.
After all, it was the place where the first kings of Egypt were born and crowned
by the gods, which helped to secure his legitimacy as pharaoh.
There is new archaeological evidence that suggests Shebitqo ruled first, not
Shabaqo, as previously thought. There is even a theory that the two kings shared
the rule at one point, which causes historians even more confusion. The dispute
is still ongoing, as it seems that the written and archaeological evidence do not
match. The newest conclusion is that Shebitqo ruled before Shabaqo. One of the
most convincing pieces of evidence is the style of their pyramids. While
Shebitqo’s pyramids look more like Piye’s, Shabaqo’s is closer to the ones
owned by Taharqo, who ruled after these two kings. If the pyramid style
changed gradually (a theory supported by other archaeological evidence), then
Shabaqo surely ruled after Shebitqo. This book follows the guide written by
Lazlo Torok, a Kushite expert who believes Shabaqo ruled first.
After the succession, Shebitqo summoned the Kushite army, placing it under the
command of his cousin and successor, Taharqo. He decided to confront the
Assyrians, who were now ruled by Sennacherib. The assumption is that the
Egyptian-Kushite army was defeated in 701 BCE at Eltekeh (in today’s Israel)
and was forced to return to Egypt. However, the Assyrian king decided to return
to his empire, which leaves a dilemma of who actually won. Neither of the
armies continued the conquest, and this was the only known military action to
occur during Shebitqo’s rule. After his death, Taharqo (690–664), the son of
Piye, became the king.
The general opinion is that Shebitqo chose Taharqo as his heir apparent because
of the Assyrian threat, as the other male representatives of the dynasty were too
young. Taharqo ruled in prosperity for the first seventeen years. He built temples
in both Kush and Egypt, which were the centers of his administrative power.
Trade prospered under his rule, and it spread from Libya and the Levant to the
Phoenician coast. However, there were some conflicts, which are attested by the
list of captives from the Asiatic principalities. An inscription found at the Sanam
temple lists the conquered people, and it even includes Libyans, which might
suggest that it wasn’t trading but rather military conflicts that created the contact
between the two kingdoms.
In 674 BCE, Taharqo’s prosperous rule was challenged when the Assyrians
attacked Egypt. King Esarhaddon of Assyria made an alliance with Taharqo, and
together, they conquered the lands of Palestine. There, the Assyrian king turned
against his ally, for, by this point, he was already on the Egyptian border. Three
battles were fought between Taharqo and Esarhaddon, and even though the
Egyptians initially won, the Assyrians managed to take over Memphis and sack
it. Taharqo was forced to retreat to Thebes in the south. However, his family,
including his son, were captured. Taharqo led numerous revolts from the south,
but in the end, he proved to be an incompetent ruler who had lost his prosperous
and united kingdom at the sign of the first threat.
To quell the unrest in Egypt caused by the actions of Taharqo’s rebellions,
Esarhaddon set out with his army. However, he died on his way to Memphis in
669 BCE. He was succeeded by his son Ashurbanipal, who decided to annex
Egypt. But Taharqo reasserted his power after the Assyrian king’s death, and
Ashurbanipal was forced to invade the kingdom in 667/666 BCE. In the battle at
Pelusium, located in the eastern Nile Delta, the Egyptian army was crushed.
Taharqo fled to the south but was pursued by the Assyrians to Thebes. From
there, he continued to run farther south, as he was unable to organize a
resistance. Ashurbanipal received the submission of the local dynasties of Upper
and Middle Egypt. Satisfied, he returned to his capital in Nineveh (Assyria).
Taharqo was reduced to the King of Kush, and he remained in his kingdom until
he died in 664 BCE.
Taharqo was succeeded by Tanwetamani (or Tantamani, r. 664–656), the son of
Shebitqo. During his reign, he organized a series of campaigns, during which he
reconquered parts of Upper Egypt. However, Ashurbanipal became aware of his
plans, and he sent the Assyrian reinforcement army to defend his possessions
there. Most historians agree that the main reason Tanwetamani failed to retake
all of Egypt was that he chose to rule from his capital in Kush instead of moving
to Memphis, which was closer to the point of conflict. The Assyrians were quick
to retake all their Egyptian possessions, and they even sacked Thebes. The
Nubian rule of Egypt ended with the Assyrian conquest, and Tanwetamani was
reduced to ruling only the Kingdom of Kush.
The End of the Napatan Dynasty
The nominal rule of Thebes remained in Tanwetamani’s hands, but he never
returned to Upper Egypt. The Nile Delta was ruled by Psamtik I (664–610 BCE),
an Assyrian vassal who founded the Twenty-sixth Dynasty. By elevating his
daughter to the position of Divine Adoratrice, he successfully spread his
influence over Upper Egypt. Thus, Egypt was reunited. Psamtik I gained Thebes
through diplomacy with the Kushites, and Tanwetamani withdrew to Napata.
The relations between Egypt and the Kingdom of Kush continued to develop due
to the increased demand for international trade. While there is no evidence of
imported goods from Nubia to Egypt, Kushite dig sites are filled with items of
Egyptian origin. There is even evidence of conflicts happening between the two
states in the area of Lower Nubia and the Red Sea. These conflicts were
probably organized against the nomadic tribes of Troglodytes in Egypt’s effort
to establish control over the trade routes.
For the next few decades, the relationship between Egypt and the Kingdom of
Kush remained hostile, despite their connections in trade, and it remained so
through the reigns of the next three Nubian kings: Atlanersa, Senkamanisken,
and Anlamani. The archaeological and textual evidence of the political state of
the Kush Kingdom during this period is sparse. However, one of these rulers
decided to change the tradition of burying the royal household members at El-
Kurru after he founded a new necropolis at Nuri, where all the future kings
would be laid to rest.
In 593 BCE, Pharaoh Psamtik II sent an expedition to Nubia, and even though
the reason for his actions is unknown, it is suspected that he wanted better
control over Lower Nubia to secure trade routes. But the possibility that he
wanted to conquer the Kushites cannot be excluded. It is believed that this
Egyptian campaign reached Napata. There is no evidence to suggest the
immediate outcome of the conflict, but after this point, the Kushites were no
longer welcome in Egypt. The systematic eradication of everything Kushite
began, and the statues, names, and inscriptions of the Twenty-fifth Dynasty were
destroyed. It seems that Egypt wanted to wipe out the Kush Kingdom from its
history.
The campaign of Psamtik II probably happened during the reign of Kushite King
Aspelta (c. 600–580 BCE). His reign was overshadowed by a terrible crime in
Napata. In the temple of Amun, the names and a figure of the king were erased
from two stelae, the Election and Banishment Stelae. Aspelta erected these stelae
in the first two years of his reign. The face of the queen mother was also erased,
together with the figures of Aspelta’s female ancestors. This could mean that
Aspelta’s legitimacy to the throne was disputed and that the problem lay in the
female succession line. Scholars can only speculate on who did this and why, but
the general opinion is that Aspelta usurped the throne from an elder relative.
There are no surviving royal inscriptions that can be dated to the period between
Aspelta and Irike-Amannote, who ruled at the end of the 5 th century BCE. These
150 years are only remembered due to the archaeological findings of the burial
sites of the kings and queens at Nuri. However, these tombs were badly
plundered, and there are no items that give us enough clues about what the
political situation was at the time or even what their relations were like with
Egypt. The overall impression of the kingdom’s political and economic decline
is reinforced by the lack of royal documents, monuments, and buildings dated to
this period. However, political continuity is displayed by the ten consequential
kings, who lived between the 6 th and 5 th centuries BCE. They were all buried at
Nuri in Egyptian-style pyramids, which means they never abandoned the
adopted mortuary religion.
The great Greek historian Herodotus wrote about the southernmost land of Kush
in his work, which can be dated to 450–430 BCE. He described the land as
inhabited by nomadic peoples, whose rulers produced large amounts of gold,
large elephants, various types of trees, and ebony. According to him, the
Aethiopians, or Kushites, were very tall, handsome, and long-lived. According
to Herodotus, all the lands south of Egypt belonged to Aethiopia (Ethiopia), and
he describes the city of Meroe as its capital. The fact that Herodotus even wrote
about Kush in this way indicates that Egypt changed its policy toward its
southern neighbors. During Ahmose II’s reign, trade relations were
reestablished, and the Kush Kingdom sent ivory as a tribute. This leads one to
the conclusion that Psamtik II may have succeeded in asserting his authority
over the region.
During the rule of Persian King Cambyses II (530–522 BCE), the Kush
Kingdom came under Persian rule. He conquered Egypt in 525, and in the same
year, he invaded Nubia, conquering the lands up to the city of Meroe. Even
Xerxes I (486–465) lists the Kushites as one of the peoples under his rule. This
fact is supported by Herodotus’s writings, in which he describes the Kushite
warriors as part of Xerxes’s army. Once the Egyptians started organizing revolts
against the Persian rule around 486 BCE, the Kushite kings saw an opportunity
to regain the territories between the First and Second Cataracts of the Nile.
Although the Egyptian rule over the territories between the First and Second
Cataracts ceased during the late 5 th century, there is no evidence of Kushite
military advances. However, the Kushites had some authority over the nomadic
tribes that inhabited the lands between the Nile and the Red Sea. This period of
the Kingdom of Kush was marked by the long reign of Irike-Amannote (or
Amanineteyerike), but it is uncertain if he led his armies to Upper Egypt or if he
pretentiously took the title of Nebty , “Seizer of the Land,” just to show his
intentions of an invasion of Egypt.
Irike-Amannote was succeeded by Baskakeren, who only ruled for a short
period. Harsiotef ruled next, and he was most likely the son of Irike-Amannote.
One of the stelae in the temple of Amun at Napata dedicated to Harsiotef claims
he won nine military victories during the first thirty-five years of his reign. His
campaigns were recorded as conflicts with the Butana, the desert peoples, Lower
Nubia, and Meroe. In Lower Nubia, he probably fought against the rebels who
opposed his rule, while in other areas, he would have fought mostly nomadic
tribes. The recorded list of conflicts indicates that, at the time, Kushite authority
extended over the territory between the Second and First Cataracts of the Nile.
The note beside the Lower Nubia victory entry says that the rebels retreated to
Egypt, which might indicate Egypt’s involvement so they could regain control of
these territories.
Harsiotef was succeeded by an unnamed king, whose efforts to return the royal
burial site to El-Kurru suggest there was some kind of dynastical struggle.
Nothing is known about this king except that his successor, Nastasen, returned
the burial site to Nuri, restoring the dynastical order. The period of the 4 th
century remains very obscure, and there are no surviving records that cast light
on the events in the Kingdom of Kush. However, looking from the perspective
of Egypt, there is much to be discovered. During the reign of the Thirtieth
Dynasty, in 343 BCE, to be more exact, the Persians returned and conquered the
country. Pharaoh Nectanebo II was forced to flee to Upper Egypt, where he
received Kushite support and remained in power for the next two years. But
Alexander the Great came swooping in next, conquering Egypt in 332 BCE and
starting the Ptolemaic Dynasty, which tried to take over the Kingdom of Kush on
more than one occasion. In 319/18, Ptolemy I led an attack on Lower Nubia, but
his success is not recorded. Egypt must have suffered some internal dynastic
problems, as, at the time, the Kushites saw an opportunity to harass its borders.
In 274 BCE, Ptolemy II launched an expedition to Lower Nubia, probably
intending to secure the trade routes along the Nile between Egypt and the Kush
Kingdom. The Macedonian rulers of Egypt were accustomed to the use of war
elephants, which they imported from India. However, it was impossible to
import them by such a distance, and Ptolemy needed a new source for his
favorite war animal. The only other region that had elephants were the southern
regions of the Kingdom of Kush. But the Kushites didn’t know how to capture
and train elephants for warfare, and they needed the help of Egyptian experts.
However, since there were more diplomatic ways to achieve the elephant trade,
the more obvious reason for Ptolemy’s expedition to Lower Nubia was its gold
mines. Egypt defeated the Kush Kingdom, and Lower Nubia was annexed.
However, the Kushites were compensated for the defeat by lucrative trade
agreements and the cultural renaissance that followed. Egypt once more
established cultural and intellectual contact with the Kingdom of Kush.
The Meroitic Dynasty and the End of the Kingdom
New trade agreements with Egypt brought prosperity to the southern regions of
the Kingdom of Kush. From there, exotic animals, as well as other goods, were
sold to Egypt and the rest of the known world. However, with the economic
strength of the southern parts of the country, a dynastic change was inevitable.
King Arkamaniqo (Arkamani), who ruled in the 3 rd century BCE, was the one
who transferred the capital from Napata to Meroe. Greek historian Diodorus
Siculus records how there was a conspiracy of the southern priesthood to remove
Arkamaniqo from the Kushite throne, but he used his knowledge of Greek
philosophy to overcome the troubles and slaughter the priests who wished him
dead. The story of King Arkamaniqo’s coming to the south to dispose of the
priests is just an allegory of the moving of the capital and the dynastical change.
In reality, Arkamaniqo only transferred the royal burial place to Meroe.
However, he was of southern origin, and the choice of his titular name was lent
from Ahmose II, who never hid the fact that he usurped the throne, which led to
the belief that Arkamaniqo himself was a usurper, hence the dynastical change.
The new usurper king was probably part of the new and rich elite society of
Meroe, and because of his origins, the dynasty he founded is known as the
Meroitic Dynasty. The new dynasty brought prosperity to the kingdom, and even
though the south was of special importance due to its trading potential, the
kingdom, as a whole, developed exponentially. Meroe and the Butana region did
become administrative temple centers, but the fact that Arkamaniqo’s successor,
Amanislo, continued to build and develop Napata serves as proof that this city
continued to be the seat of the kings.
Through increased trade between the Kingdom of Kush and Ptolemaic Egypt,
the two cultures continued to influence each other. However, a new trend in art
was adopted in the Kush Kingdom. Brought through the Greek contacts of
Egypt, Hellenistic art characteristics started appearing in Kushite religious
ideology, architecture, and iconography. But the Kushites were also influenced
by the African art style, mainly due to the south’s economic supremacy. This
new African trend enriched the art of Ptolemaic Egypt and continued to expand
toward the Hellenistic world in general.
The first conflict between Egypt and Meroitic Kush occurred in the late 3 rd
century when Upper Egypt revolted against the rule of Ptolemy IV Philopator.
The Kushites saw an opportunity to capture Lower Nubia, and it remained in
their hands from 207 until 186 BCE. They took the part of Lower Nubia between
the First and Second Cataracts, and it appears they had no intention of
progressing farther. They just wanted their land back. No military garrisons were
found beyond the First Cataract, and no preserved sources mention any intention
of conquering Egypt. In 185, Ptolemy V Epiphanes crushed the rebellion and
extended his kingdom to the Nile Valley, taking back the lands between the First
and Second Cataracts.
During the revolt and its quelling, the trade between the Kush Kingdom and
Egypt suffered. The exotic African goods didn’t flow to the Nile to be sold to the
Hellenistic world. By the early 2 nd century, Egypt stopped organizing hunting
expeditions to find African war elephants. Instead, they turned back to importing
ones from India. However, there is evidence of some diplomatic efforts. Even
though Egyptians took back Lower Nubia, the locals were not punished for their
role in the rebellion. Instead, they were peacefully integrated into Egypt’s
administration, while some of the elite Nubians were even rewarded with
positions within the government. The population was subordinate to these native
government officials, whom the Ptolemies trusted fully.
In the central regions of the Kingdom of Kush, a new religious and kingship
ideology was being shaped. To secure the legitimacy of the new Meroitic
Dynasty, Amun transformed into a warrior deity of the desert hunters. The
African Butana region’s influence is evident here, as the new royal family had
originated from there. Even though the royal garments were still heavily
influenced by the Ptolemaic ones, traditional components were also
incorporated, which held ritualistic meanings. For instance, the Kushite kings’
fastening devices were now associated with the Nubian gods Sebiumeker
(fertility) and Arensnuphis (hunting), not with the Egyptian warrior god Onuris.
It was as if the new Meroitic Dynasty wanted to separate even more from the old
one that had ruled Egypt, for new hieroglyphic and cursive scripts were also
invented. The cursive script consisted of only twenty-three symbols, and it was
developed for the economic and administrative purposes of the elite and middle
social classes. This means that literacy was no longer reserved for kings and
priests. Everyone was able to use the new cursive script, and it is thought that
even wives and the children of Kushite citizens learned it as well.
The first name that has been discovered in Meroitic hieroglyphs belongs to
Queen Shanakdakheto. At first, scholars thought she was a male, as she was the
sole ruler on the Kushite throne, but further discoveries of her tomb suggested
she was female. Shanakdakheto ruled during the late 2 nd century BCE, but it is
unknown how she was related to the royal family. Shanakdakheto was also the
first known ruling queen of the Kingdom of Kush, with the next one following
her at least 100 years later. In the iconography that is dedicated to her, she is
represented wearing a feather crown of the Kushite kings and the royal three-part
garments. The iconography proves her legitimacy and rule. In one of the
depictions, she is accompanied by a male figure, who is dressed more plainly
with an ordinary diadem on his head, which symbolizes him as not being a
ruling part of the family.
During the 1 st century BCE, the Meroitic Kingdom of Kush was involved in a
conflict with Rome, which had just conquered Alexandria and Egypt after the
suicide of Queen Cleopatra VII. It is believed that the Meroitic Kingdom
purposely helped Upper Egypt organize a revolt against the Roman rule to
destabilize the region and take over Lower Nubia to the First Cataract of the
Nile. However, the result was devastating, as the Roman army entered Kush
after they dealt with the revolt in Egypt. Rome conquered Lower Nubia and gave
it the status of a vassal chiefdom. The plan was to conquer the whole Kush
Kingdom in the future and to annex the Meroitic state. However, the opposition
Rome received from Meroe was too great, and Emperor Augustus had to
abandon his plans of annexation.
However, only a few years later, Augustus planned two great expeditions. Gaius
Petronius was chosen as the new prefect of Egypt, and he was to lead the attack
on the Kush Kingdom. However, before the expedition was launched, the
Nubians acted first. They crossed the First Cataract and attacked Egyptian
towns, where they took prisoners and brought down the statues of Roman
Emperor Augustus. The Meroitic attack happened sometime in 25 BCE, while
the Roman expedition to Nubia, which served as a counterattack, occurred in the
winter of 24 BCE.
At that time, Kushite King Teriteqas, who led the supporting army from the
south, died suddenly, and the kingdom was now led by Queen Amanirenas, who
has been identified as the previous king’s sister. In Roman and Greek texts, she
is referred to as “Queen Candace,” the Latinized form of “Kandake,” but this is
just a term that refers to the king’s sister. The Meroitic Dynasty was matrilineal,
meaning the heirs would be born by the king’s blood relatives, not his wife; thus,
the kandakes had an instrumental position in society.
Gaius Petronius advanced with his army to Napata, where he ignored
Amanirenas’s offer of peace, as he took slaves and destroyed the city. However,
for some unknown reason, Petronius didn’t continue with the conquest of Nubia;
instead, he turned back to Egypt.
The loss of Napata didn’t diminish the Kushites’ will to fight Rome. Queen
Amanirenas ordered an attack on a Roman garrison stationed at the border, but
Petronius was quick to come back with reinforcements, forcing the Nubians to
accept negotiations. The peace talks were held at the Isle of Samos in the winter
of 21/20 BCE. The conclusion was the remission of taxes for the Kush
Kingdom, as well as the establishment of a border between Egypt and Kush at
Hiera Sycaminos (today’s El-Maharraqa).
After Queen Amanirenas, the throne was occupied by two more female rulers,
Queens Amanishakehto (c. 10 BCE–1 CE) and Nawidemak (early 1 st century).
The three consecutive female rulers may indicate some dynastic trouble in the
kingdom, as it wasn’t usual for females to inherit the throne. But during the rule
of these queens, the Kushites managed to recover from the conflict with Rome.
Once more, the Kush Kingdom entered a period of prosperity, which was
reflected in extensive temple building and the increase in the quality of their art.
With trade reopened and the successful diplomatic missions that took place,
Egyptian influence returned to the Meroitic state. Even the Egyptian
hieroglyphic script was in use once again.
The period between the late 1 st and mid-3 rd century saw an increase and the
development of many new agricultural settlements, villages, and caravan
stations. The overall impression is that this period was peaceful and prosperous.
However, the crisis in the Roman Empire in the mid-3 rd century was reflected in
the Kingdom of Kush, as economic and political troubles began again. The new
Kingdom of Aksum on the southern border was growing powerful and
represented a real political threat to Egypt’s and Nubia’s weakened economies.
The warrior tribes of Blemmyae and Noba to the east and southwest started
harassing the kingdom’s borders.
The last decades of the Kingdom of Kush are poorly documented. The pyramid
tombs of the last five rulers show obvious signs of economic decline, as they are
less decorated. However, cultural continuity is shown, as even the houses built in
Meroe’s administrative center show that the kingdom went through some kind of
downfall. The people inhabited very small rooms, art stopped being produced,
and the temple walls were used as burial grounds. The different types of burials
during the second half of the 4 th century suggest a new culture was on the rise,
which would have coexisted with the Meroitic Dynasty. It seems that the Kush
Kingdom was suddenly occupied by a new population that had a completely
different cultural, political, and social structure. It is known that the new
population was a tribal society built of the warrior elite and semi-nomadic cattle
herders. Although it is not known for sure which tribe it was, it is possible it was
the Noba, who originated from the western banks of the Nile.
The last known ruler of the Kingdom of Kush was Queen Amanipilade (r. 308–
320), but the kingdom continued to exist for at least several more decades after
her death. The Meroitic Dynasty disappeared after the attack by the Kingdom of
Aksum, which sacked the city of Meroe. A similar fate happened to some other
settlements in the area once the Butana lost its role as the administrative and
trade center of the kingdom. It remains unknown what happened to the Kingdom
of Kush, but the economic fall and the evidence of warfare with the new power
in the region, the Aksum, suggest that it was more than one factor that caused its
demise. Neighboring Egypt began adopting Christianity, and as a result, the
Nubians founded three smaller Christian kingdoms in its territory after the
dissolution of the Kush Kingdom: Nobatia, Alodia, and Makuria.
Chapter 2 – The Land of Punt

The assumed location of Punt

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land_of_Punt#/media/File:Land_of_Punt.png
An ancient African kingdom whose location remains a mystery, the Land of
Punt can only be observed through the prism of Egypt, its trading partner. The
existence of Punt is known to history only because it was described and depicted
in the ancient texts and reliefs of Egyptian rulers. This mysterious kingdom’s
importance is obvious, as the great pharaohs refer to it as Ta netjer —“the land
of the gods.” Scholars today interpret the name Ta netjer in two very different
ways, which sheds some light as to where Punt was located. The Egyptians
might have named this kingdom “the land of the gods” because it was their
ancestral home, where the god Amun installed Egypt’s first ruling dynasty. It
could also be interpreted as the land in the east, where the sun god rises. The
probability of the second theory being correct is increased by the fact that Egypt
also referred to Lebanon, another eastern country, as the “land of the gods.”
The Location and the People of Punt
There are various theories about where the Land of Punt was located: Morocco,
Zambezi, Mauritania, and so on. In reality, nobody knows where the famous
mythical land was. Everything known about Punt comes from Egyptian sources,
which don’t describe the kingdom’s geographical position. However, what they
do describe is the various goods imported from Punt. Based on that, scholars
have concluded that the most probable location of this ancient kingdom is in the
Horn of Africa.
The Egyptian texts list products such as ivory, ebony, gold, makeup materials,
naphtha, various exotic animals, and gold as being imported from Punt.
However, the most important items were aromatic resins and woods, such as
myrrh and cinnamon. These items suggest that the mysterious land in the east
could be somewhere in Arabia. However, further findings dispute this theory.
Archaeologists found a list of the trade partners of Egypt at the temple of
Karnak. The list dates back to Pharaoh Thutmose III (r. 1479–1425 BCE) of the
Eighteenth Dynasty, and it numbers the kingdoms and their geographical
orientations: Kush, Wawat, Punt, Mejay, and Khaskhet. All of these kingdoms
were pinpointed in Africa, and their geographical orientation suggests that Punt
was the southernmost kingdom that bordered the Red Sea. This location is the
Horn of Africa today.
The importance of these imported goods from Punt now becomes obvious. These
items, especially the aromatic woods, originated from the region of the Horn of
Africa. But the wood could also be imported from Arabia Felix (South Arabia),
and this fact made scholars wonder if the Kingdom of Punt may have spread to
both shores of the Red Sea. This theory would locate Punt in today’s Eritrea and
Yemen. Later, scientists conducted a DNA testing of mummified baboon hair
found in Egypt, which originated from the mysterious Kingdom of Punt. They
found that the DNA profile corresponds to that of Somali baboons. Due to this
discovery, historians now believe that today’s Somalia was once a part of this
ancient kingdom.
The discovery of a Twenty-sixth Dynasty stela from the ancient fortress of
Daphnae, near Qanṭarah in northeastern Egypt, shifted the focus of scholars
from Arabia to Africa. The stela bears an inscription stating that if it rains in the
mountains of Punt, the Nile floods. This would mean that the mountains of Punt
should be the Ethiopian Highlands, as it drastically influences the Nile. Since the
discovery of this stela, around fifty more inscriptions and engravings that refer to
the Land of Punt have been found. None of them mention its exact location.
However, they teach us that Punt was not landlocked, as Egyptians traveled to it
by boats.
An inscription dating to the Sixth Dynasty tells a story of Pharaoh Pepi II
Neferkare (c. 2278/2269–2184/2175 BCE), who dispatched an expedition to
retrieve a body of a state official. This official had been killed in the northern
desert by the Bedouin tribes while he was overseeing the construction of a ship,
which was to set sail to the Land of Punt. This discovery not only confirmed that
Egyptians traveled to Punt using the sea, but it also confirmed that it was the Red
Sea that was used due to the mention of the northern (Asiatic) desert. Another
inscription that was discovered later confirms this theory. This inscription is
dated to Pharaoh Mentuhotep III (2010–1998 BCE), and it speaks of another
construction of a vessel that was designated to reach Punt along the Red Sea.
Besides the ancient inscriptions that tell us about the various Egyptian
expeditions to Punt, there are temple depictions that visualize these expeditions.
One has been discovered in the funerary temple of Pharaoh Hatshepsut (1479–
1458 BCE) at Deir el-Bahari. According to the depictions of the birth of Queen
Hatshepsut, her mother was awakened by the scent of the incense from the Land
of Punt. Another depiction in the same temple shows an Egyptian expedition to
Punt. The relief shows the recognizable flora and fauna of the land. One of the
most recognizable plants is the doum palm, which, even today, grows all over
the Somali coast, with the southeast being the place where the concentration of
these trees is the highest. To the Egyptians, the doum palm is a sacred plant, and
it is no wonder why they wanted to import it directly from the “land of the
gods.”
Other reliefs from Hatshepsut’s temple display the animals and people of Punt.
The conclusion is that Puntites mostly traded with short-horned cattle, slaves,
and skins of wild animals. They were ruled by their own royal family, and in the
time of Hatshepsut, their names were King Parahu and Queen Ati. These are also
the only Puntite names known today. The temple of Hatshepsut tried to represent
Punt as a land that paid tribute to Egypt, but this is highly speculative, especially
since some of the reliefs show the myrrh trees of Punt being cut down by the
Egyptians themselves. This is a clear sign that trade occurred, not an exchange
of gifts or tribute.
Puntites celebrated the god Amun, but it seems that their main cult was that of
the goddess Hathor. Some even speculate that her cult started in Punt. One of the
inscriptions found at Al-Qusayr on the Red Sea coast mentions Hathor as the
mistress of Punt. All of the goods imported from Punt, whether they were
incense, slaves, naphtha, ebony, or animals, were referred to as gifts of Hathor.
If Hathor indeed originated in Punt, it would make sense that this mystic land
was considered the land of the gods. Hathor is a consort (and mother) to both
Horus and Amun-Ra. The two gods were symbols of kingship, and as such,
Hathor was the symbolic mother of the Egyptian pharaohs. Some scholars even
see Punt as the land where Egyptians originated from. However, there is no
evidence to confirm this theory.
King Parahu and Queen Ati, followed by their sons and one daughter, are
depicted as they visited Egypt and showed their respect to Hatshepsut. The
unusual appearance of Queen Ati draws all the attention. She is represented with
a rugged face and an extremely strange body, which modern doctors diagnose as
gluteal and femoral obesity and hyperlordosis. Some claim other diagnoses such
as elephantiasis or steatopygia. However, without a mummy to conduct proper
research, medical experts can only theorize as to why Queen Ati was depicted as
such. A newly discovered pathology combines several diagnoses, such as
neurofibromatosis, lipodystrophy, Proteus syndrome, and familial obesity. This
pathology was named Queen of Punt Syndrome, as the person having it would
look similar to Queen Ati’s depiction. However, the queen of Punt is, so far, the
only known person to have it.
Flora and Fauna of Punt
One of the main items Egyptians imported from Punt was ebony. Products made
of ebony, such as ornamental pieces or even sarcophagi, that were found in
Egyptian tombs were analyzed, and the results confirmed the suspicion that their
origin was from Punt. The particular species of ebony wood found in the tombs
is Dalbergia melanoxylon. This type of wood is native to Eritrea, Ethiopia, and
Sudan. In Somalia, ebony is very limited today. However, archaeological
findings suggest that the situation was quite different in the past. In fact, in the
past several millennia, Somalia’s vegetation and animal life have drastically
changed. The remains of a crocodile were found in the Hargeisa valley, an area
with a unique climate. Although it is a dry geographical region today, it is not
hot. But the crocodile remains suggest that there was a swamp in the area at
some point in the past. The area still grows ebony, locally known as “Kolaati,”
but to a limited extent. If the area was once a swamp, the possibility is high that
ebony was abundant here.
The most important item imported to Egypt from Punt was certainly
frankincense. Queen Hatshepsut sent a fleet of five ships to Punt to fetch this
scented resin, as it was one of the most important items in Egyptian sacred
rituals. She ordered her people to bring not only the resin but also the living saps
of the trees, so they could be planted in Egypt. The relief in Hatshepsut’s temple
depicts thirty-one heavy trees being carried by four to six men. If the Egyptians
and Puntites indeed carried the trees to the ships, the Land of Punt must have
been very close to the sea.
Ancient texts, among which is the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea , specify the
region of Somalia between Bandar Qasim and Cape Guardafui as the center of
frankincense production and export. The ancient city of Opone, a familiar trade
center used by Egyptians, Romans, Greeks, Persians, and even Indians, occupied
this region. Since the location of Oppone corresponds to the probable location of
the mystical Land of Punt, many scholars believe that they were the same. The
Periplus of the Erythraean Sea testifies that the frankincense of the highest
quality was produced in the laurel grove of Acannae, which has been identified
as today’s Alula Lagoon in the northernmost point of Somalia.
Just as with the flora of Punt, the fauna was depicted in the ancient Egyptian
reliefs of the temples and tombs. One such depicted animal that makes scholars
believe the Land of Punt was in Africa is the giraffe. This animal is specific only
to Africa, and although they were imported in various other lands, it is highly
unlikely that Egyptians would have bothered describing the giraffes of Punt if
they were not native to the land. However, ancient Greek texts reveal that
giraffes used to roam not just Africa but also the area between Arabia and Syria.
One animal depicted in the reliefs has greatly puzzled scholars. In the depiction
of Punt in Hatshepsut’s temple, they found a relief of a rhinoceros with only one
horn. These are native to the regions of the Eastern Himalayas, while Africa is
the home of the two-horned rhinoceros. Some even thought this was enough
evidence to search for the Land of Punt in India. However, the relief is badly
damaged, and it is not possible to say if the animal used to have two horns.
There is also a possibility that one-horned rhinoceros used to inhabit some areas
of Africa but went extinct. In the end, it could also just be the error of an artist
who didn’t bother to add a second horn to the representation of the animal.
Other animals that populated the Land of Punt were fish and marine animals,
among which is saltwater lobster. Because of this, scholars are confident enough
to imagine Punt as a location with access to the sea. However, some of the fauna
species represented on the walls of the temple belong to freshwater habitats. But
this was easy for biologists to explain. The represented animals are catfish and a
freshwater turtle. Both of these animals are noted to venture to the sea
occasionally, which could explain their existence among the depicted seawater
creatures.
One more animal posed a challenge for Egyptologists. It seems that there was a
strange kind of bird imported to Egypt from Punt. At first, they thought the bird
was a crane. However, it only showed the backside of the bird. Later on, another
relief was discovered on a nearby wall with the image of the same bird, and this
time, the angle was much better. Due to the distinctive feathers on the head, the
bird was identified as the secretary bird. This is a large (4.2 feet) terrestrial
predatory bird that, to an unskilled eye and observed from an odd angle, could
indeed look like a crane. The bird is native to Africa and is nonexistent in the
Nile region.
But it wasn’t only the images of the animals that were analyzed. Although
baboons were represented on various reliefs in the temples and tombs of
Egyptian kings and queens, archaeologists have also found mummified remains
of baboons in one of the tombs in the Valley of the Kings. The pair of animals
were sent to the British Museum, where they were genetically tested to find out
their origin. The baboons’ oxygen isotopic values matched with those of living
baboons native to Eritrea and Ethiopia, ruling out Yemen and Somalia.
However, repeated genetic testing results were slightly different. The conclusion
was that the baboon mummies correspond genetically to the modern baboons of
Somalia and both Eritrea and Ethiopia.
The People of Punt
In the tomb of Rekhmire, who was the vizier of Pharaoh Thutmose III, the Grand
Procession Mural was discovered, which depicts foreign envoys submitting
tribute to Egypt. The top row of the painting shows the Puntites with several red-
skinned people who strongly resemble Egyptians. But the row continues with
three black-skinned figures and prognathous facial features. This means that the
Puntites were of both Hamitic and Negroid types of people. On the mural, there
is nothing of the distinct social or legal status of these types of people, and the
general belief is that they were all representatives of the same diplomatic
mission from Punt. After all, the region where it is believed legendary Punt used
to be is still inhabited by Nilotic and Hamitic peoples.
However, scholars who believe that the Land of Punt solely occupied the Arabic
shore of the Red Sea believe that the mural’s Nilotic figures represent the slaves
of the Puntites, as there is no evidence of this type of people ever being
indigenous to Arabia. The Nilotic and Bantu people of Eritrea and Ethiopia, as
well as Somalia, have a long history of representing the bulk of the slave class in
the Horn of Africa. There are even ancient texts describing the capture of slaves
from the areas bordering Sudan and the African Great Lakes region. But that
evidence is not enough to claim that Negroid peoples were strictly a slave class.
There is textual evidence of racial dichotomy in the area of Ethiopia, which dates
back 3,000 years ago. The text, which was discovered in 2013, describes the
kings of the ancient Eritrean Kingdom of Da’mat as rulers of both red and black
people.
But later, during the Kingdom of Aksum, which spanned over the territories of
Eritrea and northern Ethiopia, the terms saba qayh (red man) and tsalim barya
(black slave) were coined. This would mean that the period between 100 and 940
CE was when slavery bloomed. However, there is simply no evidence that would
suggest that the social picture of the Land of Punt was similar to that of the
Kingdom of Aksum.
What is known about the Puntite slaves comes directly from the Egyptian texts.
Several preserved sources speak of Punt exporting Pygmy slaves. Harkhuf, the
governor of Upper Egypt during the reign of Pharaoh Pepi II, wrote in his
autobiography how he brought a dancing Pygmy as a gift for the child king. He
describes how he acquired this Pygmy from the Puntites. He also remembers that
another pharaoh had a dancing Pygmy brought to him by the Puntites at an
earlier date.
The testimony of Harkhuf made archaeologists wonder where exactly the
Puntites got Pygmy slaves. The Pygmy tribes had been concentrated in Central
Africa, and it seems that the Puntites traveled deep inside the continent to find
them. The excavations performed in the area of northwestern Somalia provided
evidence that the people of Punt traveled to the Congo Basin and the
Mashonaland gold mines. There, they had access to both slaves and gold, but it
remains a mystery if they acquired both by force or by trade.
There are records that mention Pharaoh Pepi II called his Pygmy slave a dwarf,
which made historians wonder if these slaves were just individuals from the
Horn of Africa who suffered dwarfism or maybe were simply short-statured
people. It is also a possibility that Pygmies were not really from Central Africa
but rather an indigenous people of Punt. However, research done on modern
peoples of Egypt showed a significant number of paternal lineage B-M60
haplotypes among individuals. This DNA haplogroup is commonly found among
the peoples of Central Africa, and it is significantly concentrated among the
Pygmies. However, this DNA haplogroup doesn’t exist in the remains of ancient
Egyptians or Sudanese, which leads us to believe that modern individuals who
carry it are descendants of the Pygmy slaves of Egypt.
The ethnic name for the Puntites in Egypt was Berber, and it was wrongly
assumed in the past that the term bears the same meaning as ancient Greek
barbarians (i.e., non-Greeks). Hieroglyphs dating from the time of Queen
Hatshepsut refer to the Puntites as “brbrta,” and scholars believe that the name is
nothing more than the onomatopoeic imitation of the language of Punt. Since
Egyptians couldn’t understand their language, to them, it sounded like the
repetition of the sounds bar-bar or ber-ber. The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea
describes the areas of northern Somalia, Eritrea, and northern Sudan as the
region where the “Berbers” lived. Even the ancient Greeks referred to these
territories as “Barbaria,” as in “the land of Berbers.” In modern times, some of
the cities and towns of northern Sudan and northern Somalia still carry the old
epithet Barbaroi or Berber in their names, such as Berbera in Somalia.
Egyptian Homeland?
Even though the Egyptians did not speak the same language as the Puntites,
there is evidence that strongly suggests ancestral relations between the two
kingdoms. When representing the individuals of foreign lands, Egyptians would
always make their figures smaller or caricatured. But when it came to the visual
representation of the Puntites, Egyptians would paint them as they painted
themselves, even with similar clothes. The only additional feature Puntites had
in these paintings was a small beard, which was incredibly similar to the beards
often found on the depictions of Egyptian deities.
Another difference between the Puntites and other non-Egyptian nations was
their representation in Egyptian hieroglyphic texts. There was a very distinctive
symbol the ancient people of Egypt used when they were talking about a
foreigner or a foreign land. Whenever Punt is mentioned, this symbol is absent.
This led to the conclusion that the Land of Punt was at least seen as equal to
Egypt, if not the same.
More similarities between the two cultures can be observed in religion. At the
beginning of the chapter, the phrase Ta netjer —“the land of the gods”—was
mentioned. Historians speculate that this phrase could mean more than just the
land to the east. The Egyptian legends of ancestry speak about them coming
from the Red Sea coast. The same legends also talk about the gods Horus and
Hathor coming from Ta netjer . Hathor was sometimes referred to as the “Lady
of Punt.”
Another Egyptian god, Bes, was often depicted as a giant barbaric deity eating
baboons. Those same baboons were described as coming from the Land of Punt
in the temple’s hieroglyphs at Deir el-Bahari. So, it seems that the Egyptians
remembered their origins as natives to Punt. However, their settlement in Egypt
must have happened during some remote period, as they lost the ability to
understand the language of Punt. But even though Hathor is believed to have
come from the Land of Punt, it doesn’t mean that she was worshiped as a deity
by the Puntites. However, in northern Somalia at the Laas Geel site, ancient rock
art was discovered that seems to depict people of the region worshiping a deity
similar to Hathor, if not the same. If the location of the Land of Punt was in the
area of today’s Somalia, this could serve as proof that the Puntites and Egyptians
shared religious connections.
Besides cultural ties between Egypt and Punt, there might even be biological
ones. If the Land of Punt was in the area of today’s Somalia, Eritrea, Ethiopia,
Sudan, and the Arabian Peninsula, simple DNA testing shows connections of the
inhabitants of all these areas with the modern Egyptian people, who are linear
ancestors of ancient Egyptians.
But the DNA of the ancient remains of Egyptians perhaps holds the secret of
their ancestry. In 2013, the first genetic study of Egyptian remains was done.
Five mummies dating from the late dynasties to the Ptolemaic rule provided the
necessary DNA material. One of the mummies gave astonishing results. It
showed the presence of haplogroup I, which strongly suggests an origin from
West Asia. This haplogroup is extremely rare, and even in ancient times, it
occurred only in 5 percent of the overall population of Egypt. It was mostly
concentrated in the area of the Kingdom of Kush. Haplogroup I is even rarer
today, as only three individuals who carry it have been identified. And the
shocking fact is that two out of the three individuals carrying this specific gene
set are found in Somalia, while the third one is from Iran. Other genetic studies
were done, and they all showed a strong connection between ancient Egyptians
and the modern-day inhabitants of Somalia.
Chapter 3 – Carthage

Carthage’s dominion during different points in history

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carthage#/media/File:Carthaginianempire.PNG
Many of the great cities in the ancient world have achieved such levels of fame
and prosperity that they have mythological stories of their founding. Carthage
was no different.
According to the legends, in 831 BCE, the king of Tyre, Mattan I, decided on his
deathbed to divide his kingdom to his two heirs. Pygmalion, his son, was to
receive one half of the kingdom, and his daughter Dido (sometimes referred to as
Alysa) would get the other half. As the story goes, his subjects weren’t happy
about his decision. They probably worried that dividing the territory under two
different rulers would lead to chaos instead of prosperity, so they protested.
Thus, Pygmalion became the new king of Tyre, and he quickly began to
eliminate everyone with the potential to oppose him.
His sister was the most obvious threat, so she planned to leave the city with all
the allies she could muster on the pretense that she did not want to rule over half
of the kingdom. She convinced him that she was no threat by asking him to
allow her to live at his court. The only reason this sounded plausible to
Pygmalion was that he had assassinated his sister’s husband, as he was a high
priest who opposed him. Her asking him to give her permission to live at the
palace after her husband’s death eliminated any suspicion of treachery. The king
was also looking forward to this change in circumstance because Dido’s move to
his court would mean that she would bring all the gold that her late husband had
accumulated. So, he happily sent her all the help she needed to move her
possessions and settle at the palace.
Dido, however, had deceived her brother. She instructed the retainers to move all
her belongings to a ship. As soon as they boarded the boat, she dropped several
bags into the sea, claiming that it was her husband’s gold and other precious
treasures, then convinced the retainers to remain aboard and leave the city of
Tyre with her. Otherwise, the king would have them killed for losing all that
gold. They all agreed and waited for Dido’s noble allies to join her on the ship
before leaving the harbor. Once everything was prepared, they lifted anchor and
sailed to Cyprus.
Once they arrived in Cyprus, they met with another ally, the high priest of the
temple of Astarte (equivalent to Venus or Aphrodite). He pledged his loyalty to
Dido on the condition that he kept his title and position within his family
forever. An agreement was struck, and the high priest gifted eighty of the
temple’s prostitutes. They were meant to be taken as wives by Dido’s
companions so that they could start a future settlement of their own.
The exiles left Cyprus and continued their journey to Africa. Their next stop was
Utica, a colony where citizens from Tyre had settled. According to legend, it was
ruled by King Hiarbas. Dido and her followers were welcomed at first, but when
they wanted to purchase land for themselves, the king only allowed them as
much territory as could be measured with a single ox hide. Hiarbas was cautious,
and he didn’t want to risk giving the exiles too much of his territory. But
according to the myths, the exiles cut the hide into one long strip and used it to
measure a great piece of land. The king had to keep his promise, and thus, the
territory was granted to them. This piece of land would soon become known as
Carthage. Historical records aren’t clear about the true circumstances and the
year of the city’s founding. Surviving sources point toward the period between
846 and 816 BCE.
The city quickly became popular as more and more colonists started moving to
it. Trade was steadily developed together with infrastructure. The prosperity of
Carthage made the king of Utica jealous, and he threatened to declare war.
However, nobody wanted a war, so the exiled people of Tyre forced Dido to
forge an alliance through marriage. The noblemen claimed that they would lead
the city to ruin if Dido did do anything to place it in jeopardy. As a result, Dido
had no choice but to agree, although she did have one demand. She ordered the
people of Carthage to build a large pyre so that she could bring sacrifices to the
gods to keep her husband’s spirit at peace with this new marriage. The people
agreed. However, the first queen of Carthage had different plans. As soon as the
fire was lit, she climbed on the pyre and stabbed herself with a sword, declaring
that she was joining her husband in death.
Of course, the legend of Carthage and Queen Dido is impossible to verify, and it
is highly unlikely to have happened. It is quite a romantic story of treachery and
love, though. The first source that mentions the story is dated three to four
centuries after Carthage was built, and the first full depiction of the myth comes
from a Roman historian who lived in the 1 st century BCE. However, we can be
sure that some parts of the stories are grounded in fact because there is evidence
of Tyrian influence and importance in the city of Carthage.
The Early Days
 A depiction of the city of Carthage
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carthage#/media/File:Carthage_National_Museum_representat
The myth that lies at the foundations of this city tells us that the Greeks didn’t
see Carthage as an ordinary trading post or an unimportant town built by
colonists. Its original name in Phoenician was Qart Hadasht, which translates to
“New City.” This is already enough evidence to confirm that it wasn’t just any
old settlement. Quite the contrary, in fact. Carthage was built in one of the most
important locations in the entire area. It stood at the intersection between two
major trade routes: one led from Spain to the Levant, and the other led to Tyre. It
also opened up the way to Italy and the entirety of Greece. There were many
trade posts, markets, and towns founded on these trade routes, so Carthage was
strategically positioned.
During the 8 th century BCE, Carthage was already a renowned city where trade
was booming. Many Greek and Italian objects, especially pottery, were
discovered in parts of the settlement. Ceramics originating from the early days of
Carthage were also found in Pithecusa (an ancient city in Italy), showing that the
city was already exporting its local production. While the northern trade route
had the most to offer, Carthage took advantage of the metals that were brought
in by traders traveling between the Levant and Spain, and the city quickly
developed into a booming trade center.
In the following two centuries, Carthage developed itself further by becoming a
manufacturer of luxury items. At the very beginning, luxury goods were brought
from Egypt and the Levant, but with the booming economy, tradesmen and fine
craftsmen moved to the new city. This led to a quick population increase, so
much so that Carthage could no longer produce enough food to sustain itself.
Other colonies started being built in the region to take advantage of new
agricultural lands and to extract ore from the mountains. All regional focus was
placed on sustaining and developing Carthage into an economic power of great
importance.
As Carthage became a prosperous city thanks to its wealthy class of merchants
and traders, most of the political and administrative decisions were left to the
elite of the trading class. The wealthiest of the merchants were the ones with the
most influence. At the time, the Greeks wrongly noted that the city was being
governed by an aristocracy that consisted of several kings. However, this was
wrong, as the city wasn’t ruled by a monarchy at the time. The most powerful
merchants had full control of the city, including its military, but they were no
kings.
The reason for this confusion is thought to be found in Dido’s foundation myth.
The elite used the story of the queen that had no children as a way to make their
oligarchic rule legitimate. Carthage kept some of its Tyrian heart, but they
quickly began to carve their own history by aiming to become a wealthy power
with its own way of doing things.
The Rise to Power
573 BCE proved to be the year of opportunity for Carthage, for this was the year
when the kingdom of Tyre had to admit defeat at the hands of Nebuchadnezzar,
the king of Babylon. Tyre was under siege for thirteen years at that time, and the
only chance the city had was to sign a peace treaty. Next to this massive defeat,
which had occurred to one of the major economic powers in the region, there
was another factor that affected the entire area. Silver decreased in value due to
its overabundance. The territories in the Near East were producing and exporting
too much silver to the Mediterranean shores. This led to an economic crisis, so
many Tyrian colonies were abandoned. With Tyre and many of its colonies on a
terrible decline, room was made for Carthage to expand.
The city of Carthage was barely affected by this crisis because it didn’t rely as
much on the trade with the Levant and the rest of the Near East. Italy and Egypt
were the biggest players in the Carthaginian market. The Spain-Levant trade
route was an important shipping lane for metal traders, and traffic quickly went
down with the price of silver. As Tyrian shipping declined and its colonies
abandoned, Carthage could now dominate.
Some ancient historians, especially of Greek and Roman origin, seemed to have
been biased against the Carthaginians, as they sought to portray them as
aggressive imperialists. However, 6 th -century Carthage focused mostly on
trade. Around half of their food and other basic supplies came from imports.
Although there are some archaeological signs of trouble in Sardinia, where
Carthage founded two new cities, we have to look at this evidence with a touch
of skepticism. Most testimonies of Carthage’s military expeditions come from
Roman historians that lived after the events they depict. In fact, most of the
stories of aggressive conquest come from the time of the Punic Wars when
Rome fought against Carthage (264– 146 BCE). So, we can’t be sure about the
Romans’ objectivity. The signs of conflict found in Sardinia don’t conclude that
the Carthaginians conquered the territory. The island may have been fought over
by the local tribes inhabiting it or by other Phoenicians trying to establish a
foothold there.
The same historical sources that depict Carthage as an aggressive power seem to
blame them for the fall of the Tartessian kingdom in today’s southern Spain.
This land was rich in metals, and due to their trade route with the Levant, they
became an important trade partner of Carthage as well. The Carthaginians had
nothing to gain from warring with them because they were already benefiting
from their partnership. Instead, the fall of the Tartessian kingdom is attributed to
the fall of the value of silver that led to the economic crisis mentioned above.
The wealthy aristocracy that ruled over the Iberian kingdom lost their main
source of wealth, which led to conflict and chaos. The kingdom collapsed due to
internal struggles ignited by a severely declining economy, not due to military
invasions.
Once a power vacuum was created by the conditions in Tyre and southern Spain,
Carthage simply took over as the main economic player in the region. Due to
their conflict with Rome, as well as the new Carthaginian colonies they
established in Sardinia and on the Iberian Peninsula, they may have been seen by
ancient historians as invaders bent on controlling the region from an economical
and administrative point of view. Whatever the case, other kingdoms and city-
states fell due to their struggles, and Carthage was there to take the reins and
forge its own path.
Expanding into Africa
Carthage imported a lot of its food from other kingdoms, but with its prosperous
expansion during the 6 th century, they started relying less on imports. The most
drastic change was when they expanded into Africa and started dominating the
north. In today’s Tunisia, they developed a diverse system of agriculture that
was irrigated through springs and canals.
The Carthaginian diet became far more diverse. They consumed several types of
grains, vegetables, fish, fruit (such as figs, olives, watermelons, plums, peaches,
and almonds), and a wide variety of meat, which came from pigs, cows,
chickens, goats, and sheep. The average Carthaginian had a much more diverse
diet than the citizens of other kingdoms and empires.
However, the greatest change occurred during the 5 th century when they
continued expanding into Africa, mainly to today’s northern and western Libya.
This was when Carthage started becoming a renowned agricultural power in the
Mediterranean region, as they would export olive oil and a famous sweet wine
that was made from raisins. In the following two centuries, Carthage developed
many new techniques in cultivation, irrigation, pruning, and even started using
fertilizers.
Colonialism and Conflict
During this period, namely between the 6 th and 4 th centuries, Carthage hadn’t
yet achieved imperial status. Even though it was stretching its colonial might
into Northern Africa and the entire Mediterranean region, it was still just
pursuing its economic goals. Through its influence, many of the other
Phoenician colonies started adapting the Carthaginian culture, as well as the
Punic dialect that was spoken in Carthage. These colonies also started
abandoning the tradition of cremating their dead in favor of burials, which were
performed in Carthage.
Carthage continued to expand by building new colonies, to where their excess
population would move. Many of the new settlements were fortified to serve as
secure marketplaces for the tradesmen that traveled between the agricultural
settlements. This expansion included Sardinia, where agriculture was developed
to suit the economy of the new Punic kingdom.
The relations between Sardinia and Carthage brought nothing but prosperity, as
new imposing office and administrative buildings were built in the Sardinian
towns. However, Carthage didn’t rule directly over the island. All of Sardinia’s
cities had their own system of government, and the influence of Carthage was
strictly economic and cultural in nature.
While Carthage continued developing the island of Sardinia and building new
fruitful endeavors, they sent a military expedition to the island of Sicily in 483.
The troops were sent at the request of the ruler of the city of Himera, Terillus,
who had been exiled from his city by an invading force from Syracuse. Syracuse
was another city in Sicily, but it was ruled by Gelon. Both cities were ruled by
the Greeks, but Gelon launched a campaign to take control of the entire island
with him as the sole ruler. The Carthaginian elite had a good relationship with
the island, but they were forced to act because the western parts of Sicily were
vital for the economy of Carthage. However, Hamilcar I, the most powerful man
in Carthage at the time, didn’t wish to send an official military force in the name
of the government. Instead, he opted to create a private army, which was mostly
formed from mercenaries who came from all the states in the Mediterranean.
The army arrived on the island in 480 BCE, and it marched directly to the city of
Himera. Hamilcar led the army himself, hoping to surprise the city defenses;
however, their enemy managed to intercept several letters discussing the plans of
the Carthaginians. Hamilcar was ambushed and killed in battle alongside most of
his army. The few survivors fled to Carthage and warned the city of what had
happened in Sicily. The Carthaginians were now worried that Gelon might attack
them, so they began a campaign of diplomacy to seek peace. Ambassadors were
sent to Sicily to negotiate a treaty with Damarete, who was Gelon’s wife. The
campaign was successful; however, the entire affair was portrayed as a defeat for
Carthage at the hands of the ruler of Syracuse.
Carthage had to pay for the war costs and suffered some humiliation, but other
than that, nothing really changed for the citizens. They were no longer afraid of
an invasion, and the same wealthy merchants continued to rule over the city.
However, reforms were made in the system of government, administration, and
military. Carthage didn’t suffer any economic problems, or, if they did, they
were of small significance. But the Carthaginians wouldn’t send a new military
expedition into Sicily for another half a century, even though they did have the
chance to do so. Syracuse was an old enemy of Athens, and the Athenians
offered Carthage the chance to forge an alliance against the Sicilians. Carthage
refused and chose to respect the peace treaty while continuing to improve its
economy and friendly relations with the other Greek city-states.
Carthage didn’t make any kind of military move against the island of Sicily in
the seventy years that had passed since their defeat. This changed, however,
when Segesta, a Sicilian city, entered a conflict with another city called Selinus,
as Carthage decided to help. However, this help wasn’t being offered to Segesta
out of a feeling of brotherhood. To understand why, we have to take a look at
what happened in the year 478, as this was the year that Gelon, the man who had
defeated the Carthaginians, passed away. As a result, Syracuse lost a great deal
of power. Many Sicilian cities started fighting, and this led to failing economies
and abandoned towns and settlements. The chaos lasted until 410, which was
when Syracuse began to rise again.
Carthage did not want to see a reborn Syracuse dominating over the island, and
even though the cities of Segesta and Selinus were unimportant to the Punic
kingdom, they provided an excuse to interfere with the island. Carthage, at this
time, dominated the Mediterranean trade, and they couldn’t risk any challengers.
Their goal was to defend their economic and political position in the region.
However, it is entirely plausible they had other motives for getting involved.
Although Carthage was still powerful and well respected, the defeat they
suffered at the hands of Gelon still stung them.
The elders who ruled over Carthage voted to send aid to Segesta, and as a
military leader, they chose Hannibal Mago (not to be confused with the famous
general Hannibal Barca), who was the grandson of Hamilcar I, the general who
was killed in the Battle of Himera. The expedition was carefully planned, and to
avoid intervention from Syracuse, ambassadors were sent to ask them to remain
neutral. Selinus didn’t ask for help from Syracuse either, even though they were
allies, so, therefore, Syracuse could maintain its neutrality in the conflict.
However, once Selinus was defeated in a battle against the mercenaries hired by
Segesta, they fled to Syracuse to ask for their help. Aid was granted, and the war
between Carthage and Syracuse became inevitable.
Hannibal gathered his army, and in 409, he sailed to Sicily to march on Selinus,
together with his allies. The city walls were weak and didn’t stand a chance
against the siege engines, but the defenders tried to hold out for as long as
possible, hoping that reinforcements would arrive. The Carthaginian army
pushed through the defenses, and in the city’s marketplace, they defeated the
remaining forces. Hannibal was victorious, and the city was taken. However,
Hannibal wasn’t satisfied with just conquering Selinus. He pressed on to Himera
to avenge his grandfather’s defeat and take the city.
The plan was to use the same strategy. However, the defenders of Himera
decided to face their invaders on the battlefield, and they attacked the
Carthaginian forces. A fleet arrived from Syracuse to support the Himerans, but
Hannibal’s forces outnumbered them, and they forced the defenders to retreat to
the city. The Himerans began evacuating the citizens on the ships that came from
Syracuse, and the remaining defenders were forced to hold the city until more
ships could arrive for them. Unfortunately for the defenders, they only lasted for
three more days.
Ancient historian Diodorus recorded that Hannibal was more ruthless with the
people of Himera. While Selinus’s walls were destroyed and many buildings
burned to the ground, Himera was nearly completely destroyed, temples
included. The Carthaginian general gathered his prisoners of war, took them to
the place where his grandfather was defeated, and executed them. According to
Diodorus, he slaughtered 3,000 men.
The island was at the mercy of Hannibal, but he did not continue his campaign
against Syracuse, even though they were offering military and naval assistance
to Himera and Selinus. The general’s main goal was to wipe the shame that
Carthage had felt seventy years before when his grandfather was defeated. After
his success, Hannibal paid the mercenaries who fought for him and went back to
Africa. But this wasn’t the end of Carthage’s involvement on the island.
Only two years later, a new military campaign had to be launched because of a
rebelling general from Syracuse, who was attacking several settlements.
Carthage answered the challenge, but it was not in the way ancient historians
like Diodorus portrays. Carthage is often depicted as an invader set upon
conquering the island of Sicily with its military might, but that wasn’t true.
Various inscriptions have been found in the Greek city-states that depict
Carthaginian diplomats being welcomed to a number of cities where they sought
to form alliances. Furthermore, in the case of the Syracusan general, Carthage
first sent envoys to analyze the situation by entering discussions with the
leadership from Syracuse and other cities. In any case, Carthage assembled a
new army and dispatched Hannibal, together with a young officer named
Himilcar, to lead it.
The new expedition didn’t start well because the army was ambushed while
sailing to Sicily. A number of ships attacked them, destroying several
Carthaginian ships before they could reach land. Once ashore, Hannibal led the
troops to Acragas, a Greek city in southern Sicily. More misfortune followed, as
the army was afflicted by the plague, and many soldiers died. Hannibal himself
contracted the plague and died that same year, 407. Himilcar was now the sole
leader of the Carthaginian forces, and he continued fighting the Syracusans for
two years until the advantage was finally on his side. By 405, he had lost more
than half of his men, but due to the strategic positions he won, he was able to
offer Syracuse the chance of opting for peace. Carthaginian dominance over the
island was now ensured, as several of the cities that went against Carthage had
accepted to pay them tribute in exchange for peace.
With a solid economic and political foothold in Sicily, Carthage began investing
in building new cities and settlements across the island. Carthaginian immigrants
flocked from the capital to colonize the new towns and ports. North Africa and
Sicily were now ruled by Carthage, and they continued improving their trade
relations with the Greeks and the Italians that inhabited the Mediterranean
region.
Carthage, Alexander the Great, and Agathocles
For nearly a whole century, Carthage continued its long-term plan to build and
develop its trade routes and settlements, strongly focusing on trade relations and
alliances. However, in the 330s BCE, a new power emerged. Alexander the
Great, the leader of the new Macedonian Empire that would stretch from Greece
to today’s Pakistan, rose as the most important figure of the century. Stories and
legends about him spread across the Mediterranean, and he was being portrayed
as a god, as the new Hercules. This was cause for concern for Carthage.
The Carthaginians followed the progress of the young king, and they were afraid
that he might turn his gaze to the west. Ambassadors from every nation and city-
state, including Carthage, traveled to Babylon to forge friendly ties with the
Macedonians. Carthage sent Hamilcar Rodanus to represent them, but he didn’t
go to Alexander’s court to see whether he had peaceful intentions toward the
Punic kingdom. He already knew that wasn’t the case because, in 332,
Alexander attacked the city of Tyre and enslaved its people. After the siege, the
Macedonian Hercules released the Carthaginian citizens he captured during the
siege and warned them that he would go to Carthage once his campaigns in Asia
were finished. Therefore, Hamilcar traveled to his court to figure out when
Alexander might attack Carthage.
However, we can never know what Alexander’s true intentions were. Carthage
was highly paranoid and afraid of being attacked by the Macedonians. So, once
Hamilcar obtained information from Alexander and his court and went back to
Carthage, the citizens had him executed. They believed he was a betrayer and
that he must have conspired with Alexander to help him conquer the city. Not
long after, in 323, Alexander passed away. He didn’t get the chance to attack
Carthage, and we’ll never know whether he even had the plan to do so.
While Carthage could finally take a deep breath, Alexander’s commanders
started dividing the empire between themselves. The chaos also led to several
minor nobles and ambitious officers to start carving their own fiefdoms. One of
them was a young cavalry commander named Agathocles. He traveled to
Syracuse and managed to instate himself as the ruler by convincing the
population that all of their problems were caused by the Carthaginian dominion.
Through clever manipulation and demagogy, the citizens pushed him to power.
Once Agathocles consolidated his power, he continued to study the Carthaginian
military system. By doing so, he discovered a great weakness in the way a
general was chosen. First of all, Carthage mostly relied on mercenary armies that
were led by an elected general. This general came from Carthage, but it was the
citizens of the kingdom who chose who would lead an army. This gave the
general some autonomy from the elite that ruled. A general was free to make his
own decisions in a military campaign, and his performance would be reviewed
by the elders of Carthage. Agathocles discovered that this system created a sense
of conflict between the elite and the generals. At times, a general would forget
that he’d have to answer for his actions. The oligarchs who ruled Carthage were
also somewhat suspicious about who was elected by the citizens. Secondly,
Agathocles realized that Carthaginians weren’t used to fighting wars and were
therefore inexperienced on the battlefield due to their reliance on mercenaries.
Agathocles realized he could surprise Carthage by attacking them in Africa on
their own soil. Their inexperience and complacency would give him the chance
to attack their cities and win a great deal of plunder without bringing the war to
the Sicilian cities. As a result of this move, Agathocles would gain even more
support from his people. He quickly amassed all the wealth he could, and he
prepared sixty ships and an army numbering 13,000 troops. His forces were
small enough in number to sneak across the sea without being noticed by other
ships. He landed his forces around 100 kilometers (about 62 miles) away from
Carthage. As soon as he debarked, the first thing he did was set fire to the ships.
He knew that he was trapped at that point, and he would have to either succeed
or die trying. He used this event to sacrifice the ships to the gods and to convince
his troops that they must succeed for justice and vengeance against the
Carthaginians who dominated over the island of Sicily.
Carthage took notice of Agathocles’s arrival, and they panicked. Two new
generals were instituted to lead forces against the invader. One of them died in
the first battle and lost most of his troops in a disastrous attempt to push
Agathocles back. The second general retreated to the city, hoping to use this
moment and take power for himself. On the island of Sicily, the Carthaginian
forces that were stationed there attempted an attack on Syracuse. But they failed.
Messages to Carthage reported that the army broke into several factions that
fought against each other.
Carthage was on the brink of defeat, and Agathocles became more and more
emboldened by his success. He also became more aggressive toward his army,
and he dug deeper into his god-like complex. This caused the troops to riot
against him. The fact that they hadn’t been paid yet only made matters worse.
Carthage noticed the situation and tried to bribe the army to abandon
Agathocles. However, the Syracusan commander convinced his men to follow
him into battle by making a dramatic show of committing suicide for failing
them. The soldiers still respected him, so they refused the offer from Carthage.
While Agathocles was mustering his troops and waiting for reinforcements from
allied Greek cities nearby, the Carthaginian general Bomilcar, who had retreated
earlier, saw the opportunity to stage a coup and take over the city for himself. He
ordered the respected and wealthy citizens to march into battle against
Agathocles, and many of his political opponents were killed. But not long after,
the younger citizens realized what was happening. They rallied themselves and
moved against the tyrant. The entire city fought against Bomilcar and his
soldiers, and he was defeated. The city demanded no other action besides the
execution of Bomilcar. His soldiers and officers weren’t punished due to the
threat that lay at their gates.
Now that the rebellious general was killed, Carthage felt invigorated and more
optimistic about engaging the enemy. This feeling was further bolstered when,
shortly after, Agathocles received news that some cities under Syracuse’s control
started declaring independence. Worried by this event, he had no choice but to
return to Sicily and find a solution. Although there is no mention of it, he more
than likely paid for a boat to get there. He left his inexperienced son in charge of
the remaining forces. With Agathocles gone, the Carthaginians became far more
optimistic, and they immediately forged a new plan of action. They divided their
forces into three battlegroups, each one with its own commander, and they were
dispatched to take back control of different parts around Carthage that were
overrun by the Syracusan forces. The new Syracusan commander made the
mistake of copying the Carthaginian strategy and dividing his forces to match
them. His move was unsuccessful, as Carthage’s commanders managed to
outmaneuver and ambush the invading forces.
Facing defeat, the unfortunate son, Archagathus, sent a letter to his father
explaining the dire situation. Agathocles resolved the matter in Sicily, and he
was on his way to Carthage, but, by that point, there was no way for him to save
the situation. Most of the troops were either dead or deserting. Agathocles did
attempt to use the remaining forces in one more battle, but he lost. His only
choice was to flee, but there was no way for him to transport the remnants of his
army without risking an attack from Carthage. So, Agathocles abandoned his
forces and deserted on his own. The soldiers were angry at their former
commander, so they killed his son before surrendering to Carthage.
The Carthaginians struck a deal with the former troops of Agathocles to
incorporate them into their own armies, then sent letters to Agathocles to find a
resolution for this conflict. Both sides agreed to peace, and Carthage paid
Agathocles in gold and grain to accept Carthage’s legal dominion over all of his
cities and territories. Dominance over Sicily was ensured once again.
The First Punic War (264– 241 BCE)
 Map of the Carthaginian Empire, the Roman Republic, and Syracuse during the
First Punic War
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/96/First_Punic_War_264_BC_v2.png
Carthage was the undisputed economic superpower in the Mediterranean, and it
was all thanks to its large, well-developed navy. A large part of their trading was
done by sea, and the kingdom understood from its inception that they needed a
powerful navy. Carthage brought many advancements in shipbuilding
techniques, and between the 6 th and 3 rd centuries, their focus was placed on
dominating the sea. That’s why Carthage was more successful when fighting
naval battles than they were at land battles. However, by the 3 rd century BCE,
Carthage started exerting its dominion over the other Mediterranean territories
more aggressively. This worried the Romans, who were navally inferior at the
time. Instead, they preferred to pay their allies for the naval transportation of
troops and goods.
The last straw was when Syracuse became independent in 263 BCE, as Carthage
decided to develop a new major base at Acragas. They reinforced the city and
improved its harbor because the location of the city would offer them a way to
eastern Sicily, which was no longer under their control. This was a threat to
Roman security, so the Romans quickly sent troops to besiege Acragas. The city
managed to defend itself for several months until Carthaginian reinforcements
arrived, which numbered more than 55,000 troops. However, the army that was
dispatched was made out of new soldiers that had never experienced real
combat. Even its general, Hanno, was inexperienced. When he confronted the
Romans, he made the terrible decision of placing his sixty war elephants behind
his infantry. Once the Romans broke through their ranks, the untrained soldiers
started running toward their line, and the panicking elephants crushed many of
them. Hanno was defeated, and Acragas had to continue relying on its own
defenses. The commander of the city saw no chance of surviving the siege, so he
gathered his mercenaries and escaped the city. The Romans quickly breached the
defenses, looted the city, and sold its citizens into slavery. Hanno survived the
expedition, but he lost his citizenship and was relieved of his office.
After this major victory, the Romans realized they could press on and defeat the
Carthaginian dominion in the region. They started developing their small navy
quickly to offer a match for Carthage’s navy. In the next four years, the Romans
added over one hundred warships to their fleet, mostly consisting of
quinqueremes, which were also used by the enemy. The Romans started training
their new navy by organizing coastal raids. In 260 BCE, Admiral Gnaeus
Cornelius Scipio was eager to add glory to his name, and he eagerly sailed to the
city of Lipara, which wanted to surrender to the Roman forces. Carthage learned
about the plan and sent its own naval forces to intercept the admiral. The
inexperienced Roman crew quickly panicked, jumped ship, and went ashore,
including their leader. Once on land, they were captured.
The Carthaginian admiral, Hannibal (still not the famous Barca), sought to find
the rest of the new Roman fleet. At Messana (Messina), he encountered them,
but he underestimated their numbers, and many of his ships were sunk. Rome
was now even more optimistic about defeating Carthage, but the Roman consuls
knew that could only be achieved by establishing naval superiority. The
Romans’ strength lay in disciplined hand-to-hand combat, so their engineers
began modifying the ships to figure out a way to board the Carthaginian ships.
They managed to do just that, and the Roman fleet sailed to hunt the enemy
down.
Carthage controlled 130 ships off the coast of Sicily, and they were happy to
engage the Romans, thinking they stood no chance due to their inexperience.
They were wrong. The Roman soldiers grappled onto the charging enemy ships
and quickly convinced the crews to surrender. Fifty ships were lost in the battle,
and the rest retreated. Hannibal escaped, but he would die later in an encounter
with the Roman fleets raiding the coasts of Corsica and Sardinia.
This was the point when Carthage changed its tactics. They knew from
experience that they were more successful when they played the waiting game.
Instead of direct conflict, they opted for a slow war of attrition. The Romans,
however, weren’t too happy about that because of their political system. A
consul would keep his office for only a year before someone else would be
elected. This system made them prefer action over long-term strategy. So, their
only option was to go around Sicily and lead a military campaign in Africa.
In 256, the Romans sent a naval expedition to Northern Africa, which was a
risky move because that would leave the Romans 100 kilometers (62 miles)
away from any supplies or the ability to call for reinforcements. Nonetheless,
Marcus Regulus took command of an armada of around 300 ships and sailed
toward Africa. However, on their way there, they chose to stop in Sicily to pick
up the most hardened Roman soldiers who had already fought the Carthaginians.
Carthage assembled a navy to rival the Romans, consisting of around 350 ships
and more than 140,000 soldiers. The naval forces clashed south of Sicily when
the Romans were on their way to the African territories. This is most likely the
largest naval conflict that was recorded in the ancient world.
Fortune was not on the side of Carthage during that battle. The Roman invention
that allowed them to grapple onto the enemy ships proved to be an enormous
advantage once again. The Roman navy divided itself into four battlegroups and
charged at the Carthaginian line, breaking it. Nearly one hundred ships were
captured or destroyed, while the Romans only lost around twenty. The Roman
fleet then continued to Northern Africa, landing near the city of Aspis, which
they quickly conquered.
Once the Roman forces established a foothold on the continent, they marched to
Carthage, capturing every city, town, and settlement on their way. By the time
they reached Carthage itself, the city was filled with refugees, who had flocked
to the capital in search of safety from the invaders.
The war hadn’t been going well for Carthage, and in the meantime, they
admitted that their tactics against the Romans were flawed. To turn the tide, they
recruited thousands of Greek mercenaries and an experienced Spartan general by
the name of Xanthippus. By the time the Romans arrived in front of Carthage,
Xanthippus was making preparations for the battle and analyzing the past battles
that had been lost against the Romans. As a result, he decided to charge the
Romans on the open battlefield, and through the clever use of cavalry and war
elephants, he broke the Roman line, killed most of the soldiers, and managed to
capture Regulus. It is assumed that the Roman commander was killed in
captivity. The battle was won, but the war wasn’t over, and it wasn’t going well
for the Carthaginians.
During the following decade, most of the battles were fought over Sicily, and
hundreds of ships with tens of thousands of men were lost. While both sides
suffered devastating blows, it was clear that Carthage was losing the war. Over
the years, the Roman navy gathered a great deal of experience in naval warfare,
and they became superior to the Carthaginians without even having to use their
boarding methods. In 241, Carthage could no longer support the campaign over
Sicily, as their fleet was in shambles, both due to the battles and the storms that
crashed their ships into the rocky shore of Sicily. The Romans offered them their
terms for peace, which included Carthage’s retreat from Sicily and all the other
islands between Northern Africa and Sicily. They also had to pay for war
reparations and return all Roman prisoners. However, Carthage was allowed to
hold onto the island of Sardinia. Carthage had no choice but to admit defeat,
agree to the terms, and leave Sicily to the Romans.
The Second Punic War (218– 201 BCE)

A map of the Mediterranean Basin in 218 BCE

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Punic_War#/media/File:Mediterranean_at_218_BC-
en.svg
After the peace treaty of 241, Carthage faced several rebellions in Northern
Africa, Sardinia, and Corsica. Most of their fleet was destroyed, and these
uprisings caused significant losses. The generals and governments maintaining
the peace on the two islands were assassinated, and the rebels killed most of the
Carthaginian soldiers as well. The Romans were watching these events unfold
with great interest, and in 238, they saw the opportunity to simply take over the
two islands without a fight. And they did. Roman soldiers were dispatched to
Sardinia and Corsica, and they took control over them, despite being condemned
for it by the Carthaginian government. However, Rome knew that Carthage
didn’t have the strength to oppose them after the war and after dealing with the
uprisings.
The result of this situation was a new campaign into the Iberian Peninsula, which
was mostly held by the natives at the time. General Hamilcar Barca was
dispatched to take over Hispania and build new settlements and ports on the
peninsula. He was given an army, but Carthage no longer had enough ships to
transport them over the sea. So, Hamilcar was forced to march his troops to the
Strait of Gibraltar and cross there. Accompanying him was his young son, the
soon-to-be-famous general Hannibal.
Hannibal was just nine years old when his father launched the conquest of
Hispania, and as a result, he grew up in military camps, learning a lot from his
father and the camp life. The campaign was going well against the Iberian
natives, and most of the southeastern coast of Spain was quickly conquered.
During these years, the power of Carthage was reinvigorated, but nine years into
the expedition, Hamilcar would die, drowning during a battle under unknown
circumstances. Carthage decided to continue the campaign in Hispania by
electing Hasdrubal, who was Hamilcar’s second-in-command and Hannibal’s
brother-in-law. At this point, Hannibal was already eighteen years old, and he
started serving as an officer alongside Hasdrubal.
The campaign of seizing control over the Iberian Peninsula continued. However,
Hasdrubal chose a different path from his predecessor. He focused on diplomacy
instead of military action. He met with local tribes, established friendly relations
with them, and used his wit to win them over or at least find neutral ground
without shedding blood. His focus was on rebuilding Carthage’s influence and
honor. And he did so by consolidating his power in Hispania peacefully, at least
for the most part. He also founded a new major city to solidify his position: New
Carthage (today’s Cartagena, Spain).
Unfortunately, his diplomatic campaign didn’t last long. In 221, a slave
murdered Hasdrubal, and Carthage was forced to elect a new commander to take
over. Hannibal was now a twenty-six-year-old officer with experience, and he
was also well respected by his men because they saw Hamilcar in him. So,
Carthage chose him.
In the following two years, Hannibal began aggressively expanding his control
over Hispania. He conquered several settlements and forts to the west. During
this period, Hannibal proved himself on the battlefield and established himself as
a clever strategist. Rome paid attention to his journey, and they became
concerned about the rapid pace at which he conquered the Iberian territories. The
worried Romans forged an alliance with the Iberian city of Saguntum, which
was already a part of Hannibal’s territories. This was his chance. Hannibal
decided to go against Rome and attacked Saguntum. For more than half a year,
he laid siege to the city, but eventually, he breached it.
Hannibal was also skilled in politics, and because he knew he might start a war
between Carthage and Rome by this action, he sent all the sacked spoils from the
city back to Carthage. The elite were thrilled, and Hannibal won their favor.
However, Rome dispatched envoys to Carthage to learn whether Hannibal
received orders from the state to attack their ally, Saguntum. This was a decisive
moment, and the government chose to side with Hannibal. Carthage officially
declared war on Rome in 218.
Once war was declared, Hannibal immediately launched his campaign against
Rome. He planned to cross the Pyrenees and the Alps and attack the Romans
inland. He started marching from New Carthage with an army consisting of
45,000 troops, including nearly 40 war elephants. As he crossed into Gaul, he
battled several native tribes and convinced others to allow him safe passage.
However, he had to leave several thousands of his men behind to hold the
settlements he captured. Hannibal continued through the Alps, and against all the
odds, he crossed the mountains and entered Italy with an army of 25,000 battle-
hardened soldiers. Some of them perished in that journey, though we don’t know
the exact number, and none of his elephants survived the arduous crossing.
 Hannibal’s Campaign Route
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Punic_War#/media/File:Hannibal_route_of_invasion-
en.svg
Once in Italy, Hannibal knew that he didn’t have the men to attack Rome, so he
had to take control of certain provinces and secure some allies. The Romans
caught up with him and engaged his forces at the Trebia River. Hannibal won
the battle, and he pushed the Romans out of Lombardy. This small victory was
enough to encourage the Gauls to join his campaign. Over 20,000 Gauls joined
Hannibal’s forces, nearly doubling his army.
Fortunately for the Romans, the winter of 217 slowed Hannibal down. This gave
the Romans the chance to amass an army of 100,000 soldiers. At the same time,
four legions were dispatched to defend Sardinia and Sicily. The Romans were
worried that Carthage might attack them by the sea while they fought against
Hannibal in the north.
As the winter passed, Hannibal continued, passing through the Chianti region.
There, he faced another army of around 15,000 Romans. He defeated them
without any complications, and after this, he decided to give his men a break. By
that point, Hannibal’s army was tired from a two-year-long campaign and from
carrying the vast riches they had captured along the way. So, Hannibal decided
to reach the coast and allow his men to recuperate under good weather. He also
took the time to send a message to Carthage.
Carthage was happy to hear some news for the first time from Hannibal’s
expedition in 217, and they were overjoyed. The elders responded to their new
favorite general by telling him he would receive their full support. On the other
hand, while Hannibal was relaxing by the sea, Rome was gripped in terror.
As Hannibal continued south, deeper into Italy, he encountered and destroyed
several small armies. By 216, the Romans realized that their tactic wasn’t
working. Hannibal thrived in large open battles. So, they decided to send smaller
contingents, one after another, to tire the Carthaginian army. During this same
year, Philip V, the king of Macedonia, offered his support to Hannibal through
an alliance. However, Hannibal still did not receive any support from Carthage,
despite the promises of the government. Hannibal was forced to continue
fighting the Italian city-states because he didn’t have the necessary strength to
take on Rome directly.
For the next eight years, Hannibal didn’t make much progress due to the
Romans’ war of attrition. Even though he defeated the Romans time and time
again, and even obliterated two whole armies, he couldn’t march to Rome. And
Carthage still did not send him the much-needed reinforcements. The
Carthaginian elite that made all of the decisions had sent their forces to maintain
security over their Iberian territories. Hannibal was alone, left to recruit soldiers
from Gaul and the Italian territories that had surrendered to him.
With a weakened army, Hannibal’s success started to hit its end by the year 207.
The Romans continued with their war of attrition, knowing that Hannibal wasn’t
receiving fresh troops. Furthermore, the Roman Republic allied itself with the
Aetolian League to keep King Philip from joining Hannibal. Hannibal started
losing in southern Italy, even though his brilliant strategies still secured some
victories.
By this time, Hannibal had spent fifteen years fighting the Romans. But in 203,
it was all over. Carthage recalled him home because the Romans were about to
attack. Scipio Africanus had been dispatched to lead the Roman forces. Scipio
was already a famous general that rivaled Hannibal’s legendary skills in battle.
The two admired each other, and they met to discuss the idea of a peace treaty.
There was a brief pause during 203, as the Romans negotiated with the
Carthaginians to end the war. The two sides came to terms, and they weren’t too
unfavorable for Carthage because Rome was tired of the war. In fact, Carthage
came close to agreeing to the peace settlement until the Carthaginian Senate
received news that Hannibal was returning. Carthage then declined Rome’s
offer, feeling optimistic due to their invincible hero’s return to lead them in
battle.
This optimism was soon to disappear, however. In 202 BCE, Hannibal met
Scipio’s forces on the battlefield at Zama. The two armies rivaled each other
equally, and the battle that followed was brutal. There were moments when it
looked like Hannibal was winning, but Scipio was a clever tactician, and he
successfully recovered from every blow. In the end, Scipio proved that Hannibal
was no longer invincible. The Carthaginians lost more than 20,000 men, and
almost just as many were wounded. On the other hand, due to Scipio’s superior
cavalry, he only suffered a little over 2,000 casualties. This defeat was a heavy
blow to Hannibal and his prestige, and the people lost faith in him.
After the defeat at Zama, a peace treaty was signed, but Hannibal remained on
the political scene. The Carthaginian elite chose him to be their chief magistrate,
and in the following four to five years, Hannibal would demonstrate that he was
also a skilled politician. He initiated several reforms in the financial area as a
means of paying Carthage’s debt to Rome without increasing the taxes for the
people. Hannibal had determined that Carthage was capable of making the
payments that were agreed upon in the treaty, but a lot of that money was being
drained by corruption. A great deal of tax money never reached the state coffers
because the oligarchs were stealing it. To solve the problem, Hannibal declared
that the elders of Carthage were to be elected by the people and only serve for a
one-year term, a move the Carthaginian citizens supported.
These reforms quickly resulted in a renewed period of prosperity. Carthage was
growing again economically and stretching its influence through trade and
establishing good relations with other nations. On the other hand, the oligarchs
lost a great deal of fortune and status, and they became Hannibal’s enemies. At
the same time, Rome took notice of this renewed vigor, and they were worried
that Carthage might rise again as a Mediterranean superpower. So, they
dispatched a group of Roman envoys under the pretense that Hannibal was
communicating with Antiochus III of the Seleucid Empire, an enemy of Rome.
Hannibal knew that he stood no chance. If he waited for them to arrive, they
would arrest him, as the oligarchs would surely not assist him. Hannibal’s only
choice was to go into voluntary exile in 195 BCE.
In the following decade, Hannibal traveled from ally to ally, from Antiochus,
who resided in Ephesus, to Bithynia. All of his allies were enemies of Rome, and
as an experienced general, Hannibal offered them his counsel and even led a few
unsuccessful battles. He was on the run until 183 BCE, when, according to
some, he met his end. It is unclear how and when Hannibal died. Some ancient
Roman and Greek historians report that he died in 183, while others believe it
was in 182 or 181. The method of death varies as well; some think he committed
suicide or died from infected wounds. Legends say that Hannibal left a final
farewell to the Romans in the form of a letter. He claimed his death would
finally release the Romans from the grip of terror that he brought upon them,
even as an old man in exile.
The Third Punic War and Carthage’s Final Decline (149– 146 BCE)
During the decades between Hannibal’s exile and the Third Punic War, the
Roman Republic invested in a multitude of campaigns against the Hellenistic
kingdoms in the east, as well as Hispania in the west. Rome took full control
over the Iberian Peninsula, which used to belong to Carthage, as well as Sicily,
Sardinia, and Corsica. In addition, several Greek and Illyrian city-states
surrendered as well. Carthage was now alone, without any allies and some of
their most profitable territories outside of Africa.
Furthermore, in 151, when Carthage finished paying its war indemnities to
Rome, it was still bound by the treaty they had signed at the end of the Second
Punic War. This treaty stated that Carthage required Rome’s approval to declare
war on any state or to forge an alliance. This was a problem for the
Carthaginians, and their neighbors, Numidia, took full advantage of it.
The Numidians were already accustomed to raiding the Carthaginian borders due
to the treaty, as they knew that Carthage couldn’t declare war without Rome’s
approval. However, in 151, when Numidia invaded Carthage’s territory, they
received a different answer. Carthage saw the treaty as no longer valid because
their debt to Rome had been paid. So, they amassed an army and sent it against
the invader. Unfortunately for the Carthaginians, they lost the battle and had to
pay Numidia the costs of their campaign. Rome was also unhappy about the
situation because Carthage attacked the Numidians without their approval. Rome
saw this action as a breach of their treaty.
In 149, the Roman Republic officially declared war on Carthage due to the
breaking of the treaty. This new Punic war was short-lived, only lasting for three
years. Carthage had significantly declined since the previous war, and they stood
no chance against Rome. The Romans sailed to Carthage, capturing any
settlements on their way and successfully laying siege to the city, even though
they suffered some minor defeats along the way. The Carthaginians suffered
through the siege for the entire duration of the war until 146, when the Roman
forces under the leadership of Scipio Aemilianus breached through the defenses.
The citizens of Carthage resisted, but in the end, they couldn’t survive the
onslaught.
Carthage was set ablaze, with many of its soldiers and citizens killed. It’s
estimated that around 50,000 people were taken into slavery. Rome was
committed to destroying Carthage once and for all, and by 146 BCE, they were
successful. Carthage’s dominion was officially over, for the city was lost, and
the rest of the African territories were taken under Roman rule. The once-proud
Mediterranean superpower was now ashes. However, a century later, Julius
Caesar would rebuild the city as the new Roman center in Africa.

Chapter 4 – The Kingdom of Aksum

The Kingdom of Aksum in the 500s

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_of_Aksum#/media/File:The_Kingdom_of_Aksum.png
Origins
It was the location of the Kingdom of Aksum that dictated its prosperity. It was
situated between various trading routes that led to Egypt, farther down in
Ethiopia and to the Barbaria on the Somali coast, where valued incense was
gathered. The trade advantage of this region was obvious, but it wasn’t the only
benefit. Aksum also faced the plains of Aksum and Hasabo, with the plateau of
the Shire behind it. The position allowed the kingdom to have a very abundant
rainfall season, which lasted from June to September. The soil there was fertile
and crossed with many streams and freshwater springs. It is assumed that the
land of Aksum was capable of producing more than one harvest per year.
However, this region was settled before the Kingdom of Aksum was founded.
This is what confused early scholars, who found evidence of Sabaean influence
in the region (the Sabaeans were ancient people of South Arabia). They wrongly
concluded that the city of Aksum, and later the kingdom, was founded by the
Sabaeans. Later discoveries proved that the influence of ancient Sabaean culture
was very limited, and it even dated to the pre-Aksumite period. These new
archaeological and historical discoveries put us back at the beginning. If the
Sabaeans didn’t set the foundation for the city of Aksum, then who did? At the
moment, the question remains unanswered, and there is very little known about
the formation of the Aksum state.
However, we can speculate what was going on in the site of the city of Aksum,
the future capital of the kingdom. Because of its favorable position regarding
trade and the fertile land that surrounded the site, it is possible that the first
settlement steadily grew and developed. The population rose, as it usually
happens in the areas that can sustain themselves, and with the population
increase, their military strength grew too. Another possibility is that the military
was used to expand the sovereignty of the city of Aksum, forging a thriving city
into a kingdom. The expeditions would have been either tasked with securing the
trading routes or with conquering new territories for additional resources.
It is important to understand that Aksum wasn’t a foreign power coming to
conquer the local peoples with their highly developed military technology. They
were the locals who had managed to rise to power and subdue the surrounding
peoples, using nothing else than their numbers. They might have had superior
military strength due to the weapons imported from Egypt, but nothing else sets
them apart as being superior in comparison to their neighbors
Besides these speculations, which are extremely sparse due to the lack of
evidence, there are interesting stories and legends of the foundation of Aksum.
But to understand their relevance, it is best to first describe the meaning of
Aksum and its importance in the traditional history of the Ethiopians. Today,
Aksum still lives, although as a little town in northern Ethiopia. But to the
people, it is an ancient sacred city from which the famous Queen of Sheba ruled.
It is the “second Jerusalem,” where the first emperor, Menelik I, brought the Ark
of the Covenant, in which the stone tablets of the Ten Commandments were kept
(and still are, according to the Ethiopian Orthodox Church).
According to the Ethiopian tradition, the Queen of Sheba, or Makeda, as that is
her Ethiopian name, visited Jerusalem, where she conceived with the famous
king Solomon. Their son was Menelik I, to whom all the Aksumite stone
obelisks and stelae are attributed. Even though the legends of Makeda, Solomon,
and Menelik are still very much alive today, there are no stories and myths
preserved that would give us an insight into real rulers and founders of the
ancient city of Aksum. The local people love to absorb the new archaeological
findings into their stories. A recently excavated mansion in the district of
Dungur (near Aksum) was immediately connected to the Queen of Sheba, and it
became her palace. Whether that is the actual truth is of no importance to
Ethiopians, whose love for their tradition overshadows history.
But Aksum was of importance even in the stories that predate the Queen of
Sheba. According to the Book of Aksum , a historical work from the 16 th
century, Ethiopia was founded by Ityopis (Ethiopis), the son of Cush, who was
the son of Ham, who was the son of Noah. He built the city of Mazeber, which
became the capital of the kingdom. Aksumawi, the son of Ityopis, moved the
capital to the new city he founded: Aksum. Another story tells of a region of
Aksum that was once ruled by a serpent king, who demanded one girl per year to
be given to him as a sacrifice. In some versions of this tale, Maeda was the girl
destined to be sacrificed, but a stranger named Angabo saved her, and together,
they founded Aksum. All these legends were greatly influenced by Christianity,
which came to Ethiopia in the 4 th century CE, during the reign of King Ezana of
Aksum. Some scholars believe that Christianity was the source of the legends,
while others attribute them to the earlier Jewish influence, which came earlier
with the various traders. However, it is generally accepted that the Christian
priests used these legends to explain the connection between the Queen of
Sheba, Ethiopia in general, and Solomon to the still pagan people who inhabited
the region.
The Ethiopian kings continued to promote these legends. They could not have
wished for a better ancient pedigree than that of the Queen of Sheba and King
Solomon. They claimed descendancy from this sacred couple, who was beloved
by the people, and they gained legitimacy and authority as a result. The last
emperor of Ethiopia, Haile Selassie, ruled until 1974, and he even claimed to be
the descendant of Menelik I, the mythical son of the Queen of Sheba and King
Solomon.
Many myths and legends surround the mystical Kingdom of Aksum, but the
historical evidence is very sparse. Because of it, scholars can only guess and
suggest. The early governmental system of the city and kingdom is unknown.
However, it can be partially reconstructed if the history of the surrounding areas
is taken into account. There must have been some kind of tribal council that
eventually turned into a single ruler leadership. Since the Land of Punt must
have been somewhere near Aksum, it is presumed that it was them who left a
system of chiefly control in Aksum’s heritage. The same system was in place
among the kings of South Arabia, who more than likely left their own imprint on
the state of Aksum.
The city of Aksum started becoming important for its local political scene, and
with the help of the military expeditions, it spread its influence to the
surrounding peoples. However, there is no evidence that would suggest what
relations the people of Aksum had with their neighbors, as it was only from
sources of later dates that tell of Aksum’s dominion over the region. Some
rebellions were even described, in which the subdued peoples tried to regain
their independence. But for the early period of Aksum history, the evidence that
would explain their relations with other tribal people remains to be discovered.
Early Aksum
The city of Aksum was probably established somewhere at the beginning of our
era, close to the 1 st century CE. However, these are only assumptions based on
the first written evidence about Aksum, the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea and
Geography by Ptolemy, both dating from around the 1 st century CE. The dating
of the city was confirmed with some archaeological findings. The oldest
funerary items that have been found date to the 1 st and 2 nd centuries. Some glass
objects were later found, which radiocarbon testing showed they, too, are from
around the same time. These glass objects were described in the Periplus as the
items Aksum imported from other lands.
Greek astronomer, mathematician, and geographer Claudius Ptolemy described
the city of Aksum, which was ruled by a king from his palace. Ptolemy’s
Geography was dated to 150 CE, but it is actually a revision of an older atlas.
Therefore, Aksum might be of an even earlier date. However, there is no
archaeological evidence that yet supports this theory. All the items excavated
from the site, except for funerary and glass items, are difficult to date with
radiocarbon testing, and the results are often inconclusive.
The earliest known ruler of the region was Zoskales. Although some scholars
identify him as the first king of Aksum, it is quite possible that he was just a
lesser tributary ruler. The exact year of his rule is not known, but it is estimated
to be around the 1 st century. He is mentioned in the Periplus of the Erythraean
Sea as a ruler of Aksum, and his capital was Adulis. However, some scholars
believe that his power was limited to the city and that he had no real influence
over the whole Kingdom of Aksum. Adulis was a city on the shores of the Red
Sea, and as such, the economy prospered there. If Zoskales was the ruler of
Aksum, then the whole kingdom had already developed a strong economy and
the demand for luxury goods from abroad. It is believed that during this period,
the influence of the city of Aksum grew throughout the surrounding areas of
Ethiopia and the coast of the Red Sea. It became the governmental center of the
kingdom, and a monarchy was established.
By the time of King GDRT (thought to be Gadarat), who ruled at the beginning
of the 3 rd century, Aksum had grown into a political and military power capable
of sending its forces across the Red Sea to fight on foreign ground. Aksum even
had garrisons in the territories of Arabia, where the inscriptions that mention
GDRT were first discovered. According to these inscriptions, Aksum and GDRT
were allies of the king of Saba. Together, they fought against the Himyarite
Kingdom (Yemen), which controlled the trade routes of the Red Sea. They
crushed the Himyarite maritime control and expanded their kingdom in the
Himyarite territory.
Aksum must have had a lot of power during the rule of GDRT to be able to cross
the Red Sea and fight a war in foreign territory. The fact that the southern
highlands of today’s Yemen used to be under the control of Aksum stands as the
witness of the kingdom’s richness. GDRT was not only able to finance the
necessary fleet for the military expedition, but he also managed to keep and
further develop the conquered territories. GDRT was the first known king of
Aksum who was involved in the foreign politics of South Arabia. He started the
trend, which would end with a full-scale invasion of these territories in 520 when
King Kaleb ruled.
The period of Aksum history from the time of the rule of King GDRT up until
the beginning of the 4 th century is known as the “South Arabian” period, as all
the available information about the kingdom comes from South Arabian sources.
Because Arabic scripture does not include vowels, the names remain known only
as GDRT, ADBH, ZQRNS, and DTWNS. Historians had to add the vowels for
convenience, not for historical accuracy. Therefore, GDRT might be known as
Gadarat, but we cannot be sure if that was his name. ADBH is known as
Adhebah or Azeba, but his name might have been completely different.
The Aksumite kings were mentioned in South Arabian inscriptions because they
were part of the military campaigns that concerned their territories. Even though
the inscriptions are accounts of the various wars, they do not talk about the
Aksumites directly. They are concerned more with the kings of Saba and
Himyar, who were, at times, the enemies of Aksum. However, from these texts,
we learn that Aksum had territories in South Arabia worth fighting for. The
Aksumites were also allies of both Saba and Himyar at different times and for
different causes. This is evidence enough that the kings of Aksum had a political
presence in South Arabia and were influential enough to change the course of
the wars. Sometime between 160 and 210 CE, Gadarat allied himself with King
Alhan Nahfan of Saba against Himyar. The Aksumites probably had an interest
in the region because of the trade routes on the Red Sea, and they had a
presence, though minor, in the region until the Persian conquest centuries later.
After the death of King Alhan Nahfan, his son and successor, Sha’ir Awtan,
broke the alliance with Gadarat of Aksum. It is possible the young ruler didn’t
like the power Aksum was grabbing in South Arabia and saw the African
kingdom as a threat rather than as an ally. Sha’ir Awtan allied himself with the
kings of Hadhramaut and Himyar, regions in South Arabia, after which the
Aksumites suffered their first known loss. However, the joint forces never
managed to completely expel the Aksumites from South Arabia, and so, they
continued to be an influence in the region.
In 240, there was already a shift of power, and the king of Himyar allied himself
with king ADBH of Aksum and his son GRMT (read as Girma, Garima, or
Garmat). They fought the Sabean kings Ilsharah Yahdub and Yazzil Bayyin,
who accused the Aksumites and Himyarites of breaching the peace treaty.
GRMT lost the battle, but the Aksumites again continued influencing the area,
meaning they were not expelled. GRMT was later mentioned again as fighting in
the Aksum wars in the territory of South Arabia. At around this time, the
Aksumite kings started assuming the title “king of Saba and Himyar,” which
might mean that they claimed suzerainty over the Arabian kings. But the
inscriptions of South Arabia mention no such thing. It is possible that the title
was just an attempt to proclaim dominion over the territories, but its success is
unknown.
There is a big gap in the history of Aksum with no evidence to explain the
course of action of the kings, their politics, or the peoples they ruled. It is
presumed that it was during this time that Sembrouthes ruled, one of the most
mysterious kings of Aksum. He is only known from one Greek inscription,
which mentions him during his twenty-fourth year of rule. The inscription was
found in Daqqi Mahari, significantly away from Aksum to the north, in today’s
Eritrea. The inscription doesn’t say much, but it confirms him as the first known
ruler to use the title “King of Kings.”
The next two Aksum kings led invasions on the Himyarite Kingdom. In
approximately 267/78 CE, DTWNS and ZQRNS allied themselves with al-
Ma’afir and attacked Himyar. It remains unknown if DTWNS (Datawnas) and
ZQRNS (Zaqarnas) were co-rulers or if they succeeded each other in a very
short amount of time. Even the results of their invasion are unknown, but they
did renew Aksumite involvement in South Arabian politics.
On the Ethiopian side, nothing is known of the early kings of Aksum, as the
Ethiopian list of kings is of much later date. It was constructed centuries after the
fall of the Kingdom of Aksum, and it deals more with the mythological hero-
kings than the real ones. Often, the kings from the list do not match the historical
kings, and archaeologists find it difficult to rely on traditional Ethiopian history
when it comes to their work. Unfortunately, the early history of Aksum forces
one to indulge in guessing and assuming, as the evidence is lacking.
From Endubis to Ezana
Endubis, who ruled approximately from 270 until 300, was the earliest known
king of Aksum who issued coins. Gold, silver, and bronze coins have been
discovered, and historians were able to use them to track the chronology of
Aksum. The appearance of coins gives scholars a reason to believe Aksum
became powerful enough to be compared to its neighbors, such as the Kingdom
of Kush and Egypt. From this point on, most of what is known about the history
of Aksum is through coinage, as archaeology provides us with little information.
The majority of known Aksumite kings have no other archaeological evidence of
their existence and would have been entirely forgotten if not for the inscriptions
on the coins.
Endubis used the Roman monetary system as the base for his own. However, he
used his own design for the coins, which is assumed to have been a propaganda
tool. This stance is reinforced by the fact that later kings added or removed
design motifs from coins as the situation in the kingdom changed. The coins also
introduced a new title to the kings of Aksum, one that would remain until the 6 th
century, although it would reemerge later on. The title is “Bisi,” and many
scholars interpret it as “be’esya,” which is translated from the Ge’ez language
(South Semitic) as “man of…”. The title was not followed by the ruler’s name,
but rather a name that would represent the king’s tribe or a military designation.
The pagan kings of Aksum chose disk and crescent symbols for their coins. In
333 CE, King Ezana (who will be discussed a bit more below) converted to
Christianity and started using a cross as his symbol. Because of this, we can
differentiate Endubis, Aphilas, Wazeba, and Ousanas as pagan kings, who were
all predecessors of Ezana, even though they are not mentioned anywhere else but
on coins. Unfortunately, the coins of the pagan rulers can tell us little about the
Kingdom of Aksum’s political situation during their rules. Perhaps the only
conclusion we can draw is that Wazeba and Ousanas were co-rulers at one point,
as one issue of the coins combines the obverse design of Wazeba with the
reverse design of Ousanas. The coins where Wazeba is represented as the sole
ruler are very sparse, which leads to the conclusion that he ruled for a very short
time.
All coins were issued in the Greek language, as they were used mostly for
foreign trade. Even though Aksum had its own Ge’ez language, which belonged
to the South Semitic group of the Ethiopian languages, Greek was commonly
used to make trade easier. Only the coins of King Ezana used the Ge’ez
language instead of Greek, which might suggest that during his rule, foreign
trade suffered, and the import or export of goods stopped. However, this is
highly unlikely, as the Kingdom of Aksum’s power continued to grow. It is more
probable that King Ezana tried to encourage the internal use of the coins within
Ethiopia, rather than for foreign trade exclusively.
In around 270 CE, South Arabian inscriptions stop mentioning the kings of
Aksum. It is possible that during the reign of King Endubis, or perhaps Aphilas,
Himyar grew powerful enough to annex the Kingdom of Saba. Hadhramaut fell
in around 290 CE, and the king of Himyar, Shamir Yuhar’ish, took the title of
king of Saba and Hadhramaut. There is no mention of Ethiopians and their
Aksumite kings. If they managed to keep some of their territories, it must have
been a minor district on the coast of the Red Sea.
King Ousanas is often identified with Ella Allada, or Ella A’eda, from the
traditional Ethiopian story about the Christianization of the kingdom. Although
the next king, Ezana, is believed to be the one who first adopted Christianity
because he started issuing coins with the symbol of the cross, Ella Allada
(known by the name from his coins as Ousanas) was the first to accept the
religion, at least if the traditional stories are true. The story tells of two Tyrian
boys, Frumentius and Aedesius, who were traveling back from India by ship.
They stopped on the coast of the Kingdom of Aksum to resupply. There, they
were attacked, and while the crew of the ship was killed, the boys were spared
and brought to King Ella Allada as a gift. The Aksumite king liked the boys and
eventually promoted Aedesius as his personal cupbearer and Frumentius as his
treasurer. Once the king died, Frumentius became a regent of the kingdom, as
the king’s son was still a minor. He encouraged Christian settlers to come to
Aksum and build churches.
Once the king’s son grew up, Aedesius and Frumentius were allowed to go to
their home in Tyre. Aedesius never returned back to the kingdom, but
Frumentius was later chosen to become the bishop of Aksum, and he returned
and spent the rest of his life there. His task was to spread the faith through the
Kingdom of Aksum, and his efforts were such that he managed to convert the
young king Ezana. It might be that Ousanas never converted to Christianity, but
he was sympathetic to the two boys who first brought the religion.
Ezana is the most known king of Aksum and the first who left inscriptions of his
own to testify to history. He ruled approximately from 320 until 360 CE, and he
was known for his many military campaigns. However, Ethiopians think that his
most significant action was his acceptance of Christianity in around 333. Due to
the conversion to the new faith, he had to give up on the tradition to claim his
descendancy from the pagan god Mahrem.
The general belief among scholars is that the conversion of the Kingdom of
Aksum to Christianity was designed to bring it closer to Rome or
Constantinople. However, Ezana was reluctant to blindly obey what these
Roman cities ordered. In 356, Roman Emperor Constantius II wrote to Ezana,
suggesting that he replace Frumentius as bishop and instead promote Theophilos
the Indian. However, there is no evidence that Ezana bothered to reply to the
Roman emperor, let alone do anything to remove his tutor and ex-regent from
the position of bishop. It is possible that the Aksumite king delayed his reply on
purpose, as he anticipated the death of the Roman emperor, which occurred in
361.
Ezana’s titles suggest he ruled the vast areas of Yemen in addition to the whole
of Ethiopia and Sudan. He used the title “King of Saba and Himyar”; however, it
seems he had no actual control over the South Arabian territories. Those were
just theoretical titles that suggest some sort of arrangement between Aksum and
the kingdoms of present-day Yemen. Perhaps Aksum continued to control small
coastal territories on the other side of the Red Sea, or maybe the titles were just
traditionally inherited from his predecessors.
As for the military expeditions, for which he left detailed descriptions, Ezana
mostly quelled some unrest in the surrounding kingdoms while collecting
tributes. However, a major conflict was described in which the Aksum armies
fought the Nubians and Kushites. The evidence of this conflict was found in both
Christian Ethiopia and in pagan Meroe. While the Ethiopian inscription
celebrates the victory and dedicates it to the Christian God, the one in Meroe
dedicates it to the god Ares or Mahrem, which suggests that either the conflict
occurred during Ezana’s early reign while he was still pagan or tells of a
completely different conflict that happened before Ezana’s time.
The Victory Stela found in Meroe is written in Ge’ez, and as such, many
historians observe it as proof that it was the Kingdom of Aksum who destroyed
the Meroitic Kush Kingdom. However, others argue that the stela was a gift to
the Kush because Aksum sent help to quell the Nubian rebellion. They claim that
the stela did not describe the victory of Aksum over the city of Meroe but rather
over the rebelling Nubians. The belief that Aksum invaded Kush and destroyed
it remains unpopular because various archaeological evidence points toward
economic and political instability as the main reasons for the fall of the Kushites.
From Ezana to Kaleb
The Codex Theodosianus suggests that contact between the Roman Empire and
the Kingdom of Aksum happened often. The Codex Theodosianus is a
compilation of Roman laws, and one of them states that anyone who traveled on
official imperial business to Aksum was not allowed to stay in Alexandria for
more than a year. Otherwise, he would lose the right to his imperial allowance.
This law was set around the same time Constantius II sent his letter to Ezana
(356). The coins issued at the beginning of the 5 th century also connected the
Aksumites with the Roman Empire. They are inscribed with the translation of
the favorite motto of Roman Emperor Constantine: “In hoc signo vinces” (“By
the sign of the cross you will conquer”). Only one Aksumite king issued such
coins, and he was noted as MHDYS (Mehadeyis).
Christian mottos were often used on the coins that date from the late 4 th and
early 5 th centuries. This is because the political climate was ripe to promote
Christianity. As suggested before, the coins served a propaganda purpose, and
they mirrored the political climate of the kingdom. All the kings after Ezana, at
least those whose coins offer archaeological evidence, believed in the Christian
faith, and as such, they became the saints of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo
Church. Although both Ezana and his brother, Saizana, are revered as saints
today, the Ethiopian tradition refers to them as Abreha and Asbeha. Scholars
today believe that these were the baptismal names of the royal brothers.
As Christianity spread through the Kingdom of Aksum, the funerary customs
changed. The last and largest funerary stelae were dated to the late 4 th or early 5
th
century. The monolithic monument fell very soon after it was made, probably
during the reign of King Ouazebas, whose coins were found beneath it.
The first sign of the decline of the Kingdom of Aksum may have been found in a
letter written by a man named Palladius. It is possible, but not certain, that he
was a bishop of Helenopolis who lived from 368 until 431. His task was to travel
to India and send a report on Brahmin philosophy, but to whom the letter was
addressed remains unknown. In the letter, he tells the story of an Egyptian
lawyer who stayed in Aksum on his way to India. Palladius refers to the king of
Aksum as basilikos micros , a title that could be interpreted as “a minor kinglet.”
However, scholars still discuss how to properly interpret the word basilikos , as
it seems that, in some instances, it is attributed to people of great importance,
especially when it came to Nubian rulers. Whatever basilikos means, the
attribute micros attached to it is certainly unflattering.
Next to Ezana, the best documented king of Aksum was Kaleb. His Ge’ez
inscription is KLB ’L SBH WLD TZN, and he is the first king for whom an
inscription with vowels was found; therefore, we know his full name was Kaleb
‘Ella Asbeha, son of Tazena. Kaleb, probably a variation of the biblical name
Caleb, was his birth name, but he is also known by his royal name, ‘Ella Asbeha,
and its Greek varieties, Hellesthaeus or Ellestheaeus. Unfortunately, as with the
other kings of Aksum, the dates of his life are not preserved, but the general
conclusion that historians make is that he was born around 510, ruled around
520, and died somewhere around 540.
Since Aksumite kings often used several names, it remains yet to be discovered
who Kaleb referred to when he says he is the son of Tazena. No evidence sheds
light on that name, as no king ruled under that name. It is possible that Kaleb
was talking about some older ancestor who predated coinage. Maybe it was
important for him to put an emphasis on the connection between him and the
royal dynasty to prove the legitimacy of his rule.
Other theories try to find the appropriate ruler who could be Kaleb’s father. It is
quite possible that one of the previous Aksumite kings used Tazena as his royal
name, but he went by some other name, perhaps his birth name. From the
numismatic point of view, the obvious choice would be King Ousanas, whose
coins predate Kaleb’s. Aside from Kaleb’s coins that describe him as the son of
Tazena, this name is mentioned in the traditional Ethiopian list of kings.
However, that list was written centuries after the fall of the Kingdom of Aksum,
and it often doesn’t match the archaeological findings. This doesn’t mean it
should be completely ignored, though.
Besides the coinage, information about Kaleb’s rule can be found in various
texts. In 1920, a book written in the classical Syriac language was found in
Yemen. The pages of the book were used as a padding for the cover of a 15 th -
century book. Fortunately, scholars managed to reconstruct around fifty-two
pages, and they named it the Book of the Himyarites . It was written at the
beginning of the 5 th century, but the preserved pages were from a copy, which
the author signed himself and added a date when he finished the work: April 10
th
, 932. The Book of the Himyarites must have been an extensive work because
the list of chapters numbers forty-two. Much of the book was destroyed, but the
part that is of interest to the history of Aksum was preserved in fragments. The
text mentions a war in Himyar that was fought between Kaleb and Jewish King
Yusuf Asar Yathar (also known as Dhu Nuwas). There is also mention of
another Aksumite expedition to Himyar led by someone named Hiuna. However,
scholars are unable to connect this name to any known Aksumite king. It is
possible that he ruled before the coins were first issued throughout the kingdom.
There is a theory that connects him to King Kaleb, in which case Hiuna would
be a military general. In one of his own inscriptions, Kaleb writes how he sent
HYN (possibly Hiuna) BN ZSMR with troops to found a church in Himyar.
From the Book of the Himyarites , we learn that Kaleb fought the Jewish king in
520, who had persecuted the Christians of Himyar. Kaleb defeated and killed
King Yusuf, and in his place, he appointed a Christian named Sumuafa Ashawa,
who was a native of Najran, where most of the Christians were persecuted.
Because of the sheer number of sources available that speak of these and other
events of Kaleb’s reign, Kaleb is often regarded as the most important Aksumite
king. However, many of these sources are of later date, and they repeatedly
celebrate Kaleb’s actions to preserve Christianity. His actions in Himyar alone
earned him a place among the Ethiopian saints. He was even listed among the
Roman martyrs, even though he belonged to Oriental Orthodoxy, which is
considered heresy by the Roman Catholic Church.
Even though all the sources celebrate Kaleb for his defense of Christianity, the
true purpose of his invasion of Yemen might be more political. Some of the
sources mention that Himyar had belonged to Aksum before the Jewish king
managed to take it over when the Aksumite appointee to the throne died. It was
winter at the time, and the Aksumites couldn’t cross the Red Sea to defend their
territories in Arabia. If Kaleb allowed Yusuf to keep the throne, not only would
the Christians suffer persecution, but the Jewish king would also have access to
all the trade routes of the Red Sea, and he would have become a source of great
competition to the economy of Aksum.
After Kaleb’s viceroy Sumuafa Ashawa died in 525, an Aksumite general named
Abraha proclaimed himself a king. He had probably plotted to dispose of the
native viceroy, and for this, Kaleb sent an army of 3,000 men to punish Abraha
and his supporters. However, the army defected. They killed their leader and
joined Abraha instead. Infuriated, Kaleb sent another army, but he just couldn’t
win against Abraha. Finally, he was forced to leave him alone to rule as the king
of Himyar. For unknown reasons, Kaleb abdicated the throne, sent his crown to
Jerusalem to be displayed in the Holy Sepulchre, and then retired to a monastery.
Kaleb’s son now ruled. He is known by the name W’ZB (Wa’zeb), and he added
“son of Ella Atsbeha” to his name, which was a variation of his father’s royal
name. However, nothing else is known about him. The coins that date from his
rule are all inconclusive, as they bear different names. These coins were also of
lesser quality, which is usually attributed to the economic decline of the
Kingdom of Aksum. This decline had begun during the reign of King Kaleb. The
wars across the Red Sea cost Aksum too much money and manpower, and thus,
the decline of the kingdom started in the mid-6 th century.
It is possible that the Plague of Justinian (541–549) reached the Kingdom of
Aksum, although some sources claim it started in Ethiopia. The Aksumites used
the term “Ethiopia” since the 4 th century for territories beyond their kingdom,
and it remains unclear if the sources meant Aksum or other parts of Africa when
mentioning Ethiopia. If the plague reached Aksum, it could explain why Kaleb
and his successors were unable to control or dispose of King Abraha in Yemen.
When the son of Abraha inherited the throne of Himyar, he resumed his
allegiance to the Kingdom of Aksum and paid tribute to its king. However, his
brother, Ma’d-Karib, rebelled and asked Justinian the Great, the Eastern Roman
emperor, for help. When he declined, Ma’d-Karib turned to Khosrow I, the
Sasanian emperor of Persia. He sent 800 men to help Ma’d-Karib, although
different sources mention different numbers. By some, the Persian army
numbered 3,600, while others say 7,500. The truth is elusive, but modern
estimations go even higher, mentioning over 16,000 souls. The Aksumite-
Persian war took place completely in the territories of Arabia, with Masruq,
another son of Abraha, leading the Aksumite armies as their viceroy. Masruq
died in battle, and the Aksumites were defeated. The Persians conquered Yemen
and wrestled it out of Aksumite hands. However, somewhere between 575 and
578, the Aksumites returned and tried to take their precious possessions back.
Persia sent another army and managed to expel the Aksumites from Arabia, and
they never returned. Yemen remained in Persia’s hands until the 7 th century.
The Decline of the Kingdom
There are many factors that influenced the decline of the Kingdom of Aksum, as
well as many theories and conclusions about it. The evidence provides some
insight on what happened around the city of Aksum. Besides the wars in Yemen,
which were very costly, the economy of the kingdom was greatly influenced by
the land around the city of Aksum. Up until that point, the land was fertile and
able to feed the population. However, climatic evidence suggests that there was
not enough rain in the region throughout the beginning of the 7 th century. More
money was spent on importing food, and local production slowed to a halt.
During the late 7 th century and the beginning of the 8 th century, the people of
Aksum were forced to exploit the land as much as they could, which only
fastened its degradation. Eventually, the once-fertile lands of Aksum had to be
abandoned, and the people retreated to the south.
At the same time, the territories Aksum held on the coast of the Red Sea were
lost to the Rashidun Caliphate. The people sought protection in the southern
highlands, abandoning the city of Aksum as their capital. The expansion of Islam
saw to it that the name Aksum was no longer applied to the Ethiopian people.
Although Arabic sources still referred to Aksum as the great and rich kingdom,
they called it by a different name: “Habashat.” At around the same time, during
the 7 th century, the Kingdom of Aksum completely stopped issuing coins. Due
to the rapidly declining economy, they had become obsolete. Instead, cloth and
salt were used for bartering, and it seems that all the trade Aksumites performed
during this period were limited to the neighboring countries in Africa and
Arabia.
The Kingdom of Aksum started gaining some territories in the south, but that did
not bring back the economic power or the old glory the kingdom once held. By
losing the coast of the Red Sea, Aksum became economically isolated, doomed
to a steady decline. Also, all the relations Aksum had with the outside world was
with Islamic states, and as a Christian kingdom, this made the isolation even
worse. Ethiopian bishops were still appointed from Alexandria, but even Egypt
was now a Muslim state, and all the appointments had to be approved by a
Muslim governor.
When the city of Aksum was abandoned, new capitals started emerging.
However, the sources are not consistent. Arabic authors wrote about Jarmi or
Jarma and Ku’bar or Ka’bar. These cities were mentioned in the 9 th century, but
astronomer Al-Battani, who was from the 10 th century, mentions the city of
Aksum, albeit with the slightly changed name of “‘Ksumi.” It is possible that the
city of Aksum still existed but had been reduced to a simple town or settlement.
It was no longer a capital, as in 833, another Muslim astronomer mentioned
Jarma as the capital of the kingdom of Habash (Aksum). The city continued to
be mentioned in various Arabic sources throughout the 9 th and 10 th centuries as
the city of the Habasha kings. Ku’bar was mentioned at around the same time as
being the capital of the Habash kingdom, but it remains to be known if it was a
different city or simply Jarmi under another name. These cities are lost to
history.
The traditional Ethiopian history includes the story of Jewish Queen Gudit, to
whom they prescribe the destruction of the Kingdom of Aksum. According to
legend, she ordered the destruction of Aksum’s churches, cities, and countryside.
She also burned books, artwork, and anything that would display the previous
ruling dynasty. She was determined to put the dynasty of Aksum to an end.
However, the tale of Gudit and the destruction of Aksum is preserved only in
oral history. Any written material on the subject is just a transcription of that oral
story, which was passed down through the years.
However, there is evidence of the burning of churches in around 960, which
would correspond to the Gudit period, if she even existed. However, there is no
evidence of a Jewish queen’s presence in Aksum whatsoever. Although there is
evidence that a female ruler ruled Aksum in the 10 th century, it is more probable
that it was the pagan Queen Bani al-Hamwiyah, who would have invaded the
region from the south.
The Aksumite Kingdom continued to exist throughout the 12 th century under the
new the Zagwe Dynasty. But the kingdom was already very weak, and it held
only a fraction of the territory it once possessed. The last Zagwe king was killed
by Yekuno Amlak, the founder of the Solomonic Dynasty, which lasted until
1974. The Kingdom of Aksum was officially over, and in its stead was the new
Ethiopian Empire. However, the Aksumite culture continued to live through its
descendants. The people remained the same, no matter which kingdom or empire
they belonged to, and the Aksumite influence in the architecture and art of
Ethiopia is still recognizable today.
Chapter 5 – The Ghana Empire

A representation of the Ghana Empire at its peak, colored in green

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/18/Ghana_empire_map.png
Today’s Ghana is territorially different from the ancient kingdom or medieval
empire of Ghana. The country we know today was named after the empire, or,
rather, it was named after their title for a ruler. The name of the empire was
actually Wagadu (Wagadou), and it was ruled by a king whose official title was
“Ghana.” Scholars cannot agree on when the Ghana Empire was founded. There
is archaeological evidence of a settlement that dates before the year 300 CE.
However, that settlement belonged to the Dhar Tichitt culture, which abandoned
the area, probably pushing southward due to the invading nomadic tribes. The
nomadic tribes who settled in the area between the year 300 and 500 belonged to
the Soninke people, and it was they who named the area Wagadu.
But if modern Ghana has nothing to do with the ancient empire, where exactly
was it? Fortunately, it is possible to pinpoint the location due to various written
sources left by the Arabs who settled in Morocco and Sudan during the 7 th
century. Another great source of information comes from archaeology, which
came very late to the region. In fact, the first major finding occurred as late as
1969 when Dhar Tichitt, the oldest settlement in West Africa, was discovered.
The Ghana Empire had no access to the Atlantic coast. It was a landlocked area
around one hundred miles north of the River Niger, and it occupied the
grasslands of the Sahel. Today, these territories belong to western Mali and
southeastern Mauritania.
The Legend of the Wagadu Kingdom
The Soninke people are proud of their storytellers, and through music and
stories, the legend of their kingdom has been passed down from generation to
generation. Although the stories have changed through time, as each generation
adds its own details or forgets old ones, the story of the origins of Wagadu is
essentially the same. The oral tradition of the Soninke people talks about a
common ancestor, Dinga, who came to Ghana from somewhere in the Middle
East.
Dinga settled in a town named Dia, located in the Niger Delta. He married and
had two sons, who moved to different towns in the Sahel grasslands and became
the forefathers of the Soninke people. Both Dinga and his sons often moved
from one place to another. This is a part of the legend that explains why the
Soninke people are found in various parts of the Sahel. Eventually, Dinga
arrived at a place in today’s Mali, southwest of the modern-day town of Nioro
du Sahel. This land was inhabited by spirits at that time, with whom Dinga
fought a magical battle. After he defeated all the spirits, he married their
daughters and had many sons, who became the leaders of many Soninke clans.
The Cisse clan eventually became the ruling dynasty of Wagadu.
The legend continues and tells of Dinga as an old and blind man who had to
decide who of his sons was worthy of becoming chieftain after his death. After
he decided to proclaim his oldest son as his successor, the youngest, named
Diabe Cisse, disguised himself as his elder brother and tricked Dinga into giving
him all his chiefly powers. But after Dinga’s death, Diabe Cisse had to run from
his brother’s wrath, and he hid in the wilderness. There, he found a magical
drum, which, if beaten, summoned four cavalry commanders from four sides of
the world. They recognized Diabe Cisse as their leader and became chiefs of the
four provinces once the Wagadu Kingdom was founded.
Now that he had followers, Diabe Cisse needed a place to settle. He found a
perfect location at the site of what would become Koumbi Saleh, the capital of
the Ghana Empire. But this site was guarded by a giant python. The young chief
made a deal with the snake that he could settle in the area if the python, named
Bida, remained its guardian. However, Bida demanded one beautiful girl to be
given to him as a sacrifice each year. In return, the snake guaranteed plenty of
rain to fall in the region, making the ground quite fertile.
Thus, the Kingdom of Wagadu was founded. The four commanders of Diabe
Cisse became the aristocratic clans, called wago , and it was them who gave the
name to the kingdom, as Wagadu is a shortened version of its original name
wagadugu —“the land of wago.” There also may have been some truth to the
story of a girl being sacrificed. The legend continues, claiming that each year, a
different province had to provide the girl. This practice might have been set in
place to promote the unity of the provinces and their chieftains.
Later generations added their own stories into the legend of Wagadu. One of
them tells the story of the kingdom’s decline through an allegory. Many
generations later, a young girl, who was chosen to be sacrificed to Bida, was
engaged to an aristocrat. Angered, the young man jumped in front of the python
and cut off his head. While dying, Bida cursed the kingdom with a drought and a
lack of gold. The Soninke people were forced to abandon their capital and find
their luck elsewhere. Four provinces, which were led by different clans, broke
the ties that bound them into one kingdom. The story of the curse symbolizes the
climate change that occurred in the Sahel. The rain stopped, making the ground
dry and impossible to work. The climatic change may have led to the gradual
decline of the Wagadu Kingdom. By the 13 th century, the kingdom ceased to
exist at all.
Trade
The Soninke people started trading with other Berber peoples of the Sahara
region. In fact, they used these Saharan nomadic tribes as their intermediaries in
trade with the African regions north of the Sahara Desert. This trade allowed the
Ghana Empire to emerge as one of the richest kingdoms of Western Africa. They
also controlled a source of gold, which did not come from the mines but was
rather washed down from the highlands by excessive rain. It was simply
collected from the streams that had been created by the rains. This is another
reason for the downfall of the Ghana Empire, as the climate change meant less
rain, and, in turn, gold did not flow to the region anymore.
The king of Ghana was one of the wealthiest kings of Africa because he took all
the gold nuggets for himself, allowing the people who collected it to keep only
gold dust. Another reason for his wealth was the trade tax he imposed on salt.
Everyone who imported salt had to pay one gold coin, but those who exported it
had to pay two gold coins. The early trade with the Berbers of the Sahara
brought horses and iron to the Soninke of Ghana. The weapons they crafted and
the implementation of horseback warfare brought Ghana dominion over the
other smaller clans. The imported iron was also used to make tools for working
the land. Its fertile ground attracted more people to the capital of Wagadu,
Koumbi Saleh. In turn, the city grew into an important trading outpost.
It was this developed trade across the Sahara Desert and the subjugation of the
neighboring clans that elevated the status of Ghana from a kingdom to an
empire. With the people of the Sahara, the Soninke traded copper, dates, and
salt. But they also exported the products of their savanna regions, such as slaves,
iron tools, weapons and utensils, livestock, hides, cloth, clay pottery, medicinal
herbs, food (especially various grains), spices, fruit, and honey. One of the main
export items of Ghana was kola nuts, which are rich in caffeine and were used as
a way to quickly state hunger and reenergize the tired nomadic people. Kola nuts
are still used in Western Africa as a symbol of hospitality, but in the 1800s, they
were exported to the United States, where they were used as a sacred flavoring
ingredient of Coca-Cola.
The position of the Kingdom of Ghana allowed it to control and dominate the
Sahara routes used by the trade caravans. These elaborate paths through the
desert took the products and gold from Ghana to the distant regions of the
Middle East and the Mediterranean Sea. From there, they easily found their way
to the various ships that sailed around the known world. By the 5 th century,
camels were introduced to the north of Africa, and they became a widely used
animal for transport over the Sahara Desert. This animal was responsible for the
quick development of trade in Western Africa. The trade caravans consisted of
anywhere between 6 to 2,000 camels, which would carry the huge load without
the need for water or food for many days.
The travel on the Saharan trade routes lasted two or three months, and expert
guides of the Sanhaja Berber people were needed. They lived nomadic lives in
the Sahara and knew all the places where food and water were available.
Without them, a trade caravan was doomed to disappear in the harsh
environments of the desert.
But the Ghana Empire did not control only the trade across the Sahara. Its
unique position and growing economic power allowed it to control the trade in
the south too. There, the savanna and forest regions, which were rich with
resources, offered their goods for the taking. Ghana also imported northern
products to the south, such as glass, iron tools, silk, porcelain, jewelry, perfumes,
spice, and sugar. Ghana also had easy access to the north and northwest of
Africa. Those trade routes connected the kingdom with Maghrib, Egypt, and
Tripoli. Because of its convenient location, Ghana was the meeting point for
many merchants traveling across Africa. And the king collected taxes from all of
them, making himself ever richer.
The Cities
Koumbi Saleh has been described as the capital city of the Ghana Empire.
However, the sources that mention this city are often contradictory. The area
where the city was founded was inhabited from earlier times, as we saw in the
Wagadu legend, but it remains uncertain if it was indeed the capital. The earliest
written mention of the city is from the 8 th century when one of the Persian
astronomers mentions it in his writing about the Ghana Empire. It was the early
medieval Arab writers who mistook the title Ghana for the name of the land, and
as a result, it is still remembered as Ghana to this day.
The great Muslim geographer and historian, Al-Bakri, was the first to describe
Koumbi Saleh in detail. He lived in Andalusia in the 11 th century, and although
he never stepped on African soil himself, he collected the information from
various merchants and travelers. Because the medieval world was dominated by
fantastical stories instead of pure facts, Al-Bakri’s writing is filled with
mistakes. Nevertheless, it offers insight into the life of the city and its
significance for foreign trade. One of the first mistakes he made was to identify
the name of the city with the name of the land. Therefore, he thought that the
capital of Ghana was also called Ghana. But due to his insistence on calling it
the capital, scholars have concluded that he was writing about Koumbi Saleh.
Al-Bakri describes the capital of Ghana as two very close cities that were ten
kilometers (six miles) apart. One was the king’s city, which was inhabited by the
pagans. The other one was a Muslim city that had twelve mosques. In between
the two cities, the commoners lived in a row of huts and houses. This would
mean that the two cities were connected. Al-Bakri claimed that the Muslim city
was named El-Ghaba, while the king’s city was Ghana.
The first archaeological evidence of Koumbi Saleh was excavated in 1914 by a
French team of archaeologists. The ruins were found in the Sahel region of
today’s south Mauritania. The ruins were dated anywhere from the 9 th century to
the 14 th century, and one mosque was discovered. There are no links that would
identify these ruins with anything Al-Bakri described, and the second city was
never discovered in the vicinity. However, the size of the city is crucial. Modern
estimates believe it could have held around 20,000 people. For this region, that
number signifies an important city. If Koumbi Saleh wasn’t the capital of the
Ghana Empire, it certainly was one of the most important trade hubs. The lack of
evidence that would connect the excavated ruins with the capital described by
Arabic sources makes some historians believe that Koumbi Saleh wasn’t
Ghana’s capital at all.
But the oral tradition of the Soninke people still claims that the capital of their
kingdom was “Kumbi,” or Koumbi, Saleh. Al-Bakri might have been told by
others that the capital of Ghana was made of two cities, but in the past, it was
common for Muslims to have separate districts. It is possible that this was the
case with Ghana’s capital and that the Muslim geographer simply misunderstood
the stories. Archaeologists have found two sections of Koumbi Saleh, but they
are not six miles apart as Al-Bakir claimed.
Another very important trade city was discovered 125 miles northwest of
Koumbi Saleh. It is the city named Awdaghust, which was probably founded
during the golden age of the Ghana Empire in the late 10 th or early 11 th century.
Al-Bakri wrote about this city as well, describing it as large, crowded, and well
built. It was built in the shadow of a barren mountain, and it prospered because it
was an oasis town on the trans-Saharan trade route. Its population was mostly
Muslim traders from North Africa, but there were also some local peoples,
probably of Berber descent. They were farmers who grew wheat, dates, fig trees,
and henna (a plant from which red dye is produced).
Islam and the Decline of the Ghana Empire
Islam spread to the Berber people of the Sahara region during the 8 th century. It
came from Morocco and other Northern African states where the Umayyad
Dynasty had spread its influence. However, the sub-Saharan territories converted
almost two centuries later, during the reign of the Almoravid Dynasty. During
the beginning of the 10 th century, the Almoravids were at the peak of their
power, but the Sanhaja peoples were slow to convert. The clan chiefs were the
first to accept the new religion, but Islam was generally much weaker in Western
Africa due to its distance from Islam’s epicenter in Mecca.
Around 1042, the Almoravid movement started gaining momentum and took
over the Berber tribes of the Sahara. Their prime concern was the weakness of
Islam in Africa, and they devoted their lives to teaching the strict rules of the
religion. They wanted African followers to read the Quran, to stop drinking any
alcoholic drinks, and to start fasting and praying several times a day. To spread
the movement across Africa, they needed to unite the clans of the southern
Saharan Sanhaja people. The tribes joined the political federation of the
Almoravid movement so quickly that, by 1048, the army they had gathered was
strong enough to challenge their neighbors. By 1054, the Soninke of the Ghana
Empire lost Awdaghust, but the federation didn’t linger there. Instead, they
crossed the Sahara and reached southern Morocco.
However, the influence of the Almoravids continued to press the Soninke people
of Ghana, and they had no other choice but to abandon their old religion, which
worshiped snakes, and join Islam. The decline of the kingdom did not occur with
the arrival of the Almoravid movement, though. Instead, Ghana was determined
to save its position as a powerful economic force. They managed to retrieve
Awdaghust and continued to control the trade routes of the Sahara Desert. The
archaeological evidence in both Awdaghust and Koumbi Saleh confirms that
Ghana remained very rich and powerful until at least the 12 th century.
But the struggle continued. The Sanhaja people were determined to wrestle the
control of trade from Ghana’s grip. The constant attacks were followed by the
climatic change, which pressured the Soninke people to abandon their once-
prosperous cities and search for more fertile lands. In the 12 th century, the
decline of Ghana was rapid, and it left a power vacuum in Western Africa.
Gradually, the small chiefdoms of the savanna started uniting and formed small
kingdoms around the rivers and lakes that were still rich with rainfall, such as
the Upper Niger. During the 13 th century, the small kingdoms united to form a
state, one that would become known as the Mali Empire.
Chapter 6 – The Mali Empire

The Mali Empire at its height, including the location of Timbuktu

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8f/MALI_empire_map.PNG
While Ghana was declining, the Soninke people, who migrated to escape the
dry, infertile areas, were assimilated into the numerous small kingdoms that
started to form across the savanna. To the south of Ghana, the Kaniaga (the Susu
kingdom), Mema, and Diara kingdoms rose to power on the banks of the River
Niger and its tributaries. The lands there were still fertile and could sustain all
the newcomers. Some of these kingdoms were already Muslim, but most of them
continued the traditional practice of polytheistic religions.
The most powerful among the polytheistic kingdoms was Susu (Sosso). Its
ruling family was named Kante, and they were blacksmiths. In the small society
of the kingdom, the blacksmiths enjoyed high status, as they were the ones with
the power to command fire to subdue iron and bend it into the tools that served
the whole community. Because of the almost magical powers of blacksmiths,
they were also chosen to be the religious leaders of the clans.
The Susu kingdom was centered around the region today known as Beledougou.
This territory lay north of Bamako, the capital of today’s Republic of Mali.
Unfortunately, no archaeological excavations were performed in the region, and
the only source about the Susu kingdom we have comes from the writings of the
Arab scholars who traveled the region as they followed the trade caravans. The
oral tradition of the locals still identifies them as the Susu community, and one
of the nearby villages still bears the name Susu.
In the 12 th century, Susu took over some of the territories that used to belong to
the Ghana Empire. Information about this traveled to Cairo, where Ibn Khaldun,
an Arab scholar, interviewed many traders who came from the Mali Empire. He
wanted to write down the history of the people of West Africa, and he listened to
the stories of those who came to Egypt to trade. They told him that Susu was the
greatest and most powerful kingdom in the region and that it was ruled by King
Sumanguru Kante. The merchants had many fantastical stories about their king,
who, according to them, was a great conqueror and sorcerer. The first kingdoms
he conquered lay just to the south of Susu, on both banks of the Niger. They
were independent Mande chiefdoms that shared culture and trade.
The Mande chiefdoms had ruled their lands as subject kings of the Ghana
Empire during the 11 th century. With the dissolvement of the Ghana Empire,
they gained their independence, and they wouldn’t allow Susu to take over what
Ghana had left. Instead, they chose to rebel and free themselves of the Susu
kingdom. Here, the epic oral tale of Sunjata tells its version of the foundation of
the Mali Empire. The Sunjata epic is still told among the Mande people of Mali,
and it has many variations, as each region tells its own version of the epic.
However, they all agree that a certain hero, named Sogolon Sunjata, managed to
overthrow Susu King Sumanguru Kante and start what would become known as
the Mali Empire.
In some versions of the epic, the hero’s name is Sundiata of the Keita clan. He
was born as a cripple and couldn’t walk throughout his childhood. After his
father’s death, his brother took over the rule of the kingdom, exiling Sundiata
Keita and his mother. No neighboring kingdom would shelter the pair, and they
traveled to the distant land of Mema. There, he grew to be a famous warrior.
Some versions of the story even mention that he was so popular that he was
chosen to inherit the throne of Mema. However, when Sundiata heard of the
troubles the Mande kingdom had with the Susa and its evil sorcerer-king, he
decided to go back and free his people. He managed to unite the peoples of the
neighboring kingdoms and combine the armies of Wagadu, Mema, and Mande
to defeat the Susu kingdom. At the Battle of Kirina, in the Koulikoro region
(today’s Mali), Sumanguru Kante was killed, and Sundiata Keita destroyed the
Susu. Arabic sources date this battle to 1235, which is often used as the year
when the Mali Empire was founded.
From Sunjata to Sakura
Information about the Mali Empire mostly comes from the Arab historians,
scholars, and explorers, such as Shihab al-Din al-Umari (1300–1384), Ibn
Battuta (1304–1369), and Ibn Khaldun (1332–1406). They traveled the medieval
Islamic world and collected the stories of the rise and fall of the empires of
Africa. According to them, Sunjata ruled for twenty-five years after he founded
the Mali Empire and the Keita Dynasty. He was the first to be granted the title
Mansa, which comes from the Mandinka word for a king or emperor. After his
death, he was succeeded by his son, Mansa Wali, known to the Arab world as
Mansa Ali. He was the only biological son of the hero Sunjata and the first king
of Mali to convert to Islam. His adoptive brothers and successors, Wati and
Khalifa, were the sons of Sunjata’s brother.
Oral tradition tells the story of Mansa Wali being too young to inherit the throne
after his father. His uncle was supposed to rule, but the young prince was too
ambitious, and he took the throne by force. However, he had no sons of his own
to inherit after him, leaving the kingdom to his uncle’s sons. During his rule,
Mansa Wali made the pilgrimage to Mecca somewhere between 1260 and 1277.
Wali is remembered as a king who excessively worked on expanding the
territories of the Mali Empire to the west of Africa, as well as for bringing
reforms to agriculture, economy, and politics.
Unfortunately, he was succeeded by his adopted brothers, who brought nothing
to the empire. The first to rule after Mansa Wali was Wati. However, there is no
memory of his kingship in either oral tradition or in the written sources of Arab
scholars. This leads one to conclude that he did nothing for the empire. The next
to rule was the other brother, Khalifa. He is remembered but for all the bad
reasons. Khalifa was an insane king who liked to practice archery by shooting at
his people. Eventually, an angry mob killed him.
It is unknown whether the two brothers who inherited after Mansa Wali had
sons, but the next ruler was the son of Sunjata’s sister, Abu Bakr. This is a
tradition that was possibly adopted from the remnants of the Ghana Empire, as
their succession was matrilineal. However, it seems that the dynastical struggles
continued for the Mali Empire, as the next ruler was a military commander, not a
member of the royal family. Sakura, who ruled from 1298 until 1308, grabbed
the throne, probably with the support of the people. He also made a pilgrimage
to Mecca, which is proof that he had the support of his people. Otherwise, it
would have been very unwise for him to leave the empire at such a sensitive
time.
Sakura was one of the best kings the Mali Empire had. He made Mali into a
powerful empire that controlled the trade to the north of Africa, a role Ghana
once had. New economic growth was acquired, and Mali prospered as a result.
Feeling confident in his empire, Sakura embarked on a series of military
expeditions that expanded the territories of Mali. The most significant conquest
was probably the city of Gao. Located on the eastern bank of the Niger River,
this city proved to be one of the most important trade hubs of the trans-Saharan
routes. The city was rich and already under Muslim rule, so the transition to
becoming a part of Mali went smoothly.
Sakura died on his way back to Mali after his pilgrimage. For some unknown
reason, the empire reversed to the previous dynasty of Sunjata’s descendants.
Several more insignificant kings ruled the Mali Empire until it finally passed to
the famous Mansa Musa in 1312, the greatest and richest ruler of West Africa.
Mansa Musa and the City of Timbuktu
Mansa Musa of the Keita clan ruled the Mali Empire for twenty-five years
(1312–1337). His reign is considered to be the golden age for the people of Mali.
He was a very pious and generous king, and according to the Arab historian Ibn
Kathir, he was a young man when he inherited the throne, which ruled over
twenty-four lesser kingdoms.
However, Mansa Musa did not inherit the throne once his predecessor died.
Instead, he was chosen as a regent of the empire when Mansa Abu Bakr II went
on a controversial journey across the Atlantic Ocean. The story, which was
written down by Arab scholars, tells about Abu Bakr’s insatiable curiosity about
what lay at the end of the Atlantic Ocean. He sent an expedition to see what was
beyond the great water, but only one boat came back. The rest sank, probably in
a storm. Unsatisfied, the king set sail himself, preparing 2,000 boats to hold the
men and 1,000 for food and water. None of the people who went across the
ocean with Abu Bakr ever returned, and to this day, it remains a mystery if they
ever reached the New World.
Once it was obvious Abu Bakr II was not coming back from his travels, Musa
Keita was elevated from regent to king, gaining the title of mansa in the process.
Described as a great man by Arab sources, Mansa Musa sat on a throne
completely made out of ebony, ornamented with huge elephant tusks. Both the
king and his officials wielded weapons purely made out of gold when meeting
the representatives of other kingdoms. Mansa Musa had around thirty slaves
constantly at his disposal, serving him and his companions. One of the slaves
was always tasked with holding a sunshade made out of silk over the king’s
head. The shade had a falcon ornament at the top, made out of pure gold.
Other descriptions of the Mali king mention music accompanying him whenever
he went out in public. He never talked or gave speeches in public. Anything he
had to say was whispered to his chief spokesmen, who would then make public
announcements for him. Two horses always followed the king’s procession.
They were a sign of wealth, as they were the most expensive animals in Western
Africa, but they weren’t just for showing off. They were fully equipped and
ready in case the mansa had to ride them.
It wasn’t unusual for southern African rulers to go to Mecca on a pilgrimage
(known as the Hajj), but he was certainly the most famous one. As a devout
Muslim, Musa did not impose his religion on the common people of the Mali
Empire, but he did make it an obligatory religion for the aristocracy. Even
though some of the people he ruled were still pagans, the Muslim religious
holidays were celebrated around the empire as national sacred days. During his
rule, Islam prospered in sub-Saharan Africa, and many kingdoms converted
willingly.
The preparations for Musa’s pilgrimage took nine months. The story says that
the king consulted his soothsayers to confirm the date when he should depart,
and they said it needed to be on a Saturday that would fall on the twelfth day of a
month. The exact date of Musa’s pilgrimage is unknown, but he arrived in Egypt
in 1324. The journey took around a year, and the written sources mention that
Musa’s procession numbered 60,000 men, of which 12,000 were slaves. The
king provided everything needed for the long pilgrimage, and he dressed his
people in the finest silk with gold ornaments. It was even said that each slave
had to carry a bar of gold. Once they reached Egypt, all the slaves were sold, and
the money was gifted to the Egyptians. The sultan of Egypt received 40,000 gold
dinars as a gift, and much more money was shared. As stated above, the
generosity of Mansa Musa was legendary.
Musa stayed in Egypt for three months before continuing his journey to the holy
cities of Mecca and Medina. New slaves had to be bought for this trip. Even
though the king of Mali had a number of guards, the journey across the desert
and beyond Egypt was a very dangerous one. Sakura, one of the previous kings
of Mali, was murdered on his way back from the Hajj, and even Mansa Musa
experienced troubles of his own. His whole entourage got separated from the
main caravan. The sub-Saharan people were unfamiliar with the routes that led
from Cairo to Mecca, so they needed to join local caravans. On their way back to
Egypt, Musa got lost and reached the seashore at Suez instead of Cairo. Before
finding their way back, Musa’s entourage lost around one-third of the people, as
well as many animals.
On his pilgrimage, Mansa Musa went through the cities of Timbuktu and Gao,
but on his way back, he annexed them and incorporated them into the Mali
Empire. Timbuktu remains the most famous and mysterious city in Western
Africa. Many stories were written about it, and even today, people doubt its
existence. They believe it is a made-up place or a very mysterious ancient city
that has yet to be discovered. However, Timbuktu is very real, and it is still
inhabited. It is listed as one of the World Heritage Sites because of its
importance in the Islamization of the African continent, as well as for its unique
history and architecture.
Timbuktu started as a settlement in the 5 th century, but its position allowed it to
prosper and turn into a city. It conveniently lay on the trade routes of the Sahara
region, and it became rich due to the trade in salt, ivory, and copper. Mansa
Musa was able to realize the economic importance of Timbuktu, and his
reputation served him well because nobody resisted the annexation of the city,
which took place in either 1324 or 1325. Because of the importance of
Timbuktu, Musa ordered the construction of a royal palace. This task was
assigned to Ishaq al-Sahili, a Muslim architect from Spain. He built the square
royal residence with a dome on the top, a design that would become a staple of
the Mali Empire. The architect chose to settle in Timbuktu, and the Djinguereber
Mosque, which was built there between 1324 and 1327, was attributed to him.
Two centuries later, when the Songhai Empire took over the city, the mosque
was torn down, and in its place, a larger one was built.
Mansa Musa also realized that the city of Timbuktu attracted many visitors
because of its rich markets. Many of them were not Muslims, but they were
nonetheless fascinated with the city’s openness to different people. The Mali
king decided to found a university there, in which Muslim scholars could preach
their religion. The pious Mansa Musa saw an opportunity to utilize Timbuktu’s
popularity to spread Islam across Africa through its university. The city became
so famous that word of it even reached Europe, and the merchants of Venice and
Genoa started visiting it regularly.
Timbuktu wasn’t the only city in which the Mali king opened universities. He
also started Islamic studies in the cities of Djenne and Segou. But the one in
Timbuktu remained one of the most popular. It quickly grew, and by the 16 th
century, it was able to accept over 25,000 students. Musa broadened the
curriculum of the university and introduced mathematics, astronomy, and
geography. Timbuktu’s university became one of the largest in Africa, with a
library that could be compared to the one in Alexandria.
The Power Struggle and the End of the Empire
It is unknown when exactly Mansa Musa died, but his son started appearing in
the written sources as the new king of Mali in around 1337. His name was
Mansa Maghan, and he ruled for only four years before he died. He didn’t leave
any sons capable of ruling after him, so the throne was passed to the brother of
Mansa Musa, Mansa Suleyman. He was another powerful and effective ruler,
although he wasn’t liked among the people like his brother. While Musa was a
generous king, Suleyman was inattentive. This was probably because, at this
time, the Black Death had reached the northern African continent, where it killed
30 to 50 percent of its inhabitants. Although there is no evidence of plague
reaching the Mali Empire, it certainly influenced trade with the north, which was
one of Mali’s main trading partners. The economic consequences of the Black
Death were felt across the world, and the sub-Saharan kingdoms were no
exception.
The information about the Mali Empire during the reign of Mansa Suleyman is
plenty due to geographer Ibn Battuta, who spent eight months visiting the court
in 1352/53. He witnessed the king’s audiences and wrote extensively about
them. He compared the richness of the Mali royal palace with the European
courts, saying how they were equal in beauty and prosperity. Three hundred
soldiers protected the king while he was sitting on his throne and listened to the
people. The king himself was dressed in a red robe and had a golden headdress.
He carried a bow and arrows with him, and just as his brother Mansa Musa, he
had two horses ready to carry him wherever he needed.
Ibn Battuta also witnessed an attempt to dispose of Suleyman. The story is
complicated, but it seems to have all started when the king wanted to marry a
common girl named Banju instead of his first wife, Kassi. It was a tradition for
the aristocracy of the Mali Empire to have many wives, but only one enjoyed the
status of queen and ruled alongside her husband. For Suleyman, that was
supposed to be his cousin Kassi. But he wanted to elevate the commoner Banju
to that status, and so, he had to dispose of Kassi. He divorced Kassi, but she had
the sympathies of other aristocrats, who offered her support. A civil war erupted
between the divided people of Mali, with some supporting the king and others
the ex-queen. The fighting continued until Suleyman provided the evidence that
Kassi was conspiring with one of her cousins for treason. Whether this was true
or not, the people of Mali agreed that it was a grave offense and that she
deserved the death sentence. To avoid it, the former queen hid in a mosque. It
remains unknown what happened to her in the end or if the accusations against
her were true or just fabricated to serve the king’s agenda.
Mansa Suleyman ruled for twenty-four years, and when he died in 1360, he was
succeeded by his son Kassa. However, a civil war broke out, as the sons of
Suleyman and Mansa Musa were fighting for the throne. Finally, the son of
Mansa Maghan, Mari Djata II, prevailed, and he took the throne for himself. He
was a tyrant who brought the empire to ruin. He was abusive toward his people,
and he squandered the national treasure. He sold the gold to the Egyptians for a
very low price, bringing the empire to poverty. But he didn’t rule for very long.
He suffered from sleeping sickness, which was transmitted by tsetse flies, and he
died in 1374.
The throne was inherited by Mari Djata’s son, Mansa Musa II. He wasn’t at all
like his father, for he was wise and fair. But he wasn’t like his namesake Mansa
Musa I either. Musa II was weak and unable to control his subjects. One of his
advisors took control of the government for himself, and eventually, he took the
throne. He is known as Mari Djata III, although he didn’t belong to the royal
family. He wasn’t even recognized as the official king of Mali, but he controlled
the throne and the government. Even though he tried his hardest to revitalize the
empire after the damage caused by the civil war after Suleyman, and by the rule
of the tyrant Mari Djata II, he was always seen as a usurper.
A series of weak kings followed Mansa Musa II, and all of them were unable to
keep the throne for more than a few years. Various court intrigues led to
assassinations and mysterious deaths until the throne was captured by Mahmud
Keita, a direct descendant of the first ruler of Mali, Sunjata, in 1390. However,
nothing is known about Mahmud except that he was the last ruler of Mali
mentioned in the written sources. Oral tradition speaks of other kings and queens
who followed but in the form of myths and legends. There is no historical
evidence that could confirm their existence.
The power of the Mali Empire was undermined by the generations of the power
struggle and civil wars for the throne. Soon, at the end of the 14 th century, the
distant kingdoms integrated into the territory of Mali broke off, and no king was
strong enough to assert control and stop the dissolution of the empire. In 1433,
Timbuktu was lost, as well as Gao and other distant provinces beyond the River
Niger. In the 15 th and 16 th centuries, Gao produced powerful rulers who
founded a new empire, one that would replace Mali as the powerbase of Western
Africa: the Songhai Empire.
Conclusion
There are many gaps in our knowledge about ancient Africa and the kingdoms
that ruled over the continent. This lack of evidence slows down our ability to
learn what happened in the past. The ever-shifting sands of the Sahara Desert, as
well as the probable climate changes that occurred on the continent, have hidden
archaeological sites that are yet to be discovered. In the case of the mystical
Land of Punt, we don’t even know its exact location. However, the birthplace of
humanity is a rich playground for scholars and historians, who work tirelessly to
come to new conclusions and find new evidence that will part the veils that still
obscure history.
Many monuments, texts, and images of the bygone days of Africa remain to be
discovered, but what we already have is enough to understand the way of
thinking and life of these ancient kingdoms. Egypt, a civilization that left behind
so much evidence, granted us an insight into the life of other ancient lands of
Africa. Through the prism of Egypt, we can learn about Nubia, Kush, and Punt.
Carthage also left a rich culture behind, which still fascinates us with its stories
and its connections with the rest of the world, and thanks to several ancient
Roman, Greek, and Phoenician historians, we have a clear view of Carthaginian
heritage.
Other kingdoms, such as Aksum, Ghana, and Mali, have rich oral traditions that
can inspire our imagination. Unfortunately, the stories passed from generation to
generation can rarely be confirmed with historical evidence. They remain just
that, stories to be told at evening bonfires by the Berber peoples of Africa.
Luckily, the entrance of the Middle Ages brought about the Islamization of the
continent. With it, many geographers, historians, and explorers of the Arab
world showed interest in the African continent. They gathered witnesses who
told them about the distant cities and kingdoms, such as Ghana’s Koumbi Saleh
and Mali’s Timbuktu. They talked about the riches, about the trade routes of the
Sahara Desert, of the kings and queens sitting on their ebony thrones. If not for
the scholars of Islam, the history of West Africa would still be unknown to us
today.
However, it’s not only the lack of evidence that can be blamed for our poor
knowledge of Africa’s history. As the birthplace of the human race, Africa must
be understood so we can better understand ourselves. Unfortunately, the
archaeology of colonial times believed that the societies of ancient Africa were
not capable of producing anything interesting, and at the beginning,
archaeologists ignored Africa completely (except for Egypt and Carthage). Thus,
excessive research on the history of this continent is just starting. And as the
oldest settlement of humanity, Africa is very diverse, culturally rich, and
abundant with historical information. There is so much left to discover about the
first humans, their development, the first villages, cities, and kingdoms of
ancient Africa. In time, more information will be discovered, as we have barely
scratched the surface of the rich history of the African continent.
 Part 2: The Kingdom of Kush
A Captivating Guide to an Ancient African Kingdom in
Nubia That Once Ruled Egypt
Introduction
The Kingdom of Kush was completely forgotten once it met its end. The stories
of its might didn’t survive in the cultures of its successor kingdoms, possibly
because Christianization soon followed, which required the people of the Nubian
region to turn toward the east and the myths of the Christian messiah. There was
no more room for the divine rulers, Amun and Re, or a place for their sons, the
kings of Kush. The kingdom continued to exist in the stories of some classical
writers, but it was often considered as nothing more than a distant, probably
even imaginary, kingdom, where the uncivilized savages lived.
With the renewed interest in the classical arts of Greece and Rome, the
Renaissance rediscovered the existence of Kush. Still, it was not explored until
Napoleon’s expedition to Egypt in 1798. Even then, it was seen as a part of
Egyptian culture. The discoveries made by the 18 th - and 19 th -century explorers
proved there were, in fact, two separate cultures. However, this explanation was
greatly influenced by Darwinism. Scholars presented the entirety of Africa as a
place where civilized white men ruled over the “uncivilized negroes.” Kush was
no exception to them, and the general opinion was that Egypt ruled over the
uncivilized Kushites. Even the rule of the Twenty-Fifth Dynasty was observed as
nothing more than the less fortunate Kushites imitating the superior Egyptians.
It was not until the early 20 th century that the Kingdom of Kush received its
rightful place in history. When the first archaeological survey of Nubia took
place between 1907 and 1911, the distinctive cultural aspects of the Kingdom of
Kush emerged, and it was finally seen as a separate entity from Egypt. The
detailed chronology for the Kingdom of Kush was suggested, and archaeologists
from all over the world came to explore the uniqueness of the Middle Nile
Region. However, early modern archaeologists were greatly influenced by the
Renaissance opinion that the “Hamitic” civilization ruled over the uncivilized
African world, and this opinion was hard to change. Unfortunately, the lack of
funding and interest led to the neglect of the excavation sites in Nubia.
The extension of the Aswan Dam in the 1960s threatened to submerge a large
portion of the Nubian excavation sites under the water forever. To prevent this
from happening, UNESCO organized an archaeological expedition, whose
purpose was to preserve everything found between the First and Second
Cataracts of the Nile. During the UNESCO salvation period, over 1,000 new
excavation sites were found, and an enormous amount of archaeological work
was completed. This resulted in a change of opinion about the culture of the
Middle Nile Region. No longer were scholars indoctrinated by the Renaissance
view of the Kushites as “uncivilized negroes” ruled by superior Egyptians.
Finally, pragmatism won, and the real truth about the Kingdom of Kush and its
rulers saw the light of day. From the 1960s onward, the understanding and
recognition of the Kingdom of Kush began. The history of Kush could finally be
written.
Chapter 1 – Nubia and the Emergence of the
Kingdom of Kush

Kush in 700 BCE, at its maximum extent

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_of_Kush#/media/
File:Kushite_empire_700bc.jpg
Nubia, a region perhaps more mysterious than Egypt, tickles the imagination of
people around the world because it was misunderstood. Although it belonged to
Egypt at some points in history, it was never really an integral part of the ancient
kingdom. In fact, it was the birthplace of various civilizations, and modern
findings even suggest it was the birthplace of the first pharaohs and Egypt itself.
One of the most known kingdoms of Nubia is none other than the Kingdom of
Kush. To follow the origin of the Kingdom of Kush, we have to see what lies
deep beneath the Nubian sands, what was there before Egypt started spreading
its influence on the region (or was it vice versa?)
The region of Nubia lay south of Egypt, alongside the flow of the River Nile. It
occupied the whole Nile River Valley south of the Egyptian city of Aswan to the
capital of Sudan: Khartoum. It was at Aswan that the first shallow waters of the
great river flowed, and it was known as the First Cataract of the Nile. The First
Cataract doesn’t exist anymore, as the modern Aswan Dam now stands there.
The region of Nubia was also known as the Cataracts of the Nile, as there used
to be six shallows through which no boat was able to sail. Nubia itself was
divided into three parts: upper, middle, and lower. Lower Nubia was within
today’s borders of Egypt, and it occupied the territory from the First to the
Second Cataract. Middle Nubia lay between the Second and Third Cataracts,
while Upper Nubia spread over all the territories to the south from the Third
Cataract.
The name Nubia wasn’t in use during the Old or New Kingdoms of Egypt. It is
of much later date, and it came about when the Meroitic Kingdom fell (around
the 4 th century CE). Egyptians called this region Kush, while the Greeks referred
to it as Aethiopia (Ethiopia). However, it is important to remember that the
Greeks used this name for several regions of the African continent, as its
meaning, “The Land of the Burnt-Face,” not so subtly suggested that the area
was occupied by a dark-skinned population. The name Nubia came from the
nomadic Noba people who lived there after the Meroitic kingdom, around the 4
th
century BCE.
When prehistoric Egypt emerged as a political power in around 3500 BCE (give
or take a few centuries, as scholars cannot agree on the exact date), a civilization
already existed in the Nubian territory. They are labeled as the A-group culture,
and they had already developed trade with what was then Egypt. Around 3100
BCE, Egypt’s First Dynasty started a new era by uniting the kingdoms of Lower
and Upper Egypt. It seems that, at this point, Nubia was a part of the newly
unified kingdom, and some scholars even suggest the A-group culture influenced
the unification of the Nile Valley.
The people who settled in Nubia during prehistoric Egypt were a mixture of
ancient tribes of Sudan, the sub-Saharan regions, and even the regions to the
west. This mixture produced a unique culture, which would give birth to what is
known as the Egyptian and Nubian culture. However, the A-group peoples
disappeared from the region around the 28 th century BCE. It is speculated that
they were completely absorbed into the Egyptian lifestyle, for it seems that up
until 2500 BCE, Nubia was deserted. Another possibility is that it was occupied
by a much inferior culture, named the B-group, who left no trails in history.
However, in the 24 th century BCE, the emergence of the C-group started, and
archaeological findings prove that they were related to the A-group. It is
believed the C-group were the descendants of the A-group finally returning back
to the region, although it is also possible the A-group never even left. But the
culture of the Nubian region went through a renaissance period and returned to
its roots. They are known as the Kerma culture to scholars, as the center of their
civilization was in the kingdom’s capital city of Kerma.
During the Middle Kingdom of Egypt (2040–1640 BCE), the relations with the
Nubian Kerma civilization were mixed. There were certainly some armed
conflicts, as Egypt annexed some of the Nubian territories, but there were also
times of peaceful trade and cooperation. There is even evidence of
intermarriages and friendship between the two cultures. Egypt was always
interested in the territories of Lower Nubia because it was a gateway to the trade
with Upper Nubia and the exotic parts of Africa. The pharaohs of the Middle
Kingdom tried to gain control of the region both through war and through
diplomacy.
At first, the Kerma kingdom was thought to be just one of the small states that
occupied the Nile Valley at the time of the Middle Kingdom. However, later
findings proved that Kerma spread its influence on much larger territories. The
city of Kerma, in today’s Sudan, was thought to be the only archaeological site
of the Kerma culture. As the explorations continued to the south, toward what
was once Egypt’s border with the Nubian regions, scholars were surprised to
discover more Kerma settlements and graveyards.
The size of the Kerma territory proves that this civilization was an influential
political power in the region. No wonder they were of interest to Egypt. They
were both potential allies or possible enemies, and they were capable of rivaling
the pharaoh’s power. The Kerma kingdom even inspired the Egyptians to raise a
series of fortifications along their southern border, for example, such as those at
Buhen and Qubban in the Middle Nile Region. Whether these were used for
defense or for an attack remains unknown.
It is interesting that these Egyptian fortresses were also used as trade and culture
centers where both Egyptian and Nubian populations were involved in
businesses. This was probably due to the fact that gold routes from the mines of
the southern Nubian regions lay here, at the border of the two kingdoms. Egypt
needed the gold to continue flowing its way, and one of the best ways to secure
it was through peace. Some historians even suggest that the absorption of Lower
Nubia by Egypt was gradual and that the Kerma rulers were compliant. Others
suggest that it was the rising power of the rich middle class of Kerma that forced
Egypt’s hand to send military expeditions to the region.
The connection between Egypt and Nubia was constant, and the influence the
two cultures had on each other is evident. Both Egyptian and Nubian Kerma
rulers used very similar symbols to define their position. But it was during the
New Kingdom that the two cultures became almost indistinguishable. While the
texts of the early New Kingdom referred to the Nubian regions as Ta-Seti, the
“Curved Land” or the “Land of the Bow” (as people there were famous for their
archery skills), it was during Kerma’s declining years that the first mention of
Kush occurred. The Kerma people probably spoke the Kushite language, and it
is believed that they were the first founders of the Kingdom of Kush, or rather
that the Kushites rose out of the Kerma civilization. It was these Kushites who
fought Egypt’s attempt of annexation during the rule of Pharaoh Kamose
(around 1500 BCE) and his successor Ahmose I (1552–1527 BCE). The texts
the two pharaohs left behind are the first written source in which the Kerma
kingdom is referred to as Kush instead of Ta-Seti.
It is not known how the Kingdom of Kush got its name in the first place. To
Egyptians, it was always known as Ta-Seti, even before the Old Kingdom. But it
is unknown what the native name of Nubia was in prehistoric times. Maybe it
was always Kush or some version of this name, and Egypt started using its
native name when it recognized the importance of the region. The northernmost
region of Nubia, which bordered Egypt, was known as Wawat, or “Lower
Nubia,” while the alternative name for the region was Ta-Neshy, the “Land of
the Black People.” This is similar to the Greek Aethiopia, the “Land of the
Burnt-Face.” So, both Egyptians and Greeks recognized the indigenous people
of Nubia, but it is uncertain if these names referred to all of Nubia or only
certain parts.
Egypt’s annexation of the territories of Lower Nubia was successful, and it
continued to grab lands farther to the south under Pharaoh Amenhotep I (1525–
1504 BCE, disputed) and Thutmose (Tuthmosis) I (1506-1494 BCE). They
conquered Sai and Bugdumbush, the two major Kerma civilization centers
besides the city of Kerma. Finally, Egypt reached the gold mining areas of the
eastern desert, where the Korosko road met the Nile. The Korosko road was an
ancient land route that was used by the trade caravans to bypass the unassailable
waters of the Second, Third, and Fourth Cataracts of the Nile. During the rule of
Thutmose III (1479–1425 BCE), the full control of Nubia was established, and
Egypt extended all the way to the Fourth Cataract of the Nile. This, too, was a
gold-producing territory, and as such, it was very important to Egypt. There, at
the small mountain of Gebel Barkal, Thutmose III founded the southernmost
Egyptian city of Napata in around 1460 BCE.
The Nubian region under Egypt was overseen by a viceroy known as the “King’s
Sons.” This was just a title, as they were not actually related to the pharaoh,
though they might have been members of the royal family. During the reign of
Amenhotep II (1427–1401/1397 BCE), the title was changed to “King’s Sons of
Kush.” The viceroys were always chosen from the ranks of royal bureaucrats,
chariotry, or stable administrators. They were responsible for the people of
Nubia, and their main task was to collect taxes and tributes. The gold mines were
also under their watchful eyes, as they were directly responsible for the
production of gold. The viceroys had full command over the Nubian military
troops, but it seems there was a “battalion-commander of Kush” as well. This
means the viceroy probably only had the power to command the army if he
invoked his right. Otherwise, the command was in the hands of the battalion-
commander. Wawat (Lower Nubia) and Kush (Upper Nubia) had their own
deputy governors, who were appointed by the viceroy.
Nubia spent centuries under Egyptian rule, and it is no wonder the cultural
influence between the two regions was so deep. From the first occupation in the
Middle Kingdom until the end of the New Kingdom, the Kushite territories
underwent extensive building projects. Temples and monuments were erected to
celebrate the Egyptian gods and pharaohs. Even whole cities were founded by
the temple-cults, and gradually, they became economic centers. In Wawat, two
major cities sprouted as the residency for the deputy governors: Faras and Aniba.
Similar cities in Kush were Soleb and Amara. They were also military
settlements, and they quickly prospered and became the powerhouses of the
region’s economy.
The Nubian towns were surrounded by fertile lands, which the native population
extensively cultivated. But the land was not a possession of the people. It was
owned by the temples, pharaohs, members of the royal family, high-office
holders, and probably the wealthy locals, who were descendants of the
indigenous princes. The commoners only had the right to work the land,
probably for a percentage of the harvest.
Egyptian cults were responsible for wielding much influence over the Nubian
lands of Wawat and Kush. The temples, which were dedicated to gods such as
Horus, Amun-Re, and Ptah, were built all over the country. These cults were
closely tied with the worship of the pharaoh, who was seen as a divinity on
earth. Nubia also accepted the cults of Hathor and Isis, although in a slightly
changed and localized form. Pharaohs such as Thutmose III and Amenhotep III
erected temples in which they were worshiped as living rulers. This wasn’t an
uncommon practice, but it was new to Nubia. The peak of pharaoh worship
occurred during the rule of Ramesses II (1279–1212 BCE), who introduced the
monumental rock-cut temples in Nubia. Before this, rock was hauled from
different places. During Ramesses’s rule, the temples were directly cut into the
face of a small mountain or rock formation.
The level of Egyptianization the Nubian society went through greatly depended
on the social status of the individuals. The elite families were educated in
Egyptian schools, and after a few decades, they even started adopting Egyptian
names. When they died, they were buried according to the Egyptian tradition. It
is, in fact, the mortuary customs that inform us the most about the level of
Egyptianization the locals went through. Due to the material evidence found
around the dig sites, it was, at first, wrongly assumed the Nubian society as a
whole was integrated into Egyptian norms equally. However, the material
evidence only shows that the Egyptian economy was strong; thus, it would have
been normal for the locals to start using the items of the superior culture. So, it is
safer to rely on the burial customs, and they reveal quite a bit. The common
people of Nubia, both in the cities and in the countryside, lack the Egyptian
religious aspects in their mortuary customs. They did use Egyptian burial
equipment, but they also integrated their own customs and mortuary rights. This
is plainly evident through the lack of inscriptions of the names of the deceased,
as well as through the survival of the indigenous religion in the form of
iconography.
It seems the indigenous people of Nubia buried their dead, dedicating them to
the local goddess Nhsmks . She is never mentioned in the Egyptian religion, at
least according to evidence archaeologists have found so far. This is the main
problem with ancient religions, for much evidence still lies buried deep beneath
the ground. For now, the main belief is that the Nubian indigenous culture
survived alongside the newly introduced Egyptian one, at least among the
commoners.
The End of Egyptian Dominion
Egypt dominated Nubia for nearly five centuries (1550–1069 BCE), and it
successfully integrated the whole region under its administration. The extension
of the Egyptian kingdom’s territories was regarded as its royal duty, and every
pharaoh had to engage the neighboring kingdoms in a territorial war. It is
possible that was how Nubia came under Egypt’s dominion. But the extension
stopped at the Fourth Cataract of the Nile, and it seems as if the Egyptians lost
interest in further conquest. While there is strong evidence to suggest the
propaganda against the local kings in the far south, Egypt never took those
territories under its full control. This might be because the royal duties of
“conquering new territories” and “repulsing the enemies of the state” had not
been regarded as sacred since the rule of Ramesses III (1186–1154 BCE).
Even though Nubia was well assimilated into the Egyptian culture, especially the
elite descendants of the indigenous rulers, the territory experienced a good deal
of rebellions. There are records of numerous uprisings occurring between 1401
and 1186. There is no evidence that suggests the cause for these rebellions, but
there were military conflicts in Nubian territory under almost every ruler until
the Twentieth Dynasty. Modern scholars suggest the reason for some of the
conflicts might be that the Nubians were reluctant to lose their control over the
gold-producing areas.
At the end of the Twentieth Dynasty, Egypt withdrew from Upper Nubia,
leaving the control of Napata and other economic centers of the south in the
hands of indigenous rulers. Even though the Egyptian presence diminished, that
doesn’t mean Upper Nubia gained its independence. It seems that local rulers of
Nubia were not treated as Egypt’s vassals, unlike the Libyan and Puntite princes.
Some believe that Egypt’s withdrawal wasn’t a sudden decision of a pharaoh but
rather a gradual process. According to this theory, it was Ramesses III who
retreated toward the north, creating a new southern border at Kawa. After
Ramesses IV (1144–1136 BCE), Egypt withdrew even farther north.
However, there is evidence that the regions were still under viceroyalty power
even during the reign of Ramesses IX (1125–1107). In his tomb, there is a
depiction of Nubians bringing tribute and even granting agricultural land to the
pharaoh. This means that, even though the Egyptian grasp over Nubia was still
in place, it was very weak and about to collapse. During the reign of Ramesses
IX, the Egyptian territories in Nubia extended only up until the Second Cataract,
where the ruins of the Egyptian settlement of Buhen can still be found.
But it remains unknown if Egypt retreated peacefully or due to the aggression of
the indigenous people. Even more confusion is raised due to the fact Egypt
withdrew from Palestine at the same time. This leads one to the conclusion that
the political and economic power of the late Twentieth Dynasty was declining.
With it, the weakening of the central government came, and it was only a matter
of time before the surviving indigenous socio-political structure returned to
Nubia.
There is very strong written evidence of a civil war occurring in the region
around the city of Thebes. The conflict erupted between Pinehesy, Viceroy of
Kush, and Amenhotep, the High Priest of Amun of Thebes. The reason for the
conflict is unknown, but it seems that the high priest was agitated by Pinehesy’s
quick rise to power. Pinehesy was given control over the military and the royal
granaries, which were symbols of political and economic power. Until that point,
they had been in the hands of Amenhotep. The conflict greatly escalated when
Pinehesy’s troops started looting the temples of Thebes, which they were
supposed to protect. The viceroy enjoyed the control he had over the Nubian
region, and his actions created the sense as if Upper and Middle Egypt were
occupied.
Amenhotep complained to Pharaoh Ramesses XI and gained his protection
against Pinehesy. The king ordered the viceroy to move his troops out of Thebes,
but Pinehesy revolted and started a rebellion, which caused the whole region to
suffer war, famine, and various atrocities committed by the military troops. In
the nineteenth year of Ramesses XI’s reign, Pinehesy was forced to retreat to
Lower Nubia, where he started ruling as an independent king in around 1071
BCE.
El-Kurru and the Unification of the Successor Kingdoms

A 4 th century BCE pyramid in El-Kurru

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El-Kurru#/media/File:Al-Kurru,main_pyramid.jpg
The development of events between the 11 th and 8 th centuries BCE remains
obscure, but they are still important to understand how the Kingdom of Kush
emerged. Egypt’s withdrawal from the southern Nubian territories may have
been connected with the story of the rebellious Viceroy Pinehesy, who became
the ruler of the territories beyond the Second Cataract. Even though Egypt
returned and asserted control over the gold mines in the area after his death, it
never managed to completely annex Nubia again.
The reemergence of the native political system was possible because Egypt
never fully implemented a colonial system in the territory of Nubia. Instead, they
allowed the indigenous administration to coexist with the Egyptian one. Egypt
was only interested in controlling the religious centers and the elite, so the
substructure of the social life was left in the hands of the local people. This
indigenous structure was based on a political system of chiefdoms, and their
existence is proved by the lack of Egyptian funerary customs in the burial sites
of the middle and lower social classes.
Because the temple cities were the remnants of Egyptian control over the region,
they were the first to collapse once the indigenous political system reemerged.
But this doesn’t mean the area became depopulated, as it was previously
thought. Instead, a new system of smaller political entities emerged. Each
individual of the Nubian elite could grab a piece of power for himself and gather
followers. They were well educated and had experience in administration, as
they were an integral part of the Egyptian rule. A number of these elites grabbed
control of an area and started their own states, known as the successor states to
the Egyptian rule in Nubia.
Even though the leading elite had experience in administration, they did not
manage to keep the same level of economic and social organization structures. In
fact, the successor states relapsed into less-developed societies, relying on
limited local resources. At the same time, literacy levels dropped, as the
Egyptian professional class left the region. This lack of literacy caused a relapse
to primitive forms of the political administration.
The fragmented successor states couldn’t survive on their own, as some
controlled the fertile lands that could feed the population, while others controlled
the gold mines. But each was a victim of constant attacks by the various
neighboring tribes, which saw an opportunity to assert their own control in the
region. It seems that the unification of the successor states was necessary in
order for the Kushites to survive. Egypt continued its efforts to impose control
over Nubia once again, and its military campaigns were the perfect political
background for Nubian unification.
In the region between the Fourth and Fifth Cataracts of the Nile, the El-Kurru
chiefdom controlled the gold mines. But it wasn’t only the gold mines that gave
this chiefdom an advantage. Geographically, their territory was right on the
caravan route between Abu Hamed, which was an important trade center, and
Lower Nubia. They also had access to roads that led to Butana and farther into
the deep interior of the African continent.
El-Kurru is a large necropolis that was discovered near today’s Kurru village.
Under this village, there lies the whole ancient city of El-Kurru; however, it
remains unexcavated because of its location directly under the living village. The
necropolis used to be the main burial place of the Egyptian Twenty-Fifth
Dynasty, which was founded by the Kushite rulers. However, some of the
remains discovered suggest that kings from as early as the Eighteenth and
Nineteenth Dynasties were buried here.
After the end of Egypt’s dominion over the region, it seems that El-Kurru took
over the role of the capital city, which used to belong to the Egyptian Napata (15
kilometers, or nine miles, to the north of El-Kurru). Egyptian sources mention
that Karoy was the southernmost city under their control, so perhaps they were
referring to El-Kurru. The form Kurru was either derived from the Egyptian
Karoy or had completely indigenous origins.
The burial places of the El-Kurru necropolis that were dated to the earliest
periods of Egyptian rule contain no Egyptized features. These purely indigenous
mortuary rites strongly resemble the Kerma C-group culture. The items found
were dated to various years between 2200 and 1550 BCE. This proves that the
indigenous social system coexisted with the Egyptians during the centuries of
their dominion. The bodies discovered in the earliest tombs were positioned on
beds, which was the practice of the Kerma culture before its fall under Egypt.
Later tombs display a profound turn toward the Egyptian culture. The change
was religious as well as archaeological, as the tombs changed shapes and cult
practices. More and more Egyptian items were found in the niches around the
main tomb, and there was no bed for the body of the deceased. Tombs became
sacral places tightly bound to the cult of worshiping the ruler. As such, they were
closed, and people had no access to them.
The first name that appears in the written sources of Egypt, as well as in the
tomb in El-Kurru, is Alara. He is believed to be the first prince and the founder
of the dynasty that would rule not only the Kingdom of Kush but also start the
Twenty-Fifth Dynasty of Egypt. His name was first discovered on a stela
dedicated to his daughter, Queen Tabiry, the wife of Piye (747–716 BCE).
Even though Alara’s name is written without a title on Tabiry’s stelae, he is
mentioned in the royal ring (cartouche); therefore, he was given royal status. It
seems that his reign was very long, as later kings would make a reference of
wishing their reign was as long as that of Alara’s. Traditionally, his reign is
considered to be between 780 and 760 BCE; however, there is no strong
evidence to confirm this. Later written sources give him various titles, and it is
hard to discern if these were used to prove the legitimacy of the dynasty or were
his actual titles. He is referred to as both “chieftain” and “king.” In one of the
inscriptions found at the temple in Kawa, he even carries the title “son of Re.”
Alara renewed the importance of the city of Napata as the religious center.
There, the temple of Amun-Re functioned during his rule, and his sister was
ordained in that temple. This is clearly the sign of the El-Kurru chiefdom turning
toward and fully accepting Egyptian religion. They established the cult of Amun
and the concept of this god as the source of royal power. The sources found in
Kawa also mention that Alara had to fight off opponents who challenged his
legitimacy and the Egyptianization of the chiefdom. But Alara found powerful
ideology in the Egyptian religion, as it helped him establish himself as the
ultimate ruler. It was this ideology that allowed him to create a new socio-
economic structure and form the Kingdom of Kush.
Chapter 2 – From Alara to the Twenty-Fifth Dynasty
Alara was succeeded by Kashta, who was probably his brother. The written
evidence is insufficient to claim the relationship between the two kings, and
even their regnal years remain unknown. But there is strong evidence that
Kashta was the father of the next king: Piye. Since we know Piye ruled from 747
to 716 BCE, we can hypothesize the ruling years of the previous two kings. It is
believed that Alara ruled somewhere between 780 and 860 and Kashta between
760 and 747/4 BCE.
During the reign of Kashta, the authority of the Kingdom of Kush extended from
the Butana region in the south to Lower Nubia in the north. This suggests that
the kingdom was already a very complex state. The Egyptian religion was
already adopted, and the official Nubian cult of Amun was established. Both
Alara and Kashta most likely married their sisters, but this is debatable. It is
possible the marriages, if they even took place, were of a sacred nature. Alara
elevated his sister to the position of a priestess of Amun to create a system of
royal succession and to implement the idea of rulers being divine in the minds of
the people. This way, the Kushite tradition of succession was similar to the
already existing Egyptian one. With it came the concept of kingship and the role
of a sister, who was the bride of Amun. Since Amun was a symbol of kingship,
it is easy to mistake the marriage to Amun with a marriage to the king.
However, the question remains: why did the Kushites go back to Egyptian
traditions after enjoying centuries of independence? The simplest answer lies in
the geographical position of the newly established Kingdom of Kush. Since it
lay on very important trade routes and produced much gold, Egypt was
constantly interested in Kush. Scholars theorize that by allowing Egyptianization
once more, the Kushite kings avoided being conquered directly. Through careful
diplomacy, they managed to keep their independence, even if it meant adopting
their northern neighbor’s cultural and religious practices. Trade agreements
brought about numerous Egyptian items for everyday use in Kushite lives. This
meant the Kush had constant contact with Thebes, from which it slowly adopted
the Egyptian religion and the cult of Amun.
Egypt continued to consider Nubia its tributary state, and some conflict
occurred, as they expected a yearly tribute payment. When the Kushite kings
failed to deliver, the Egyptians would send military expeditions to seize the
expected tribute. Egypt even kept the title of viceroy of Kush until 750 BCE,
even though it wasn’t a formal office. It was, in fact, limited to administering the
areas of Lower Nubia, such as Thebes and Elephantine. But the disappearance of
the viceregal office came about during the rule of King Kashta. The stela found
in the Khnum (or Chnum) temple describes Kashta as the “King of Upper and
Lower Egypt” and “Son of Re, Lord of Two Lands.” The name Kashta can be
translated as “The Kushite,” and it is quite probable the king adopted this name
once he started ruling in Egypt.
But what happened to the Egyptian rulers, and how did the king of Kush take
over the rule seemingly without effort? Since the middle of the 8 th century,
Egypt underwent a process of fragmentation. Even though the official ruler was
Smendes’s Twenty-First Dynasty (1077/1076–1052 BCE), High Priest of Amun
Herihor’s descendants rose to power as the regents of Middle and Upper Egypt.
Since each party had its own followers, the kingdom was divided between the
pharaoh and the high priests, who also took royal titles in order to rule the lands.
To mend the wounds of the political divide, the royal family agreed to transfer
power to Libyan chiefs through official marriages. The Twenty-Second Dynasty
was founded by the Libyan men who possessed high-ranking offices in the
Egyptian court and were allowed to marry into the royal family.
Even though nothing changed in the administrative structure of the kingdom,
Libyans brought changes to the social structure of the Egyptians. They valued
ancestry, descent, and belonging to the clan. These values continued to shake the
very foundations of Egypt’s centralized bureaucratic system. In fact, over the
next two centuries, decentralization became a type of government. The clans or
leading families were given much more political influence, and individuals
started rising to power, especially in Lower Egypt. The Western Delta of the
Nile was dominated by the Libyan chiefs as well, while the Eastern Delta
belonged to the remaining two branches of the Twenty-Second Dynasty’s family
members.
Even though the state was politically fragmented, it did not fall into chaos.
Everyday life for a commoner continued, and the old quarrels with neighbors
had to be maintained. In fact, Egypt was based on a model of polyarchy,
meaning the different powerful leaders divided the rule between themselves.
With it, the administration was divided, diminishing the centralized state. But the
fragmentation didn’t bother Egypt’s economy. It seems that decentralization
allowed each region to develop separately from the others, and the economy
thrived everywhere.
However, this system of polyarchy couldn’t last for long. Sooner or later, there
would be an individual wanting all the power for himself. In around 836 BCE,
the remaining members of the Twenty-Second Dynasty were expelled from
Thebes, where they ruled, and the Twenty-Third Dynasty started a civil war.
Through conflict, they gained full control of Upper Egypt. To secure the
legitimacy of the new royal line, they installed Shepenwepet I, the daughter of
Pharaoh Osorkon III, as the God’s Wife of Amun. This title would prove to be
very important for the peaceful transition of Egypt into the hands of the Kushite
kings.
To keep the ideology of national unity, even during the time of the division of
Egypt into a polyarchy, the new office of Divine Adoratrice of God’s Wife of
Amun of Thebes was introduced. People needed to believe that the kingship was
still sacred and that the unity of the whole nation came from the coexistence and
coregency of the god Amun, the pharaoh, and the high priest. The installation of
the God’s Wife had a purpose of legitimizing the succession, as she was seen as
the mother of the king, who was the son of a god. The title of God’s Wife of
Amun was reserved for the royal princess, and she would take up the role of the
main priestess of the Amun cult. The title brought legitimacy to her family, as
well as to the control over Thebes and its surroundings.
Shepenwepet I was the only “God’s Wife of Amun of Thebes” who was also a
ruler. She controlled all of Upper Egypt, which was considered the realm of
Amun. Instead of settling for the non-ruling title of queen, she adopted the
names “Lord of Two Lands” and “Lord of Appearances.” But due to the
diplomatic relations, Shepenwepet had to adopt the daughter of a Kushite king
into her office of God’s Wife. Amenirdis, the daughter of King Kashta, became
the presumptive Divine Adoratrice, the one who would inherit the titles from
Shepenwepet I. This diplomatic tactic secured Kashta with the means to take
over the territories in Egypt without open conflict.
There is no written or archaeological evidence that proves there were violent
conflict moments before Kashta’s takeover of Egypt. In fact, there is more
evidence to support the theory of a peaceful transition to Kushite rule. The
descendants of Pharaoh Osorkon III, Takelot III, and Rudamun continued to live
freely in Thebes. Even more, they were of high social status, and once they died,
they were buried with honors. If they were the enemies of Kashta, the Kushite
king would not allow them any honors. The members of the Twenty-Third
Dynasty continued to live and prosper peacefully under the Kushite rule. This
can only be explained by the decision Rudamun made, which was to withdraw
from Thebes to Heracleopolis and rule there, even if this city was already under
the control of Thebes.
All of the evidence supports the idea of a peaceful transition of the rule. The
previous ruler retreated without conflict, securing his family members’ high
social status. The installation of Amenirdis I as the Divine Adoratrice may have
been just a formality to legitimize this transition of power, but it may also have
started it. But what actually triggered the Egyptian rulers to hand down all their
power to the Kushite king? There is a hypothesis that Egypt faced a serious
threat from their western neighbors, the Libyan chiefs, who sought to extend
their territories. However, to the south of Egypt, a new force came to power: the
Kingdom of Kush. Egypt was suddenly in between two potential invaders, and
its only solution was to turn to the more peaceful neighbor as an ally. Egypt
made the alliance with the Kingdom of Kush in order to fight off the Libyans.
But the price was very high, as it cost the Egyptians their kingdom.
To support this hypothesis, there are remains of Kushite garrisons in Egypt that
date from Kashta’s reign. They were positioned to protect Egypt from an attack
from the west. After the danger passed, they continued to function, probably to
assert Kashta’s authority in the region. It seems that it wasn’t the pharaohs of the
Twenty-Third Dynasty who came up with the idea of handing the rule over to
the Kushites. It was the powerful priesthood of Amun who saw it as the only
solution to the country’s problem, and they forced it upon their kings. To
promote Kashta as a ruler, he was given the title “The Possessor of Truth,”
which was modeled on the Twelfth Dynasty, the dynasty that restored order to
the state. By bearing their titles, the priesthood wanted to make a connection
between the king of Kush and order, which would please the people of Egypt.
Kashta was now represented as the king who would bring peace and prosperity
to his subjects, and thus, the transition of power was smooth.
Whatever written sources we have that date from the period of Kashta’s rule are
not enough to gain an insight into what the political and social systems of both
Kush and Egypt were like. Even in Napata, the remains that date to this period
remain unexcavated. We can only hazard a guess that it was the political
contacts Kashta had with Egypt before he became pharaoh that brought about the
quick Egyptianization of the Kushite elite families. The newly created necropolis
in Butana (the southern regions of Kush) offers evidence for the switch to
Egyptian culture. The archaeological remains also prove the introduction of the
Egyptian tradition of coffin burials. The many Egyptian items found in the
necropolis likewise speak as proof of the adoption of Egyptianized mortuary
rights.
These changes were also introduced to the old necropolis at El-Kurru. However,
in El-Kurru, we can find even more proof of quick Egyptianization. The temples
built for the newly introduced cults were in the Egyptian style, and they
employed the professional personnel of the Theban Amun cult temples. The
newly established temples became cultural centers from which the
Egyptianization of native cults spread over the Kingdom of Kush. They brought
Egyptian scripture to the Kushites, which became the main means of articulation
for the ideology of kingship and religion. The progressive Egyptianization of the
Kingdom of Kush doesn’t necessarily mean a quick end of the native culture. In
fact, the indigenous structures and items were tolerated, and the two cultures
peacefully coexisted for quite some time.
King Piye (747–716 BCE)
King Kashta died in around 747 and was buried in El-Kurru, according to the
Egyptian traditions. He was succeeded by Piye, who continued the Kushite
policy of Egyptianization. The new king assumed the titles that belonged to
Pharaoh Thutmose III of the Eighteenth Dynasty (1479–1425 BCE). He did this
in order to bind himself to the already known system of Egyptian kingship and to
prepare the society for a change, as he decided to move his capital from Thebes
to Napata. This is strongly suggested by the title Thutmose III assumed, “The
Strong Bull Appearing in Thebes,” which Piye changed to “The Strong Bull
Appearing in Napata.”
Another symbolic reason for adopting the titles that belonged to Thutmose III is
that this particular pharaoh managed to conquer the lands of Kush during his last
regnal years. And now, Piye was the one who was conquering Egypt.
In Piye’s third regnal year, a monument with a very important inscription was
erected in Napata. It is known as the Sandstone Stela of the Amun temple, and it
contains the king’s speech, in which he pronounces himself a legitimate ruler of
Egypt and the overlord of all the princes and chiefs who occupied his state. He
acknowledged the sacred need of tradition to expand the lands he ruled, but he
also accepted the status quo of Egypt’s contemporary political scene. Egypt was
ruled by various chiefs, and Piye was willing to tolerate them as long as they
acknowledged his supremacy and paid him tribute.
In his fourth regnal year, Piye traveled to Thebes to bring the offerings to a god,
probably Amun. There, he took part in the Opet ritual, which was performed to
renew someone’s rule. Since Piye did this ritual in the presence of his army, it is
presumed he was in conflict with some of the Theban rulers and that he ended
this conflict with a victory. It is also possible that Piye came to help defend
Thebes, which was under attack by the western chiefs who sought to expand
their territories. It is already known that the enemy of Thebes at that time was
Osorkon of Sais, who started expanding his domain of influence in 750 BCE.
There are no records of Piye for the next fifteen years, so it is not known how the
Kushite king reacted to the Assyrian threat on Lower Egypt from 744 until 732
BCE. At that time, Neo-Assyrian ruler Tiglath-Pileser III conquered almost the
whole known world, reaching as far as Gaza, where he appointed a chief,
Idibi'ilu of an Arab tribe, to the position of “Gatekeeper of Egypt.” This
appointment was a sign that the Assyrian king recognized Egypt as a threat and
that his vassals were ready to defend Assyrian interest in Palestine. However, no
Egyptian sources survive to inform us of Piye’s reaction to these events.
It seems that Piye’s double kingdom (Kush and Middle Egypt) went through a
series of changes that strengthened military, economic, and social power. The
cultural integration between the two halves of the kingdom continued
undisrupted, and Kush went on with its intention to accept all aspects of the
Egyptian culture, from religion and mortuary rights to art, literacy, and everyday
life. The kingdom was politically very stable and was ready to face the coalition
that rose in the west of Egypt. There, Tefnakht, Prince of Sais, gathered allies
and proclaimed himself the “Great Chief of the West.” Tefnakht took over
Memphis, which Piye did not protest. In fact, Piye recognized the domain of the
western prince until he learned about the coalition between Tefnakht of Sais and
the king of Hermopolis. Their plan was to attack Heracleopolis, a city that stood
between Piye’s Middle Egypt and the Western Delta.
Taking this city would be a direct threat to Piye’s rule, and even though he didn’t
react when the coalition forces took over Heracleopolis, he couldn’t allow them
to subdue the chiefs of the surrounding areas, as this would give them too much
power. To stop them, Piye sent the Kushite army stationed in Thebes to attack
Hermopolis, where Nimlot ruled. The two armies first clashed at Heracleopolis,
in which Tefnakht lost the battle and retired to Hermopolis. Then the Kushites
besieged the city, and Piye took over personal control of his army.
Nimlot of Hermopolis surrendered, and Piye managed to enter the city in
triumph. There, he received the surrender of local chiefs, whose territories
opened the way to Memphis. After a brief siege, Memphis also fell, and Piye’s
reign was confirmed there in the sanctuary of the god Ptah. Again, more local
chiefs came to submit to the Kushite king, among them the hereditary prince of
Heliopolis, Peteese. Yet again, his kingship had to be reaffirmed, this time in the
sanctuary of Re in Heliopolis. This means that Piye’s rule was affirmed by the
three major gods of Egypt: Amun, Ptah, and Re. As he progressed toward the
east, more chiefs submitted to his rule; according to the written sources, there
was a total of fifteen. Among them were the descendants of the previous rulers,
such as Iuput II of the Twenty-Third Dynasty, whose ancestors ruled
Leontopolis.
Tefnakht fled Memphis before Piye captured it, and he found shelter in the
Northern Delta of the Nile. He sent a diplomatic envoy to negotiate with the
Kushite king, through whom he recognized Piye as overlord. However, his
surrender was only temporary. Tefnakht managed to retain independence for his
region in the Western Delta, and as soon as Piye left northern Egypt for Napata,
he assumed a royal title, calling himself King Shepsesre Tefnakht I.
Piye conquered the northern parts of Egypt, but he didn’t set up his own
administration there. Instead, he reinstalled the rulers in the conquered cities
who swore allegiance to him: Iuput II in Leontopolis, Peftjauawybast in
Heracleopolis, Osorkon II in Tanis, and Nimlot in Hermopolis. Piye erected the
Triumph Stela to celebrate his conquest, and according to the written text, he
only allowed Nimlot to enter his palace and speak with the king. The other three
rulers were considered impure, for the stela describes them as uncircumcised and
fish-eaters. This means they were religiously impure and unable to see the face
of the pharaoh because they belonged to the line of Libyan chiefs.
Piye’s supreme kingship in Egypt was confirmed by three different deities, and
the unification of the north and south of the kingdom occurred. The Kushite king
now took the title of “King of Upper and Lower Egypt.” As such, he was the
founder of the Twenty-Fifth Dynasty. His descendants would continue the rule
over the united double kingdoms of Kush and Egypt. But there is no evidence
that Piye ever visited northern Egypt again. It seems he remained in Napata
while leaving the administration of Thebes to God’s Wife Amenirdis I, who now
adopted Piye’s daughter, Shepenwepet II, as the future Divine Adoratrice.
When King Piye died, his remains were transferred to the royal tomb in El-
Kurru. He was buried in the first Egyptian pyramid built in this region, and its
style was based on the pyramids of the New Kingdom and the pyramids of
previous viceroys of Kush. It had very steep sides, and the burial niche closely
follows all of the Egyptian mortuary rights. It is safe to presume that by the time
Piye died, the Egyptianization of Kush was completed.
Chapter 3 – The Rulers of the Twenty-Fifth Dynasty
Shebitqo and Shabaqo

Surviving Portrait of Shebitqo

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shebitku#/media/
File:Shabatka_portrait,_Aswan_Nubian_museum.jpg
By the year 720 BCE, Assyria, under the rule of Sargon II, conquered Samaria
and Transjordania and was approaching the Nile Delta, where Piye’s rule was
almost at an end. King Osorkon IV of Tanis was under an immediate threat of an
Assyrian invasion, as their army was stationed only 120 miles from Tanis.
Osorkon IV was forced to send gifts to Sargon II and try the diplomatic way of
preserving his rule. Piye died in 716 BCE, leaving the double kingdom in the
hands of his successor: Shebitqo (716–702 BCE). However, the kingdom was
again facing turmoil, as the Tefnakht’s descendant, Bakenranef, continued the
ambitious policy of expanding the territory of Sais. The only way to deal with
the increasing tensions in the north was to move the capital from Kush’s Napata
to Egypt’s Memphis.
However, it turned out that Bakenranef wasn’t difficult to deal with. Shebitqo
managed to crush his forces and kill the king of Sais within the first two years of
his reign. In the next four years, the Kushite king managed to capture all of Sais,
as well as the region of Pharbaitos, where he restored the security of the
kingdom’s border. Although the Kushite kings were leaning toward the old
centralized government of Egypt, they realized the dangers the kingdom
fragmenting if any of the local dynasties happened to grab too much power. This
is why the Kushite pharaohs decided to allow local dynasties to exist under the
authority of a governor.
At this point, Shebitqo only had to deal with Assyria, and it seems he was lucky
in that political field too. In around 712 BCE, Iamani, the ruler of Ashdod (a city
in Israel), rebelled against Sargon II, and it seems he wanted Egypt’s
collaboration. To negotiate the possible alliance with Shebitqo, Iamani sent him
gifts. However, the alliance never occurred, and the Kushite king never sent
military help to Ashdod. Instead, Iamani fled once the Assyrians approached,
and he was received as an asylum seeker in Shebitqo’s court. There, he stayed
for some time, but as soon as Assyria represented a serious threat to Egypt,
Shebitqo extradited Imani to preserve the good relations with the superior
empire. But there is some evidence that supports the hypothesis that during
Imani’s time at Shebitqo’s court, it was Shebitqo’s successor, Shabaqo, who
delivered the ruler of Ashdod to Sargon II.
Now that the double kingdom had entered a period of peace, Shebitqo
concentrated on the neglected Egyptian royal custom of building temples.
However, his goal wasn’t only to culturally and religiously enrich his state. He
wanted to consolidate the Twenty-Fifth Dynasty’s power over the kingdom
through the installation of royal cults all over the country. The dynasty already
had its legitimacy guaranteed by the God’s Wife of Amun, Shepenwepet II, but
Shebitqo felt the need to elevate his own son, Haremakhet, to the position of
High Priest of Amun of Thebes. This title had fallen into oblivion half a century
earlier, and through the installation of the pharaoh’s son, it was resurrected and
made hereditary. It is possible that Shebitqo had no daughters to elevate to the
position of Divine Adoratrice, and to confirm the legitimacy of his rule, he
reopened the institution of the High Priest of Amun.
Shebitqo also needed to confirm his legitimacy because he succeeded Piye
according to the Kushite collateral succession rights, as he was more than likely
the brother of the previous king. But this wasn’t the patrilineal succession model
recognized in Egypt, and therefore, he needed to legitimize his kingship. In the
next years of Shebitqo’s rule, he introduced Kushite priests to Thebes. The new
appointments, such as the Fourth Prophet of Amun and Mayor of Thebes,
allowed Kushite dignitaries to enter the high social circles of Egypt.
Intermarriages naturally followed, and Thebes became the center of Nubian and
Egyptian social life.
Although Shebitqo moved the capital to Memphis, temple building didn’t occur
there. This is probably because the move was pushed by military needs. But
something else was happening in this city on a cultural scale. As a new capital,
Memphis needed to be connected to the kingship, and thus, new myths about the
region were created. Memphis was now seen as the birthplace of the pharaohs
and the original place of the creation of the whole world. The Shabaqo Stone, an
Egyptian relic from Memphis, describes the creation of the world by the god
Ptah. As a patron of artists and craftsmen, Ptah was the ultimate creator who
crafted the whole universe and life in it. This part of the text of the Shabaqo
Stone is known as the “Memphite Theology.”
Shebitqo died in his new capital after fifteen years of rule. Like his predecessors,
he was buried at El-Kurru in the Kingdom of Kush. His successor was his son,
Shabaqo (702–690 BCE), who is famous for his clash with the Assyrian Empire.
It occurred shortly after the new king’s coronation. The army of Kush was
summoned and placed under the command of Taharqo, who would succeed
Shabaqo. It is speculated that the new king had no male offspring, so he decided
to elevate Taharqo to the position of his heir apparent. The Egyptian tradition
says the crown prince was to take control of the kingdom’s expeditionary army,
and Shabaqo proclaimed him the commander-in-chief accordingly.
By 704 and 703 BCE, a coalition between the Phoenicians and Philistines
against the Assyrian Empire already existed, and it seems Shabaqo decided to
support this alliance. He sent his army to meet the forces of Sennacherib, the
successor of Sargon II. The battle occurred probably around 701 BCE at Eltekeh
(Israel), and the Egyptian-Kushites, under the leadership of their crown prince,
were beaten. However, this battle could be interpreted as an Egyptian-Kushite
victory even though the army was destroyed. This is due to the fact that
Sennacherib retreated to Philistia after this battle, and Shabaqo continued to
peacefully rule until the end of his days.
Scholars couldn’t agree for quite some time whether Shabaqo or Shebitqo ruled
first. This is because the carbon-dating of the items belonging to the two kings
gave approximately the same results. After all, they ruled in a short span of time.
So, scholars had to turn to written sources to solve this dilemma. In the past, it
was believed that Shabaqo ruled before Shebitqo; however, modern findings
seem to favor the opposite theory. One of these findings is the depiction of
Shepenwepet I, God’s Wife of Amun, performing the religious rites in the Amun
temple. This depiction was created during the rule of Shebitqo, while the ones
with similar scenes that contain the rites performed by Amenirdis I were created
during the rule of Shabaqo. From the textual evidence, we know Shepenwepet I
was the God’s Wife of Amun before Amenirdis; therefore, it is only logical to
conclude that Shebitqo ruled before Shabaqo.
Another piece of evidence that would speak in favor of the Shebitqo-Shabaqo
rule is the shape of the tombs they were buried in. While they are stylistically
common for Egypt of that period, the one in which Shebitqo was buried looks
closer to the tomb of Piye. Shabaqo’s tomb, on the other hand, looks much like
Taharqo’s, the tomb of his successor. This is a clear indication that the styles
changed over time, and within just a few generations, the differences could be
seen.
Taharqo

Taharqo depicted as a sphinx

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2e/SphinxOfTaharqa.jpg
Like his predecessors of Kushite origin, Shabaqo was buried in El-Kurru.
Taharqo became the king of the double kingdom, and he was crowned in
Memphis in 690 BCE. As his predecessors had no male hairs of mature age,
Taharqo, the son of Piye, was chosen to rule. In Egypt, it wasn’t unheard of to
have a child pharaoh, and Shabaqo did have a younger brother named
Tanwetamani (Tantamani) who he could have installed as the heir apparent
instead of Taharqo. However, it seems the immediate danger of a war with the
Assyrian Empire led to the decision of a mature prince taking the throne. At the
time, Tanwetamani was just an infant, and he couldn’t lead the army. Also,
Taharqo was the son of Piye, a king who had united the north and south of the
Egyptian kingdom.
In the first seventeen years, Taharqo ruled in peace, and he was able to bring
prosperity to the double kingdom. Trade continued to bloom, and the economy
got stronger. The construction of new temples was the main cultural occupation
of the kingdom at the time, and they were erected both in Kush and Egypt. But
all the building activities were concentrated in the cities, which were the
administrative centers of the region. This means the new king sought to
consolidate a centralized government. The scale of the building projects in
Memphis and Thebes was monumental. Even timber, such as cedar, juniper, and
acacia, which are of Asian origin, was introduced. This speaks of the possible
opening of new trade routes and the economic power of the double kingdom.
Special attention was given to building new temples in Napata, which resembled
the old ones in Karnak. The sacred mountain Gebel Barkal, with its ninety-meter
high cliffs that hang above the Nile, was perfect for erecting new, curiously
shaped temples dedicated to Amun. After all, it was said this god lived at the top
of the mountain, and so, it was only natural to build a temple at its foot. There,
Taharqo carved a separate small inner chamber that contained his cartouche
titles and a text dedicated to a triumph (however, it is unreadable today).
Besides temple building in Napata, Taharqo dedicated the first years of his reign
to developing urban centers all over the Kushite territories. These renewed towns
in Kush served as local centers of government. They were the production and
redistribution points of items, which were sent all over the double kingdom.
They had the traditional form of the temple-towns with a newly added socio-
economic role based on the temple-towns of the New Kingdom of Egypt.
However, Taharqo didn’t simply build new towns. Instead, he worked on
renewing the existing ones and repopulating those towns that had been
abandoned during the reigns of his predecessors.
One of the scripts from Kawa mentioned the Libyan donation of children,
servants, and cult items, which indicates Taharqo sent military expeditions to the
western border of his kingdom and to the Levant, probably as far as the
Phoenician coast. While the donation of Libyan servants is a clear sign of
warfare, some of the items on the list might have been diplomatic gifts from the
Philistine cities, such as various cultural objects. There are also signs of trade
contracts with Assyria, as the sources from Nineveh (an Assyrian city in today’s
Iraq) mention the importation of the Kushite chariots and horses.
A statue of Pharaoh Taharqo discovered in Karnak has a text engraved on it that
lists all of the conquered territories, which are mostly known Asiatic
principalities in Egypt, but it also includes a list of conquered peoples, such as
Libyans, Shasu nomadic people, and possibly Phoenicians. Egypt probably
renewed its presence in the Levant due to Assyria being too busy fighting a war
with Babylon. A stela was found on the road between Memphis and Fayoum,
which describes how Pharaoh Taharqo ordered its army to practice long-distance
running, while he followed his racing soldiers in a chariot. This inscription
proves that the king had a close relationship with his army and that he paid close
interest in its training and organization. The Twenty-Fifth Dynasty brought
about the view that soldiering was a divine profession. The religious connotation
given to the army lasted at least as long as the reign of Piye, but it is possible
that it was a Kushite tradition brought to Egypt. In the Kushite tradition, the king
was seen as an ideal athlete and hero, whose war achievements were unmatched.
The double kingdom under Pharaoh Taharqo finally reached a point where there
was no cultural, economic, or social difference between Egypt and Kush.
Finally, the Kingdom of Kush was completely integrated into what used to be
the norm for the Egyptian centralized government. The de-Egyptianization of the
Kushites would be impossible by now, as the people identified as one. The
separation of the kingdom would come much later, and it would be done by the
Assyrians, whose conquest of Egypt would disassemble the double kingdom and
send Kush on its own way.
The burial sites found in southern Kush that have been dated to Taharqo’s rule
are standing evidence of how far the Egyptianization of the people of Kush went.
Although the funerary rituals were similar, they were not the same. This testifies
that some form of indigenous culture was preserved, though the use of Egyptian
talismans, the positioning of the bodies, and the use of Egyptian face masks are
evidence enough that the people identified as the same both in the south of the
kingdom and in the north. Still, it was a very heterogeneous society with
different groups of people meddling together to create its core.
Taharqo installed his own daughter, Amenirdis II, as the God’s Wife of Amun of
Thebes, and following the example of his predecessor, he installed his son, Nesi-
Shu-Tefnut, as the Second Prophet of Amun (since the position of High Priest
was occupied by Haremakhet). However, not all the administrative positions
went to members of the royal family. The elite families of Thebes and Memphis
occupied such positions as High Steward of the Divine Adoratrice or the Mayor
of Thebes. The local dynasties of Lower Egypt continued to assert administrative
control over their ancestral territories, but they operated only as delegates of
Egypt’s central government. This means they were partly independent, but to
what extent remains to be discovered.
The first half of Taharqo’s reign was peaceful, and the double kingdom
prospered. The king did his duty and warred to expand his kingdom because it
was seen as a religious obligation of the ruler. But conflict never touched the
territories of his realm, and the people themselves were not involved. But in 671
BCE, a new Assyrian invasion began, and Egypt was not safe anymore. It took
three battles on the Egyptian frontiers for the Assyrians to finally move inward
and take Memphis. The sources notify us that the pharaoh was wounded, but no
specific details are given. Taharqo had to flee his capital, probably to the south.
Memphis fell quickly, and the Assyrians didn’t even have to besiege it. It was
quite odd for the capital to be so weakly defended, especially since the royal
family was present. The crown prince, Nes-Anhuret, was taken by the Assyrians,
together with some of the royal wives and other members of the household. A
stela found in Nineveh testifies that the great treasure was taken from Memphis,
including 50,000 horses from the royal stables. The Assyrian ruler Esarhaddon
proclaimed himself king in Egypt, even though he captured only some of the
territories of Lower Egypt. Still, he received the submission of the local kings,
chiefs, and officials, and he even appointed some of his own. The local dynasties
became Assyrian vassals.
The years that followed are remembered as the dark years in which foreigners
ruled Egypt. The Kushite Twenty-Fifth Dynasty managed to unite Egypt and
rule the double kingdom while times were peaceful, but they showed their true
inadequacy when confronted by a superior foreign power. Taharqo blamed the
gods, saying how Amun had abandoned him before he could finish his rule. In
the inscription engraved in the temple of Karnak at around 674 BCE, the
pharaoh goes to great lengths to justify his failure. He asks the gods to help him
retrieve the lost lands, but at the same time, he also blames them. The whole
point of this fragmented text was to secure the legitimacy of the Twenty-Fifth
Dynasty and to prove the father-son relationship between Amun and the
pharaoh.
Esarhaddon left Egypt and placed Necho I as the king of Sais, who assumed the
pharaonic titles. It is possible that the Assyrian ruler gave Memphis to Necho I
and that he ruled as a vassal Egyptian pharaoh. However, Taharqo moved
quickly, and he instigated some revolts in Lower Egypt as soon as the Assyrian
army was gone. In fact, he caused so much trouble that Esarhaddon had to
launch a second invasion of Egypt in 669 BCE. But the Assyrian king died of an
illness on his way there, and Taharqo managed to capture Memphis back. It
remains obscure if the Kushite king retrieved Lower Egypt after Esarhaddon’s
death or before. Nevertheless, the new Assyrian king, Assurbanipal (669–627
BCE), continued his father’s task. He didn’t just invade Egypt in 667/666 BCE;
he also decided to annex it.
In the battle, which took place near the Eastern Delta of the Nile in 671 BCE, the
Egyptian-Kushite army of King Taharqo was defeated. The Kushite king
abandoned his troops and fled to Thebes. But he was pursued by the Assyrian
army, which had help from the kingdoms of the Nile’s Delta, as Assurbanipal
received the submission of all the local dynasties between Memphis and Thebes.
This discouraged Taharqo, who had to retreat even farther south. The Assyrians
even received the full submission of the mayor of Thebes, who was apparently
trying to preserve the city and stop any possible sacking. Satisfied, Assurbanipal
returned to Nineveh, leaving Egypt in the hands of vassal rulers who were under
the strict supervision of the Assyrian army, which stayed in the region.
But it didn’t take long for some of these local rulers to turn against the
Assyrians. Around 665 BCE, the princes of Sais, Mendes, and Pelusium turned
again toward Kushite King Taharqo, and together, they plotted a rebellion.
Unfortunately, word of the rebellion reached Assurbanipal just in time, and all
the involved parties were arrested. Taharqo remained in Kush and was beyond
the Assyrians’ reach. For unknown reasons, Necho of Sais was the only one who
wasn’t executed. Instead, he was made a vassal ruler of Memphis, while his son
Psamtik was given Athribis to rule. It is possible that Sais was strategically
important or economically strong, so the Assyrian king decided to become
politically involved in its dynasty. Psamtik would later be the founder of the
Twenty-Sixth Dynasty, an opportunity he grasped from his appointment as the
king of Athribis, a city where the heir presumptive was usually appointed by
pharaohs before their installation as rulers.
Taharqo died in Kush in 664 BCE without the opportunity to regain Egypt as the
second half of the double kingdom. Unlike his predecessors, he wasn’t buried in
El-Kurru. He founded a new necropolis in Nuri, just opposite of Napata.
The End of Kushite Rule in Egypt
Taharqo was succeeded by his cousin, the younger brother of Shabaqo:
Tanwetamani. This succession wasn’t patrilineal like the Egyptian tradition
demanded, but it is possible that the new ruler was installed by the military and
that the political situation in the kingdom led to this collateral succession, which
was practiced in Kush. Tanwetamani was born around 702 BCE, which means
he was around thirty-eight when his predecessor died. His age and reputation
gave him the boost he needed among the soldiers to succeed Taharqo instead of
his own son, the young prince Atlanersa.
After the coronation and recognition as the Son of Amun, Tanwetamani gathered
his army and sailed to Thebes. On his way, he made a stop in Elephantine, where
his rule was confirmed by the god Khnum. He took Thebes, and he performed a
ritual there that granted him recognition as the king of Egypt who had been
installed by Amun himself. As if this wasn’t enough, the new pharaoh continued
to Karnak, where his rule was again confirmed by Amun. Only then did
Tanwetamani feel ready enough to begin retaking the Egyptian territories from
the hands of the Assyrians.
The first victory for the new Kushite pharaoh was in Memphis, a city he took
without much opposition. It seems that at least there, he had the support of the
citizens and the city dignitaries. Nevertheless, he sent a rich war booty to Napata
as a sign of victory, even though the transition of power was peaceful. After
continuing on to Sais, he had to engage in a battle against Necho. Tanwetamani
was victorious, and Necho, King of Sais, died. The fall of Sais was enough for
some of the local dynasties of the Delta to surrender. The Kushite king promised
they could keep administering their ancestral territories as long as they
recognized him as the overlord. However, not the whole Delta was defeated, and
the son of Necho, Psamtik, managed to escape to Assyria.
Assurbanipal received the news of the fall of Memphis and the death of Necho.
He made a decision to launch yet another attack on Egypt, and the expedition
was ready in 664 BCE. Once the Assyrians arrived, Tanwetamani decided he
wasn’t strong enough to fight them, and he fled south to Thebes. The abandoned
dynasties of the Delta had no other choice but to renew their vassal status with
Assyria. But like his predecessor, Tanwetamani was continually chased by the
enemy’s army, and he had to leave Thebes and run to Kush. But the mayor of
Thebes didn’t manage to save the city this time. The ransacking and burning of
the city of Amun took place, and it shocked the Egyptians. They saw it as a bad
omen, and they finally realized their society was fragile and vulnerable. It was
the fall of Thebes that eclipsed any further efforts to regain Egypt, and so, the
ideology of Amun’s direct kingship over Egypt started disappearing. The first
split of the double kingdom happened. While Egypt abandoned the idea of
Amun as the ultimate ruler, he continued to be the central figure in the Kushite
cosmic order.
The Assyrians decided to install Psamtik I as the sole ruler of Egypt, and he
started the Twenty-Sixth Dynasty in 664 BCE. To avoid vassal kings swearing
allegiance to Kush at the first sign of trouble, the old dynasties were reinstalled,
such as the dynasty of Nimlot in Hermopolis and Peftjauawybast in
Heracleopolis. Even though Psamtik I was installed by Assurbanipal himself, in
the course of the next nine years, he expelled the Assyrian army from Egypt and
started ruling independently. In 656 BCE, he installed his daughter, Nitocris, as
the God’s Wife of Amun Elect, which gave legitimacy to his rule, just as it did to
the previous Kushite kings.
However, Upper Egypt remained loyal to Tanwetamani, even though there is
evidence that he never returned to these territories again. The political and
economic power in Upper Egypt belonged to the Fourth Prophet of Amun and
Mayor of Thebes Montuemhat. He was mentioned in inscriptions as the “Prince
of Thebes.” It was Montuemhat who negotiated with Psamtik I about the
installation of his daughter as the God’s Wife of Amun. All he asked in return
was political immunity for both of her predecessors, Shepenwepet II and
Amenirdis II. Nitocris was elevated to the sacred position, and the legitimacy of
the dynasty passed from Kashta to Psamtik I. Egypt was lost to the rulers of
Kush, and the double kingdom was no more. However, the Kushite court
remained closely tied to the Theban clergy of Amun, as their ideology still
depended on Egyptian culture. Even though the territorial division of the double
kingdom occurred, culturally, the Kush remained Egyptianized and did not
revert to its previous indigenous civilization.
Chapter 4 – Relations between Kush and Egypt
Continue
Psamtik I began his regnal year in 664 BCE, and after the elevation of his
daughter, Nitocris, to the position of Divine Adoratrice Elect, he asserted his
authority over Lower Egypt. This means that by 656 BCE, Psamtik unified
Egypt under one rule. But he would not have been able to do so if he did not
receive the help of local dynasties. To gain the people’s trust, he needed to form
alliances with the local rulers and wealthy families of Thebes. Because of this,
the office of Mayor of Thebes remained in the hands of Kushite Montuemhat,
and the nephew of Tanwetamani, Harkhebi, remained the High Priest of Amun.
Since Kushite officials remained in Thebes, Kush remained in contact with
Egypt. The nature of this relation was religious at its core, but it influenced other
aspects of the Kushite life. Some of the Theban mortuary texts were found in the
tombs of the new necropolis in Napata, such as excerpts from the Book of the
Dead , especially the Book of Gates (Egyptian religious texts for the dead).
Amun remained the main deity of kingship in Kush, and since his temple in
Thebes was traditionally the place where the kingship starts, Kush was unwilling
to cut all ties with it. The direct contact between the priesthood of Napata and
Thebes had to be maintained.
But the relation between Egypt and the Kingdom of Kush didn’t end with their
religious bonds. In fact, international trade was of importance for both
kingdoms, and Psamtik I encouraged it vigorously. The trade between the two
kingdoms continued to bloom during the reign of Psamtik’s successor, Necho II,
who dug the Red Sea canal to create a new route to the Land of Punt. To assert
control over the trade routes along the Nile Valley, Necho had to appease the
Troglodytes, nomadic tribes whose territory spread from the Lower Nubian
banks of the Nile to the Red Sea.
There is no evidence of the Nubian importation of goods to Egypt during this
period, but there were plenty of Egyptian items exported to Kush. These were
not just trade goods but also diplomatic gifts, which testify of the efforts to keep
peaceful relations between the two kingdoms. These gifts were often in the form
of luxury metal vessels, amulets, and furniture. They were found in the burial
places of Nuri, where the descendants of the Twenty-Fifth Dynasty were laid to
rest.
The decades following Tanwetamani’s withdrawal from Egypt saw the Kushites
building up their kingdom. The kings who followed had no access to Egyptian
building materials, but that didn’t stop them from trying to maintain the adopted
architecture in Lower Nubia. The kings of the Twenty-Fifth Dynasty kept the
high intellectual, artistic, and technical standards of their predecessors who had
ruled Egypt. The architecture, arts, and the inscriptions testify to the unbroken
continuity of the Egyptian ideology, both religious and political.
A radical change in Egypt’s attitude toward Kush occurred during the reign of
Psamtik II (595–589 BCE). He organized a military expedition to Kush, which
reached Napata. While the cause of this military attack is unknown, there is
evidence of the purposeful destruction of monuments, statues, and names of
Twenty-Fifth Dynasty kings, both in Kush and in Egypt. This animosity of
Egypt would push the Kingdom of Kush toward the south, away from Egyptian
influence.
The practice of destroying every memory of the previous rulers is known as
damnatio memoriae in Latin, and it served the purpose of political propaganda.
For some reason, the current rulers saw it as necessary to distance their kingdom
from the Kushite rulers of Egypt. Unfortunately, the real reason behind this
particular practice of damnatio memoriae is unknown. Scholars speculate that it
might have been the political tendencies of the Theban Amun priesthood that
sparked it. They preserved a positive view on Kush and kept the relations
between the two kingdoms alive. They possibly schemed to bring back the
Kushite rule, and the descendants of Psamtik I had to react strongly to preserve
their legitimacy.
Over the next few decades, the relations between Egypt and the Kingdom of
Kush would remain hostile. However, the cultural similarity of the two
civilizations continued. The Kushite kings continued erecting their own statues
in the Egyptian style. Instead of building them in Thebes or Memphis, they
switched to Napata. However, they chose the archaic style of the New Kingdom;
thus, these Kushite statues remained uninfluenced by Egypt’s contemporary art
trends. This was probably due to the isolation of Kush. With the relations
between the two kingdoms turning violent, it is no wonder that the Egyptian
influence stopped—at least for the moment.
The isolation Kush experienced after the war with Psamtik II was finally lifted
during the reign of Pharaoh Ahmose II (570–526 BCE). This renewed contact
brought back the international trade between the two neighboring kingdoms, and
new Egyptian items were imported to Kush. There is also a document that
speaks of a military escort for a trade caravan traveling south through the Nile
Valley. The document uses the date of year 41 of Ahmose’s rule, which places it
to 529 BCE.
Kushite Kings during the 7 th Century
Tanwetamani was succeeded by Atlanersa, the son of Taharqo. It is believed that
he was too young to inherit the throne after the death of his father, especially
since the reconquest of Egypt was being planned. Not much is known about the
politics of the Kingdom of Kush during the reign of Atlanersa because the
written evidence is very sparse. However, some of the most important cultural
changes happened during his reign. For example, Taharqo’s necropolis of Nuri
was again in use after Tanwetamani abandoned it for one whole generation.
Another achievement prescribed to Atlanersa is the building of the temple at the
foot of the sacred mountain Gebel Barkal near Napata. This temple is known as
B700, and it attests to the survival of the temple-building tradition that had been
started by the kings of the Twenty-Fifth Dynasty. The iconography and style of
the temple match those of Atlanersa’s predecessors who had ruled Egypt. Some
scholars believe this represents the constitutional and political integrity of the
Kingdom of Kush, which continued using the same ideology even after the
breakdown of the double kingdom.
One of the reliefs of Temple B700 shows King Atlanersa in the typical scene of
“uniting of the two lands.” This relief was originally seen as the coronation rite
of the Egyptian pharaohs, and it was never before seen in the Kushite tradition.
But now, this scene entered the Kushite royal legitimation practice and became a
religious theme. Even though the two kingdoms were physically distant, the
cultural integration of Egypt’s practices continued.
Except for the temples built by Atlanersa and some of the enthronement texts
engraved in them, nothing else was preserved, and so, nothing can even be
speculated about the reign of this king. He was buried in Nuri in a granite
sarcophagus, whose inscriptions testify to the richness of the Kushite traditions.
He was succeeded by Senkamanisken, whose reign is even more obscure. We
only know about his existence because some of his statues were found in Napata,
Kawa, and Meroe. He ruled approximately between 640 and 620 BCE, and he
had two sons, who both inherited the throne after him.
The first son to inherit the Kushite throne after Senkamanisken was Anlamani.
The exact dates of his rule are unknown, but he died around 600 BCE. His
coronation inscription found at the temple of Kawa is the first mention of the
Kushites taking an aggressive stance toward some of the nomadic tribes who
inhabited their territory. The text describes how King Anlamani annihilated his
enemy’s forces during the enthronement ceremony. This passage led scholars to
believe that the excursion wasn’t military in nature but rather ceremonial. This
would mean the conflict between the Kushites and the Blemmyae tribe
(ancestors of the Beja people in modern Sudan) was staged for the purposes of
the king’s coronation. It seems Anlamani’s enemy was nothing more than a
nomadic tribe living in the Kushite territory.
When Anlamani died, the throne was succeeded by his brother, Aspelta. This
suggests that Anlamani’s reign was short and that he had no mature son who
could inherit. The fact that one of his stelae mentioned how he was elected as
king by a group of religious and military leaders proves this succession
hypothesis. The textual evidence he left behind is enough to come to the
conclusion that the period of kings between Tanwetamani and Aspelta was one
of political continuity, without larger conflicts in the government itself.
Another stela dated to Aspelta’s time, known as the Banishment Stela,
mentioned an internal turmoil within the kingdom, but the details of this turmoil
remain hidden. Apparently, in the second year of the new king’s reign, a crime
occurred in Amun temple in Napata, for which the priests were punished. But
the more important fact is that the names and titles of Kings Anlamani and
Aspelta were erased from this stela and another one found in the Amun temple
of Napata. Even the figure of the king was erased from the Banishment Stela, but
it was later restored. Also, the face of the Queen Mother, her names and titles,
and the names of all the female ancestors of Aspelta were scratched. It seems
that the perpetrator intended to disprove the legitimacy of not only of King
Anlamani but also of the whole female succession line.
A similar crime occurred in Meroe, where the king’s statue was smashed; due to
this act, the inscription on it is forever lost. However, not all the stelae of King
Anlamani were destroyed. The Khaliut Stela was later transferred to the Amun
temple in Napata, where it replaced the old stela. The efforts of King Aspelta to
restore Anlamani’s good name shows that he deeply cared about his brother’s
reign. It is quite possible that the destruction of his predecessor’s name and
image, as well as those of his female ancestors, had something to do with
Aspelta’s legitimacy to the throne. It is possible that he didn’t have the support
of all the people and that there were some rebelling individuals who refused his
kingship.
The Banishment Stela describes the punishment of a group of priests who were
expelled from the city of Napata and burned alive because they tried to kill an
innocent man. If the text of the Banishment Stela can be connected with the
erasure of the names of the king’s brother and mother, it is quite possible that
these priests plotted against the king and were punished for it. However, there is
no evidence that can connect the Banishment Stela with the obvious damnatio
memoriae performed upon Kings Anlamani and Aspelta.
Burning the convicted wasn’t a usual punishment in Kush, and it could be a sign
of a very severe crime, such as plans to kill the king. The fact that priests were
involved leads to the idea that there was political turmoil, as the priests were
administrative leaders of the kingdom in addition to their religious position. This
is because only the priests received enough education to be elected as
government officials. The act of burning the convicted seems to have a ritualistic
connotation and is connected with a crime against the god Amun. Since Amun
was the personification of kingship, it is easy to conclude that the punished
priests tried to overthrow the legitimate king.
Psamtik II and the Nubian Campaign
One of the most important events that occurred during the reign of Kushite King
Aspelta is certainly the Egyptian military campaign in Nubia. In 593 BCE,
Egyptian Pharaoh Psamtik II led his forces against the Kingdom of Kush. The
records of this expedition were found on several stelae across Egypt, but the
best-preserved text of the pharaoh’s triumph was discovered on the Egyptian-
Kushite border at Shellal, near Aswan.
The conflict between Egypt and Kush was initiated by Psamtik II, and he
precisely planned it, even down to the battle itself occurring when the waters of
the First and Second Cataracts were sailable. The pharaoh planned it this way so
he could quickly transport his army to Kush. As soon as the Egyptians arrived at
Pnubs, the battle started. Pnubs is often referred to in the Kushite enthronement
texts, but its real location is a source of speculation. Some believe it could be
identified as Tabo on the island of Argo, while others believe that it was the
ancient site of the city of Kerma. However, the Egyptian sources describe this
territory as “the hill country of Pnubs,” and neither ancient Kerma nor Tabo
match this description. A third hypothesis about the location of Pnubs claims
that it was the impassable region of the Third Cataract.
Either way, if it is true the battle occurred at the site of the Third Cataract, it
means the terrain itself was not suitable for the usage of cavalry, for which the
Egyptian military was famous. Nevertheless, the pharaoh ordered an attack and
was victorious. The texts describe the enemy fleeing the battlefield, as well as
the capture of around 4,000 prisoners. Pnubs was the place of the first and final
Egyptian victory against the Kushites during the Nubian campaign, but neither
of them mentions the cause of the battle. Only a fragment of the Tanis Stela
speaks of a possible Nubian attack on the territories of southern Egypt.
According to this source, Psamtik II was in Elephantine when he heard of the
Kushites’ intentions, and he quickly sent an army to the land of Kush.
After the battle at Pnubs, Psamtik II sacked the northern part of the Kingdom of
Kush and probably reached Napata, even though the royal residential city is not
mentioned in any of the Egyptian sources. This is why some scholars wonder if
Egypt was responsible for Napata’s troubles or if it was due to an internal
struggle in Kush. After all, why wouldn’t any Egyptian source mention such an
important detail as the occupation of the capital city of their enemies? But the
truth is, many of the mentioned geographical places in Kush remain to be
located. The Tanis Stela mentions the royal residency Trgb , which could be
identified as Napata, as it was often referred to as the royal residence.
Whether the Egyptians sacked Napata or not, Aspelta decided to move his
capital to the southern city of Meroe, where he felt safer from any renewed
attacks. Psamtik II retreated to Elephantine after the victory, and he didn’t even
bother to establish his government in the newly conquered areas. This suggests
that he had no real intention of conquering the territories of Kush but that he was
merely stopping any intention this Nubian kingdom might have had of
conquering Egypt. The fact that his army destroyed all memory of the Twenty-
Fifth Dynasty, both in Egypt and in Kush, shows that the Nubian campaign was
indeed an act of resentment toward the Kushites instead of an attempt to conquer
new lands.
Napata continued to exist as a city, and for some time, it still acted as the
administrative and economic center of the region, even though the royal
residency was transferred to Meroe. However, through time, the region became
less and less inhibited. Even agriculture suffered, as the people moved farther
south, attracted by the rising economic power of Meroe. Napata, once a strong
capital of the kingdom, was reduced to a town, which would be plundered once
again many centuries later when the Romans, who were provoked by a Kushite
queen, entered the region.
Chapter 5 – Kush between the 6 th and 3 rd Centuries
The next 150 years after the Nubian campaign lacks archaeological and textual
evidence. It creates the illusion of a sudden decline, as nothing is preserved
about the ten rulers who followed Aspelta except for their tombs. Even these
were constantly plundered, so very little was found that gives an insight into the
Kushite-Egyptian relationship. All ten kings, from Aramatelqo to Talakhamani,
were buried in the Nuri necropolis near Napata, even though the capital was
moved to Meroe. This means the tradition was followed, and the continuity of
the politics from the Twenty-Fifth Dynasty onward was preserved. It seems even
the succession line was straight, and all the kings belonged to the same royal
family.
On average, each of the kings of the 6 th and the beginning of the 5 th century
ruled for fifteen years. The titles these Kushite kings used were the same as all
the other descendants of the Twenty-Fifth Dynasty, but the lack of Horus, Nebty,
and Golden Horus among the titles is evident. It remains unknown if the lack of
these titles was an effort of distancing Kush from the Egyptian-style of kingship,
or they are missing simply because the sands of time destroyed the inscriptions
of the royal tombs.
During this period, Meroe became an important economic, social, and cultural
center of the Kingdom of Kush. The excessive building projects started with
King Amaninatakilebte, who ruled in the late 6 th century, and it continued
through the reigns of his successors, Karkamani and Amaniastbarqo. They all
invested in the Amun temple in Meroe. Napata wasn’t yet fully abandoned, so
the building projects continued there as well, although they were limited to the
extension of already existing temples.
During the mid-5 th century, the ancient Greek historian Herodotus described the
lands of Kush, naming them Aethiopia. But he wasn’t the first man to use this
term. It was mentioned in Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey as the lands inhabited by
the “burned-faced” people. The word Aethiopia itself is a derivative of two
Greek words, which can be translated as “burned-face,” alluding to the skin
color of the people who inhabited certain parts of Africa. But Herodotus was the
first to use this term in relation to the Kingdom of Kush. He claimed that he
personally traveled to Elephantine, the southernmost Egyptian city that was
almost on the border with Aethiopia. According to Herodotus, there were two
Aethiopias, one that extended from Elephantine to Meroe and the Utopian
Aethiopia farther in the south.
Herodotus explains this Utopian Aethiopia in the far south produced enormous
amounts of gold and imported huge elephants into Egypt. He describes the
people of this faraway part of Kush as very tall and handsome, and he claims
they lived very long. The existence of two Aethiopias can be explained by the
fluid frontier of Kush and Egypt. It is possible the various political conflicts of
the 5 th century moved the border between the two kingdoms, meaning the
territory in the north of Kush was often swapped with Egypt.
But why were the Greeks interested in Egypt’s southern neighbor in the first
place? Why was Herodotus there to witness Aethiopia and write about it? It
could be Egypt’s stance toward the Kush that brought about the interest of
foreigners. Sometime during the rule of Pharaoh Ahmose II (Amasis II, 570–526
BCE), the trade relations between Egypt and Kush were renewed. This means
Kushite gold and other trade goods, such as animals and ebony, traveled through
Egypt to the Mediterranean world of Greece. There, these items sparked interest
in where they came from, and this interest was not only of material nature.
Scholars, such as Herodotus, were also interested in the people who inhabited
the faraway lands south of Egypt.
When Cambyses (525–522 BCE) of the Achaemenid Empire conquered Egypt
and proclaimed himself pharaoh, he continued his military expedition into the
lands of Kush. The legend even said that he reached the city of Meroe and that
he was the one who named it. But in truth, this traditional story might be the
reflection of an earlier conquest of Nubia by Psamtik II. During the rule of
Persian King Darius the Great (522–486 BCE), Kush was listed as the vassal
state of the Persian Empire in the emperor’s “peoples list,” a document that lists
all the peoples who were subjects of the Achaemenid Empire. Before that, it was
only mentioned as the land that gave tribute in ivory for the construction of the
palace at Susa. When Xerxes I (486–465 BCE) came to rule Persia, Kush was
still on the list of vassal states. The historian Herodotus supports the Persian
evidence by describing the Kushite warriors as fighting in Xerxes’s army in the
Battle of Thermopylae.
As a vassal state of the Persian Empire, the Kingdom of Kush still had its own
rulers. The Kushite interest in Egypt was renewed, as the old Twenty-Sixth
Dynasty that held resentment toward Kush was now gone. The kingdom was
free to renew the relationship with its old trade partner, and the old caravan
routes were reopened. However, Egypt was struck by a series of rebellions
against Persian rule, starting in 486 BCE, and Kush saw it as an opportunity to
take back Lower Nubia. This territory, between the First and Second Cataracts,
had been conquered by Psamtik II, and since then, it was never really integrated
back into Kush.
But the Kushite rulers took their time preparing the reconquest of Lower Nubia.
It seems that the moment wasn’t right until the third rebellion against Persian
rule, which occurred in 414. At that time, Kush was ruled by Irike-Arnannote
(also known as Amanineteyerike, whose exact year of reign is unknown), who
succeeded his uncle Talakhamani. This collateral succession might have been
inspired by the preparation for a military expedition to Lower Nubia. The
sources claim Irike-Arnannote was elected king when he was forty-one years
old. Again, the kingship was decided by his mature years and experience in
warfare.
Another evidence of his intention to retake the long-lost territories of Nubia was
his choice of the royal title. “Re is one whose heart is beautiful” was never used
before in the Kushite tradition. However, the only Egyptian ruler who had this
title was none other than Psamtik II, who initially conquered Lower Nubia from
Kush. This adoption of his enemy’s title almost had the magical purpose of
reverting history. The intention of conquest is also supported by his other royal
titles, such as “Seizer of every land” or “Mighty Bull appearing-in Thebes.”
Even though the Kushites obviously planned the conquest of Lower Nubia, and
it indeed stopped being an Egyptian territory by the end of the 5 th century, there
is no evidence of Irike-Arnannote’s involvement in the matter. Except for his
titles, nothing confirms he led the Kushite army on a military expedition. The
Egyptian rebellion ended in 404 BCE, and the kingship was returned to the royal
family of Sais. The new pharaoh was Amyrtaios of Sais, and he moved Egypt’s
border north of the First Cataract, but the evidence of Kushite military garrisons
in this area has yet to be found.
A document dated to the first and second year of Irike-Arnannote’s rule
mentions the internal trouble the Kingdom of Kush experienced. The nomadic
Rehrehe tribes of Butana revolted and seized the territory north of Meroe,
capturing all of the people and cattle that inhabited this area. The document
describes the king’s prayer for Amun’s help and how he sent the Kushite army to
deal with the rebellion while he stayed in the royal residency in Meroe. It is
possible that, by tradition, Irike-Amannote had no right to lead the army, as his
installment as the king of Kush was not yet over. As such, the kingdom was
under the direct rule of Amun, and the army couldn’t be led by anyone else but
the god himself.
Tradition demanded that Irike-Arnannote be crowned in different locations
around the kingdom, so the process of coronating a new king could take up to a
few years. This didn’t mean the future king couldn’t assume his duties before the
ceremonies were done. It simply meant the kingdom was directly ruled by the
gods in the time period between the two kings. Irike-Arnannote was crowned in
Meroe, Napata, Kawa, and Pnubs. During his ceremonial coronation tour, he had
to deal with a rebellion of the Medjay nomadic people, who he defeated easily.
The fact that the new king had to deal with the nomadic tribes who occupied the
territory between the Nile and the Red Sea speaks about the scale of the
Kingdom of Kush during this period. However, the nomadic tribes and their way
of living were difficult to integrate into the centralized government. Societies
that were constantly on the move were hard to control, but Kush greatly
depended on the cattle they provided and couldn’t simply abandon them.
The socio-economic aspect of the Kingdom of Kush during the rule of Irike-
Arnannote remains hidden, but it is obvious that the relationship with Egypt was
diminished. This is shown not only in the lack of Egyptian items but also in the
texts, which are all written in the corrupted Egyptian language, meaning the
education of priests was no longer relying on the Egyptian tradition. It is
unknown when exactly Kush moved away from the usage of the Egyptian
language, but it is obvious that by the late 5 th century, the Kushites developed
their own language: Meroitic. But even though they spoke in their indigenous
language, Egyptian was the official language for written documents. However,
the Kushite priests didn’t follow the contemporary trends of Egyptian writing,
but they also moved further away from the tradition. Still, they failed to come up
with their own style, and the result was grammatically incorrect Egyptian.
Meroitic would become the official language of writing much later, at the dawn
of the 3 rd century.
The Kushite throne passed to Baskakeren, whose reign was very brief. He was
succeeded by King Harsiyotef, who ruled approximately from 404 until 369
BCE. This king left a written document in the temple of Amun in Napata, in
which he describes nine military victories he acquired during the first thirty-five
years of his reign. Five out of these nine victories were against the nomadic
tribes in the northern Butana region. Two listed military expeditions were led to
Lower Nubia, while another two were against the nomadic peoples of Rehrehe
and Medjay, who occupied central parts of the Kingdom of Kush. It is not clear
whether the king led these expeditions personally, although it is known that
Harsiyotef sent his servant to lead the Kushite troops in a Lower Nubian
campaign in his eleventh regnal year. Because the rest of the campaigns lack this
type of side note, it is safe to presume the other expeditions were led by
Harsiyotef.
The expedition to Lower Nubia in his eleventh regnal year is of particular
interest. The document describes how the rebels besieged the town of Mirgissa,
after which the king sent a relief army. But the interesting fact is the position of
this town. It lays beyond the First Cataract of the Nile, which suggests that by
the time of Harsiyotef’s rule, Kush was not only in control of Lower Nubia up to
the Second Cataract, but it also controlled the territories to the north, between
the First and Second Cataracts. The fact the rebels fled to Aswan after the
Kushite army arrived means that Egypt was somehow involved in the conflict,
but it is unknown to what extent.
In the eighteenth and twenty-third year of Harsiyotef’s rule, a war was fought
against the wealthy nomadic tribes. Their main occupation was cattle-breeding
and trading. Because of their wealth, their constant moving, and social status, it
was difficult for the king to assert his dominance on these tribes. Believing they
had some political influence, these tribes would often rebel against the
centralized government, which didn’t suit their lifestyle. Since a centralized
government meant that all of the power was concentrated in the big
administrative cities, in order for one to prosper, he needed to stay near them.
For people who constantly moved from one territory to another, depending on
the season, a centralized government meant the loss of business opportunities.
But it wasn’t only the lack of opportunities that bothered the nomads. They were
wealthy because they owned great numbers of cattle that could be exported.
Naturally, the king wanted his share of the cattle profit. If nothing else, he
wanted the nomads to spend their wealth in the cities, where the taxes and
tributes had to be paid directly to him. There are even indications of the kings of
Kush trying to insert special higher taxes on the cattle-breeders based on their
prestige.
The last Kushite king to be buried at the Nuri necropolis near Napata was
Nastasen. He was probably the son of Harsiyotef, although he didn’t inherit the
throne directly from him. There may have been three kings who ruled before
Nastasen, who were all probably his brothers. He probably ruled somewhere
between 335 and 310 BCE, although the exact years are difficult to conclude.
Since the lowest chambers of his tomb at Nuri were flooded by underground
waters, it seems there is much to be discovered about this king. Because of the
flooding, the tomb was sealed early, and it seems that grave robbers left it
undisturbed. Archaeologists are working on it tirelessly, but many items were
destroyed due to the constant exposure to water.
However, Nastasen left behind a stela with a long, historically important text,
which gives us insight into his kingship and the Kushite government during the
last decades of the 4 th century. Nastasen’s Stela is his enthronement document,
and it emphasizes the king’s dynastic ties with Harsiyotef. Because of this, many
scholars assume direct descendancy took place, but there is a theory that claims
that Nastasen would not have to emphasize his relationship with Harsiyotef if he
was actually his son. Since there is no evidence to suggest otherwise, the belief
in the father-son relationship remains.
Similar to Harsiyotef’s stela, Nastasen’s lists military conflicts that occurred
during the first eight years of his rule. Many of them were ceremonial conflicts
or the end of minor rebellions. However, the sheer number of them suggests that
the territorial integrity acquired by Harsiyotef had to be defended, which could
not have been an easy task. Lower Nubia was still administered by the local
chiefs under the condition that they recognize the Kushite king as their superior.
However, this didn’t stop them from rebelling. In the south of the country, the
continuous dissatisfaction of the nomadic tribes escalated to armed conflicts on a
few occasions. Each time, Nastasen was victorious, and he detailed all the war
booty he gathered. The amount of gold and cattle listed on his stela as war gains
is astonishing, but considering that the Kushite nomadic tribes were among the
richest people of the kingdom, it is not impossible.
The later years of Nastasen’s rule were probably affected by the second conquest
of Egypt by the Persian Empire (343–332 BCE), the Macedonian rule of
Alexander the Great (332 BCE), and the later Ptolemaic Dynasty (beginning in
323 BCE). There is some evidence the Macedonians entered the territories of
Kush as early as the reign of Ptolemy I. However, all these conflicts were
concentrated around the Egyptian-Kushite border regions, indicating that it was
the Kushites who were the aggressors. It is possible Nastasen saw an opportunity
in the internal Egyptian struggle during the early years of Ptolemaic rule and that
he led the attack with the intention of gaining the territories of Upper Egypt.
However, there is no evidence of his success or his rule in the southern parts of
Egypt.
A tale of the romantic relationship between Alexander the Great and Meroitic
Queen Candance is nothing more than a product of the imagination of Pseudo-
Callisthenes, the author of Alexander Romance . He wrote how Alexander
attacked Kush in 332 BCE, but the queen prepared her army, and she rode in
front of it on a huge war elephant. Seeing the might of Queen Candance,
Alexander gave up conquering Kush, and he returned to Egypt. However, that
wasn’t the end of their contact. Through diplomatic connections, Alexander
started a romantic affair with her. As a side note, the Greeks and Romans were
wrong to assume that Candace was the name of this queen. In fact, this was the
Latinized form of the Kushite title “Kandake,” which would be used by the
king’s sister or a wife who was to bear the successor to the throne. The sister
was only appointed with this title if the king had no wife capable of giving him a
successor. She was chosen as a Queen Mother, and her son would be the
successor to the throne. No matter how exotic and attractive the story of
Alexander and Candance might sound, the only truth in it was the existence of
diplomatic connections between the Kingdom of Kush and Alexander’s Egypt.
Nastasen’s successor moved the royal burial place from Nuri near Napata to
Gebel Barkal. This move might have been caused by the dynastic change, but it
is more probable the true motive was the lack of elevated space for the royal
tombs. As we saw, Nastasen’s tomb was flooded by underground waters because
it was not elevated enough. His successors were probably aware of this problem,
and because the afterlife plays such a huge part in the lives of pious rulers, the
importance of proper burial grounds was enormous.
Aktisanes succeeded Nastasen and founded the new necropolis, where the
pyramids, which were far less opulent, testify hard times followed in Kush.
Observing the first tombs built at the Gebel Barkal site, it seems that the poverty
of the kingdom lasted during the reigns of the next three or four kings. This
poverty might have been caused by the failed military efforts of these kings in
Upper Egypt. The constant war cost the kingdom, and not even the riches of the
nomadic tribes helped.
The obvious poverty of the kingdom was further deepened by the Nubian
campaign of Ptolemy II in 274 BCE. His motive for war with Kush wasn’t the
conquest of lands but rather securing the trade routes along the Nile. Ptolemy’s
expedition to Nubia wasn’t against Kush, as he sought to establish safe trade
with the kingdom. Instead, it was against the chiefs and tribes of Lower Nubia,
who posed a serious threat to the trade caravans. Because of this, Ptolemy had
the plan to annex this territory and renew the good relations between Egypt and
Kush.
In the past, Egypt had lost its supply of war elephants because the Macedonian
successor states in the region cut it off from the Indian subcontinent. An
alternative source of elephants could be found in the southernmost regions of
Kush, where these animals roamed freely. Even though Kushites used elephants,
their knowledge in capturing and training them was very limited. Egyptian
experts needed safe passage to the territories where they could hunt the animals
and from which they could transport them back to Egypt with little effort.
Ptolemy had two routes in mind: the land road along the Nile that led beyond the
Fifth Cataract and a route that would take him along the coast of the Red Sea. To
successfully use either of these trade routes, he needed to bypass Lower Nubia.
But the annexation of Lower Nubia also meant that the gold mines of the area
would pass into Egyptian hands, and this was something the Kushites opposed.
A conflict was imminent, and even though Kush lost, it also received
tremendous benefits from it. The trade routes opened by the Egyptians brought
prosperity to Kush, and the kingdom went through another cultural renaissance.
Egypt didn’t only renew its economic relationship with the Kingdom of Kush,
but it also started importing its own intellectuals and craftsmen.
Chapter 6 – The Meroitic Dynasty

The Meroe Pyramids

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mero%C3%AB#/media/
File:NubianMeroePyramids30sep2005(2).jpg
Egypt’s annexation of Lower Nubia and its trade contract with Kush brought
new opportunities. Ptolemy’s kingdom didn’t limit its trade to the Kushite
territory; it also went beyond to African states farther south and the Horn of
Africa. But all the imported goods, such as exotic animals, timber, aromatic
woods, and raw materials, had to pass through Kush, which means the kingdom
had the right to collect the transport tax.
Because of this trade with the lands in the Horn of Africa, the southern regions
of the Kingdom of Kush started developing at a great speed, especially the
regions of Butana and Gezira. But the exponential growth of wealth through
trade resulted in political changes, specifically dynastical change. The story of
this change was preserved by a Greek scholar of the 2 nd century: Agatharchides
of Cnidus. His version of events is often quoted, but it is also misunderstood.
Primarily, Agatharchides was a geographer, and historical accuracy did not
concern him much. Through his writing, he tried to display the superiority of
Greek culture over the traditional belief systems of other nations. This is why his
story of Kushite politics needs to be taken with a grain of salt.
According to Agatharchides, the priests in Meroe had so much power that they
ordered kings to die whenever they wanted to change the ruler. They pretended
to receive a message directly from the gods, and the king could not refuse such
an order. The Greek scholar continues to describe the people of Kush as simple-
minded and ingrained in their tradition, unable to speak out against the all-
powerful priests. But King Ergamenes, who had training in Greek philosophy,
was of strong enough mind to ignore the priests’ order to die. Instead, he raised
an army and slaughtered all the priests of Meroe. Agatharchides also states his
own opinion of Ergamenes, saying how he was worthy of being king because of
his determination.
The story is obviously made up to demean the people of Kush and their
traditions, as well as to make a point of the “supreme” Greek philosophy. The
story’s hero, Ergamenes, had Greek education, and the readers can see the
obvious triumph of reason over superstition. But there is some truth in the story
of Agatharchides. The kings of Kush needed legitimation from the oracles, and
priests had enormous power in Meroe (though not enough to order kings to die).
The story is also probably right about King Ergamenes raising an army, but in
reality, he didn’t slaughter the priests but won a dynastic struggle over the
Kushite throne.
But who was King Ergamenes? Surely, this is a Greek name. In fact, it’s the
Hellenized version of his Kushite name, so history doesn’t really know which
king Agatharchides wrote about. The Hellenized name could be a derivative of
either Arakamani (Arkamaniqo) or Arqamani. Because of this, scholars tend to
believe that Agatharchides merged two kings into one semi-mythical Ergamenes.
King Arakamani is known for separating the state from the church by attacking
the priests in the Amun temple of Napata. Because of this, some historians are
eager to believe that he was the true Ergamenes of Agatharchides’s story. But he
did more than that. To separate the priests from the concept of power people
associated them with, he moved the capital from Napata to Meroe. Although
some scholars believe he didn’t move the capital but only the necropolis, he is
still considered to be the first king of the Meroitic period of Kush.
The fact that Arakamani took the title “The Heart of Re Rejoices,” which
belonged to Pharaoh Ahmose of the Twenty-Sixth Dynasty, suggests he used the
army to defeat his opponent and climb the Kushite throne. Ahmose was the only
Egyptian pharaoh who used this title, and he never hid the fact that he was a
usurper. If Arakamani borrowed the title from the usurper pharaoh, it is quite
possible he was trying to say that he came to power in a similar way. Kushite
kings were known for borrowing titles from Egyptian rulers with whom they
wanted to be associated, and it was more likely no different in the case of
Arakamani.
His transfer of the royal necropolis to the city of Meroe might suggest the new
dynasty had hereditary ties with the south of the kingdom. Even though we don’t
know when Arakamani exactly ruled (we cannot even begin to guess when he
moved the capital to Meroe), it is known that it all occurred in the early 3 rd
century BCE, as this Kushite king was the contemporary of Ptolemy II
Philopator, who ruled Egypt from 285 until 246 BCE.
The Meroitic period of the Kingdom of Kush is believed to have started with the
reign of Arakamani. Even though the power was now concentrated in the
southern capital of Meroe, the whole kingdom underwent developments, which
have been attributed to this king and his successor, Amanislo. The theory that
just the burial grounds of the royal family were moved from Napata to Meroe is
supported by the fact that Amanislo started renovation works on the royal
residency in Napata.
The Kingdom of Kush and Ptolemaic Egypt
The Kingdom of Kush continued its trade relations with Egypt even though it
tried to gain the territories of Lower Nubia after Egypt’s conquest by Alexander
the Great. The Ptolemaic Dynasty of Egypt, which was a result of that conquest,
continued the good trade relations between the two kingdoms, and it also
renewed the connection between Kushite and Egyptian priests. This connection
brought a new cultural renaissance to the Kingdom of Kush.
After the death of Alexander the Great, his close generals fought for power over
the lands he conquered. The result was splitting the territories, and Egypt was
taken by Ptolemy, who proclaimed himself a pharaoh. Ptolemy was Macedonian,
and with his rule, the Hellenic influence began not just in Egypt but in all the
territories in close proximity. The Kingdom of Kush already shared the religion
and culture of Egypt, and when Hellenism came, it could not resist its influence.
The architecture and the official art of monument building were probably
influenced by Hellenism the most, but religious concepts and iconography
followed. Even the minor arts, such as pottery painting, succumbed to the
Hellenistic style.
Egypt didn’t remain untouched by Kush. Luxury items from all over Africa were
transported to Egypt via the route that led through the Kingdom of Kush, so the
economic importance of this kingdom continued to grow. In fact, the lands of
Kush were always a tempting source of gold until, finally, Ptolemy II launched
an attack, during which he gained access to the gold mines of Wadi Allaqi and
Gabgaba, south of Aswan. The rule of the Ptolemaic Dynasty also brought
Hellenistic scholars, who showed interest in Kushite culture, religion, and
people. However, the kings of Kush also developed contact with Upper Egypt,
where the rebels who opposed the Ptolemaic rule thrived. It seemed that Kush
was constantly trying to undermine the Egyptian rule, perhaps because they
wanted to retrieve the old glory of the Twenty-Fifth Dynasty or just to retrieve
their old territories of Lower Nubia, which they succeeded in doing so in 207
BCE.
The leader of Upper Egypt’s revolt against Ptolemy IV was of Nubian descent,
Hor-Wennofer (Horwennefer), who captured Thebes in 205 BCE. There, he was
accepted as a pharaoh, and he ruled for six years. His son, Ankh-Wennofer
(Ankhwennefer), succeeded him, and he ruled for nineteen years before he was
deposed by Ptolemy V Epiphanes in 186 BCE. Even though it seems the
Kushites supported the revolt of Upper Egypt, they only did it because they saw
an opportunity to expand their territories over Lower Nubia between the First
and Second Cataracts. However, there is no evidence to confirm that Kush
managed to gain territories beyond the First Cataract. To further support the
theory that the Kingdom of Kush had something to do with the Upper Egypt
revolt is the agreement between the two kingdoms, which resulted in Meroitic
forces fighting on the side of Ankh-Wennofer against Ptolemy V. The Ptolemaic
Dynasty did not only regain the throne of Egypt, but it also managed to take
back the territories of Lower Nubia by 172 BCE.
Kush was ruled by Arqamani and Adikhalamani during the period of Egyptian
revolts. Because they are represented in the temples of Lower Nubia, as that part
was returned under the Kushite rule, the early Egyptologists thought of them as
under-kings in the Nubian regions who ruled under the pharaoh. It was later,
during the excavations in the Kingdom of Kush, that historians learned they
were both great kings of separate kingdoms and contemporaries of Ptolemy IV.
It is a general opinion that trade along the Nile Valley was interrupted during the
rebellion and the return of the Ptolemaic Dynasty to the throne of Egypt.
Although the elephant trade was revived shortly after the revolt in Egypt, it again
died by the middle of the 2 nd century, probably because India started supplying
the Ptolemaic Dynasty with their superior breed of war elephants.
By 150 BCE, Lower Nubia was a separate administrative unit led by the rulers
of Thebes. This type of administration in this disputed territory continued
through the reign of the Ptolemaic Dynasty and Roman rule of Egypt. The non-
Egyptian citizens of Lower Nubia were ruled by their own indigenous chiefs,
who also acted as Egyptian officials. This means that the integration of native
politics into the Egyptian administration occurred in Lower Nubia.
The decades that followed the rule of Adikhalamani in the Kingdom of Kush
remain obscure, as there is not enough evidence to offer an image of the events
that followed. However, it was during this time, somewhere during the late 2 nd
and early 1 st centuries, that Egypt retreated from the southern parts of Lower
Nubia. There is evidence from 117 to 115 BCE of Elephantine priests
complaining about low incomes. By the time of Ptolemy XII’s rule (80–58, 55–
51), there is no mention of him or his successors south of Philae (near the First
Cataract).
Kingdom of Kush between the 3 rd and 1 st Centuries
The Kingdom of Kush was completely integrated into international trade with
the Hellenistic world during the 3 rd century. As a result, luxury items produced
in Kush, such as pottery and exotic animals, were found all over the known
world. But even though there is a lack of evidence that Kush imported items
from abroad (except from Egypt), they were influenced by the Greeks, mostly on
an intellectual and cultural level. They started implementing the Hellenistic style
in their own arts, and they started developing the Hellenistic belief system,
which was applied to the Egyptian pantheon.
Trade opened the Kingdom of Kush to the outside world, and with the wealth
and power they accumulated, the expansion of the kingdom began. This time, it
was a diplomatic expansion through the development of new alliances,
especially with its southern neighbors. As a result of the overall development of
the kingdom, the redistribution of the people occurred. The rich elite started
inhabiting provinces at the edges of the kingdom because international trade led
them farther away from the main cities. While domestic trade still happened in
the big trade hubs such as Napata and Meroe, international trade was
concentrated in the fringe provinces, where trade caravans crossed from one
kingdom to another.
The development of diplomatic relations with the south led people to reside in
the southern provinces. New port cities were raised along the Red Sea, which
meant people started concentrating in the east too. But the movement of people
doesn’t mean the cities were empty. They were still very much alive, for they
were still the administrative centers of the kingdom, where all the power and
riches were gathered in the hands of the royal family and the priesthood.
In the cities, the temple-building projects of kings continued, but this time, the
changes in style were obvious. The Kingdom of Kush followed the latest trends
of Ptolemaic Egypt, so the new buildings obviously followed the Hellenistic
structure. Old temples were abandoned during the mid-3 rd century in favor of
the newly built ones. Such a fate occurred to the temple of Amun in Napata,
which had been built by the Twenty-Fifth Dynasty. Even though it was still
standing during the 3 rd and most of the 2 nd century, no rituals were performed
there, and there is no archaeological or written evidence that speaks about this
temple from that point on.
During the reign of King Arnekhamani, the royal residence was moved to
Musawwarat es-Sufra. Aside from the royal palace complex, the site includes at
least one temple. The royal residency complex, which extended over 64,000
square meters, is one of the most important achievements of the Kushite culture.
It is obvious that Egyptian artists were involved in the building of the temple in
Musawwarat es-Sufra, as it follows the contemporary style of Ptolemaic Egypt.
The cult of Arensnuphis, to whom the temple was dedicated, emerged as the first
known deity that belonged only to the Kushites. The mythological role of this
deity is unknown, but eventually, it spread throughout the regions of Nubia that
were controlled by Egypt.
Scholars speculate the new deity was needed to legitimize the new dynasty. The
new royal family had roots in the Butana region, where the aspect of a warrior
king was even more important than in the rest of the kingdom. Arensnuphis, who
is depicted as a lion and human, was the warrior-hunter god of the desert. But
these characteristics were now attributed to all the gods who were associated
with the ideology of kingship: Amun, Apedemak, and Sebiumeker.
Another interesting change to the kingship ideology is seen in the depiction of
the royal costume, which was found in the new temple and royal residency in
Musawwarat es-Sufra. Based on the contemporary Ptolemaic fashion, the kings
of Kush started wearing three-part royal costumes: a tunic, a shoulder-fastened
wrap-over, and a sash that was tied around the right shoulder and the chest. All
of this was already in use from the period of the Twenty-Fifth Dynasty;
however, the style changed. The wrap-over used to be a belt, which was
ceremonially tied by the god Amun in recognition of the rule of the new king.
Now the belt was a tasseled cord, which was tied over the shoulder in the same
manner as the belt used to be, but this time, it was associated with the Kushite
warrior-hunter god Arensnuphis.
The economic and intellectual contacts with the Hellenized Egypt of the
Ptolemaic Dynasty brought changes to the Kushite society as well. New
communities started rising in both the southern and northern regions of the
kingdom, and the development of Meroitic hieroglyphic and cursive scripture
occurred. The cursive writing is of particular interest, as it was developed to
serve the purposes of the growing elite. Literacy was also no longer reserved for
the kings and the priests. It allowed communication aside from administrative
purposes, and it was used by the provincial elite, local administrators, lower
ranks of the priesthood, wives, and children of middle-class merchants and
members of the non-royal elites. The cursive scripture became a staple of the
elite society, and it was used in all spheres of their life.
The first known ruling queen on the throne of Kush was Queen Shanakhdakheto.
Her name was the first to be written in Meroitic hieroglyphic scripture, and it
was wrongly believed to belong to a king. Her rule took place around the
beginning of the 2 nd century, according to the style of her pyramid and the items
found in; however, the exact years of her rule are unknown. Her ancestors are
unknown, and there is no evidence that would tell us which king she succeeded.
However, her depiction in the mortuary chamber, as well as in Temple F at
Naqa, clearly shows she was a ruler. Her title was “Son of Re, Lord of the Two
Lands,” and she was adorned with jewels to show off her power and richness.
In this depiction, she is accompanied by a prince, probably her royal consort,
who is displayed wearing a Greek-style tunic and a simple diadem, clearly
stating his non-ruling position. The men standing next to Queen Shanakhdakheto
are shown touching her crown, which can be translated as the transfer of power
to her. This might mean that a female ruler needed to prove her connections to
the dynasty and the right to rule. It cannot be an accident that the next ruling
queen, Amanirenas (one hundred years after Shanakhdakheto), had the same
depiction in her reliefs.
Shanakhdakheto’s rule offers much to the understanding of Kushite culture. Not
only was she the first female ruler, but the relief of her mortuary chamber shows
just how much the Kingdom of Kush departed from the Egyptian tradition
during the new Meroitic Dynasty. For example, the funerary rite of the “neck
dancers” is depicted in her tomb, portraying Kushite customs instead of Egypt’s,
which had been popular up until the 3 rd century. The “neck dancers” relief
shows a procession of musicians and dancers who accompanied the queen on her
last journey to the afterlife. Another purely Kushite custom is depicted in a relief
where men hold arrows during the funerary procession. The fact that Queen
Shanakhdakheto had a one-part title, “Son of Re, Lord of the Two Lands,”
instead of a five-part title like the Egyptian custom dictated, shows that the
Meroitic Dynasty truly distanced itself from their predecessors and Egypt.
The changes that were so obvious in the depiction of Queen Shanakhdakheto
become even more emphasized during the rule of her successor, King
Tanydamani (approximately 180–140 BCE). During their reigns, human and
animal sacrifices in the elite burial sites occurred. Whether these were connected
somehow with the change in the Kushite religion or were remnants of the
indigenous traditions remains unknown. At first, during the beginning of the 2 nd
century, the sacrifices, mostly horses and humans, were found in the tombs of
the rich elite. But during the late 2 nd and early 1 st centuries BCE, they started
appearing in the royal tombs as well. This speaks in favor of new religious
practices instead of the reemergence of indigenous traditions.
The first monument written in Meroitic cursive scripture is the stela of King
Tanydamani. Unfortunately, this scripture has yet to be completely deciphered.
Besides some theonyms (references to deities), nothing else is understood.
However, these theonyms indicate that the kingship dogma was unchanged and
that the cults of Amun of Napata and Amun of Thebes were still alive in the
Kingdom of Kush.
The Kingdom of Kush and Rome
The 1 st century was filled with events concerning Egypt. The kingdom became
the Roman province and was under the direct rule of the Senate in the year 80
BCE, although it had been influenced by Rome for much longer. For instance,
events and figures, such as Julius Caesar, Mark Antony, the suicide of Cleopatra
and the murder of her son, the kingship of Octavian, and the first Roman prefect
of Egypt, Cornelius Gallus, all affected the Kingdom of Kush.
Egypt wasn’t thrilled with the Roman rule, and a rebellion in Upper Egypt
occurred in 29 BCE. Meroitic Kush was involved in it. Cornelius Gaius managed
to quickly crush the rebellion, but to ensure it wouldn’t happen again, he led his
forces on a campaign in Lower Nubia. The records of his campaign are recorded
on a stela in Philae in three different languages: Latin, Greek, and Egyptian.
According to the stela, Egypt’s prefect was victorious in two battles against the
rebels, and he conquered five cities, after which he continued to the Nubian
region.
The reason for the rebellion was the high taxes in Upper Egypt, according to the
Greek historian Strabo. But how did Meroe fit in the rebellion? It seems the
Kushite rulers at the time wanted to establish a new border with Egypt beyond
the First Cataract. They supported the rebellion in order to weaken the kingdom
and easily take over the territories they wanted. This theory is supported by the
list of cities Cornelius Gaius conquered: Boresis, Koptos, Keramike, Diospolis
Magna, and Ophelion, which were all near Thebes.
Cornelius Gaius managed to retake all of Lower Nubia and make a special
administrative unit out of it, just as it was during the early Ptolemaic period. He
did this in order to block any further Meroitic advances in the region and to cut
them off from their allies in Upper Egypt. A tyrannos was installed to oversee
the region, although it is unknown how much power this title brought. The
tyrannos of Lower Nubia was probably a title given to a local chief who would
assert control over both Egyptian and non-Egyptian citizens.
The Greek version of Gaius’s victory stela indicates that the region conquered
from the Meroitic Dynasty became a vassal chiefdom, which means that the
Roman plan for the whole Kingdom of Kush was to turn it into a vassal state. It
is possible Emperor Augustus even planned the annexation of the whole
kingdom; however, this never came to be, due to the strong opposition of the
Kushites.
In the summer of 25 BCE, Emperor Augustus ordered the second prefect of
Egypt to lead a campaign against Arabia Felix. He installed Gaius Petronius in
this position, who was to lead the campaign against the Kingdom of Kush at the
same time. However, Gaius Petronius was completely unprepared when Meroitic
Queen Kandake Amanirenas decided to launch the first strike. The Kushites
crossed the First Cataract and attacked Philae, Aswan, and Elephantine. Egypt
was provoked, and Petronius had to quickly organize a counterattack. By the
winter of 24 BCE, Emperor Augustus received the first Meroitic prisoners, who
were sent by the prefect of Egypt. Strabo records that when Petronius asked the
Meroitic forces why they attacked, they replied they were angered by the tax
collectors. But this account of the conflict seems to indicate that the Meroitic
forces were just a part of another rebellion in Lower Nubia, not a part of the
direct attack sent by Queen Kandake.
At the time of the events, Queen Amanirenas was known as Queen Kandake,
who was associated with King Teriteqas. It was only after his death that she
succeeded him and became the second ruling queen of the Kingdom of Kush.
During the conflict with Rome, she resided in Napata, where Petronius decided
to launch the next attack. According to Strabo, Amanirenas offered peace to
Petronius, but he disregarded it and attacked the city. Napata quickly fell and
was razed to the ground. However, Petronius was unable to establish Roman rule
over the conquered Kushite territories, and he had to turn back to Egypt. Despite
this, a new border was established at Qasr Ibrim, where the Roman garrison
guarded the restored Nubian administrative unit.
Emperor Augustus soon changed the Roman imperial policy of annexing the
vassal states, so the campaign in the Kingdom of Kush was abandoned. Instead,
Meroe was treated as a client state, and the ambassador of Kush was sent to
negotiate peace with Augustus. The loss of Napata was irrelevant to the
Kingdom of Kush, as their true center of power was now in Meroe. Meroe’s
opposition to Rome continued even after Napata was lost, and after only two
years, Queen Amanirenas launched another attack. She led the forces to Qasr
Ibrim, where the Roman garrison had just exhausted its supplies. But Petronius
heard of her plans in time, and he arrived at the site before the Meroitic army.
This forced the Kushite queen to negotiate peace. Taxes were imposed on the
kingdom, and the borders were moved even farther south to Hiera Sycaminos,
modern-day Maharraqa.
The territory between the First and Second Cataracts now belonged to the
Roman Empire and was annexed. But the people who lived there were
Aethiopians, and Rome was smart enough to leave the administration of the
region in the hands of the domestic elite. The whole region was observed as a
military zone, with its civil administration only loosely attached to Roman
Egypt. The area between the First and Second Cataracts acted as a buffer zone,
which was supposed to stop any Kushite attempt of expanding to the north.
Queen Amanirenas’s successor wasn’t her son, Akinidad, who appears next to
her in all the depictions. She was instead succeeded by another ruling queen, but
the reasons for this remain unknown. The inscriptions found in the Amun temple
of Meroe, as well as in Temple T at Kawa, indicate that she was another wife of
King Teriteqas and that she inherited the throne after Amanirenas because
Akinidad wasn’t accepted as the legitimate heir. We know he was alive because
he is depicted next to Queen Amanishakheto, the new ruler, just as he was next
to her predecessor.
The fourth female ruler followed right after, and she was known as Queen
Nawidemak. She ruled around the 1 st century CE. Nothing is known about this
queen, but scholars suggest there was some kind of dynastic trouble since there
three concessive female rulers. However, there is no evidence to support this
theory, except that the place of royal burials was often changed during this
period.
The Kingdom of Kush recovered from the Roman attack by the middle of the 1 st
century CE, and the Meroitic Dynasty led the kingdom into a new era of
prosperity, which was displayed through excessive monument and temple
building, intellectual achievements, and art. The two kings most deserving of
recognition when it comes to the building projects were Natakamani and his co-
regent Amanitore. They dedicated their rule to construction works and restoring
monuments. To list just a few of their projects: the Amun sanctuary at Gebel
Barkal, Amun Temple at Naqa, Isis Temple at both Waq and Naqa, a royal
palace at Gebel Barkal, and the later Amun temple at Meroe City. The art style
of this period suggests a renewed Egyptian influence, but this time, Roman
details were prevalent instead of Ptolemaic ones. Even the throne names of the
rulers were once more written in Egyptian hieroglyphs, but the Kushite title
“Son of Re” remained unchanged.

Chapter 7 – The Last Centuries of the Kingdom of
Kush
In the period between the late 1 st and 3 rd centuries, there was an explosion in the
development of new settlements. However, this did not necessarily mean an
increase of citizens in Kush; rather, it was a shift toward the new trade routes
and agricultural regions. Caravan settlements, as well as small agricultural
communities, started developing into urban settlements, much like towns or even
cities. This period is rich in archaeological findings, which help cast light on the
social structure of the kingdom and less on the royal and political history. The
first impression when observing this period of Kushite history is peace and
prosperity, but this might be false, as the kings were still valued for their warrior
abilities, which would suggest some kind of conflict occurred.
The distribution of the monuments throughout the kingdom indicates the
government was still centralized, which was a tradition brought down to Kush
from the Egyptian Twenty-Fifth Dynasty. However, unlike the patrilineal
succession of Egypt, the succession in the Kingdom of Kush continued to follow
its own collateral line. Even female rulers were attested, and their kingship was
seen as legitimate in the Kushite kingship ideology.
The troubles the kings had with controlling the nomadic tribes who inhabited
their lands were finally solved in the 3 rd century CE. The kings could finally
follow the movement of the nomads and implement a taxation system on the
hafirs , the water stations these tribes stopped at with their cattle. In Butana
alone, there were around 800 hafirs registered. They had artificial water sources
and were built as round enclosures; they were around 70 to 250 meters (230 to
820 feet) wide and 7 meters (23 feet) high. Through the season, the nomads
would gather around these water sources, which always had a temple attached to
them. They exemplified the royal power over the people, as they served the
purpose of assimilating the non-sedentary peoples into the culture of Meroitic
Kush. One of the biggest hafirs was the reservoir at Musawwarat es-Sufra, and it
could fill a volume of up to 135,000 cubic meters (around 35,663,227 gallons).
In the regions of Lower Nubia that were still under Roman control, the non-
Egyptian and non-Roman elite continued to rule in an administrative capacity
over the mostly Aethiopian citizens. One powerful family would emerge from
the elite that would allow the Meroitic Dynasty to take part in local affairs from
the 2 nd to 4 th century CE. In fact, around the middle of the 3 rd century, the
Kushites regained full authority over the region. The powerful elite family who
made this possible is known as the Wayekiye family, after the name of one of its
most prominent members. This family continued to be mentioned in Meroitic
royal texts for the next eight generations.
The members of the Wayekiye family held high offices in the administration and
priesthood. Wayekiye himself belonged to the fourth generation of the family
and had the title of “Chief Wizard of the King of Kush.” He was also the hont-
priest of Sothis and the waab-priest of the “five living stars.” Both titles
represent a certain level of purity that brought about certain responsibilities. The
last title is generally accepted to mean that Wayekiye was an astronomer, while
the previous two titles are similar to the ancient Greek title of a prophet. If
Wayekiye’s titles correspond to the similar titles found in Egypt, this would
mean that he was the royal astronomer and astrologist, which further implies he
had excessive education as the “writer of the sacred books.” His duties were to
measure the time, the length of the days during the course of the year, and to
define the length of night and day over the change of the seasons.
His title of “Chief Wizard of the King of Kush” is of special interest, as it
implies strong connections with the royal Meroitic Dynasty and with Lower
Nubia, in which Wayekiye resided. The most obvious conclusion would be that
Wayekiye received this royal title in return for bringing the Roman-Egyptian
time measurement system to the Meroitic court. Wayekiye lived in Roman
Lower Nubia but was invited to the Kingdom of Kush, where he and his wife
were eventually buried. This proves that Wayekiye was the connection between
the two kingdoms, as he brought Egyptian knowledge to the Kushites. This alone
leads scholars to think that Wayekiye was also an instrument of political
influence.
The other two prominent members of the Wayekiye family were Manitawawi
and Hornakhtyotef II, and they belonged to the fourth and fifth generation,
respectively. They were important because their titles indicate they were no
longer in the service of the Roman province of Egypt, as they were proclaimed
to be the “princes of Triacontaschoenus” (the Roman term for Lower Nubia) and
“agents of the King of the Land of Nubia.” This means they were governors of
Lower Nubia who were appointed by the king of Meroe, indicating that Lower
Nubia was again in the hands of the Kingdom of Kush.
The Meroitic supremacy in Lower Nubia is confirmed by the lack of Roman
garrisons stationed there. The Roman withdrawal from the region may have been
influenced by the plague, which occurred in around 200 CE, and the border was
moved to the north, to Aswan. Meroitic Kush took Lower Nubia without
conflict, but the area was constantly raided by the nomadic Troglodytes and
Blemmyae. The Kushites had to set up immediate defenses throughout the
eastern desert and the hills of the Red Sea coast.
To the south of the Kingdom of Kush, a new kingdom rose to power and
threatened the borders. This was the Kingdom of Aksum, and it is probable that
because of their advances, the Meroitic kings were forced to expand their
territories to the north. An unknown king of Aksum, who lived at the end of the
3 rd century, led a military campaign against the northern tribes and even reached
the city of Meroe. However, he was more interested in establishing a land route
to Egypt for trading purposes. Aksum rose to such power that, during the end of
the 3 rd century, it took over the export of African goods to the Mediterranean
world, becoming an economic rival of the Kingdom of Kush.
The Disappearance of the Kingdom of Kush
During the late 3 rd and the beginning of the 4 th century CE, the Kingdom of
Kush was an administratively and socially well-developed state. The
contemporary written evidence offers us a glimpse into the period when Lower
Nubia was under the rule of a royal deputy. The Nile Valley was densely
inhabited with towns and villages developing at an exponential rate. These areas
were under the supervision of district officials, who were closely tied to the
temple cults. The area of the Kush empire between the Second and Third
Cataracts was under the administrative rule of a local chief, who held the title
sleqen . He resided in Sedeinga, where rich pyramids were erected for the needs
of the officials. Unfortunately, there is not much evidence that would introduce
us to the governmental structure south of the Third Cataract. However, the
number of settlements and their distribution suggests that the government of this
area might have been very similar to the one in Lower Nubia.
By the middle of the 3 rd century, Rome was in crisis. Their economy and
government were on the decline in Egypt, and this influenced the Kingdom of
Kush greatly. While the Roman government of Egypt would be reorganized
under the rule of Diocletian (284–305 CE), the Kingdom of Kush would never
be able to get back on its feet. To the south, the Kingdom of Aksum rose and
seriously threatened the physical and economic integrity of Meroitic Kush.
Archaeological evidence suggests the Kingdom of Kush continued to thrive
during the 3 rd century, and it wasn’t, just yet, concerned with the events outside
its borders. It was at the end of the century that the outside influence began to
negatively affect Kush. The disproportional development of the country is
obvious at this time, with the south deteriorating while the north was rich enough
to thrive for some time.
There is not much evidence to attest to what exactly happened in the Kingdom of
Kush that made it disintegrate. The first problem seems to have appeared in the
south. The large-scale migration of people occurred when the area was
threatened by the Kingdom of Aksum. But it is only a theory that Aksum was
involved since it was the most powerful neighbor of Kush. There is evidence that
suggests that after the Kushites left, the southern parts of the kingdom were not
inhabited with the Aksumites but by the Nobatae people of the desert, whose
origins remain a mystery.
The king who ruled Kush during the late 3 rd and the early 4 th century was
Yesebokheamani. It is possible that he was the king who asserted Meroitic
control over Lower Nubia once the Romans withdrew. There is evidence of his
visit to the Philae temple compound, as there are Meroitic inscriptions there
commemorating this visit. A lion monument in Qasr Ibrim is also dedicated to
Yesebokheamani, at least according to the Meroitic cursive scripture.
Roman Emperor Diocletian peacefully withdrew his forces from Lower Nubia,
probably because of the threat posed by the Blemmyae tribes who lived between
the Nile in Lower Nubia and the Red Sea. These tribes were aggressive toward
Egypt, and they even started an alliance with the Meroitic Kushites. Instead of
fighting them, Diocletian decided to let go of the territory and concentrated his
power elsewhere. Sometime between the 3 rd and 5 th century CE, the Blemmyae
organized themselves in larger units of tribal kingdoms. They concentrated their
power and presented a threat to Upper Egypt and Lower Nubia. In order to keep
their territories safe, the Meroitic kings allied themselves with the Blemmyae
against Rome, and to keep them from threatening the Kingdom of Kush, they
promised the tribes settlements in Lower Nubia, which belonged to Rome.
The last decades of the Kingdom of Kush and the Meroitic Dynasty are poorly
recorded. The mortuary chapels of the last rulers offer evidence that the kingship
ideology survived, as well as the collateral succession, which was traditional for
Kush. The burial pyramids of the last five kings speak of the sudden economic
decline of the kingdom. Although these pyramids contained much less in terms
of objects, their architectural, artistic, and iconographic expression confirms the
cultural continuity.
Although not much changed in the burial places of the kings and elite, a drastic
change is noticeable in the houses of the common people who lived in the large
cities of the south, including Meroe. The architecture in the south started
changing and separating from the kind seen in the north of the kingdom. The
large, spacious houses were replaced by smaller ones with mudbrick walls and
tight rooms. However, these rooms were all positioned around a big courtyard.
These types of houses were probably built for extended family members. The
difference is so obvious that it speaks of the occurrence of a new type of
habitation that was previously unknown in Meroe. The logical conclusion is that
it was brought by immigrants who started inhabiting the city
At the end of Meroe’s existence, evidence shows the temples were abandoned,
even though people still occupied the city. The royal palace was also abandoned,
and it instead served as a burial ground for the commoners, who placed their
dead in the cuttings in the walls. At this time, during the 4 th century, there was a
lack of Kushite pottery, which means that the local production of luxury goods
had already stopped and was replaced by the more archaic style ceramic wares.
This new ceramic pottery was found in burial sites that didn’t belong to the
Meroitic people and is considered to belong to the period that immediately
followed the disintegration of the Kingdom of Kush
The last Meroitic burial sites of the royals and elite members of society are dated
to the middle of the 4 th century. However, new burial styles for the common
people, as well as the appearance of new but archaic art styles of common items,
suggest the existence of two cultures in the transition period between Meroitic
and Post-Meroitic. These two cultures had nothing in common, and the transition
was not gradual at all. This means the new culture must have belonged to the
newly arrived population who brought their tradition to Meroe.
In Hobagi, around sixty-five kilometers (forty miles) southwest of Meroe, early
tombs of these rich immigrants were found. The tombs display all the signs of a
tribal community, which had divided its semi-nomadic people into two social
groups: warriors and cattle-breeders. These Post-Meroitic burial grounds
belonged to the Noba people of the West Nile regions. However, the Hobagi site
needs more excavations and detailed analysis of the findings in order to bring
unbiased conclusions.
The Nobatae people occupied the regions west of the Nile, which expanded from
the city of Meroe to the north, where the Bayuda region lay. The Nobatae people
were ethnically the same as the occupants of the Nubian Nile Valley during the
period of the New Kingdom (16 th –11 th century BCE). The conflicts between
the Nobatae people and the Kingdom of Kush occurred as early as the 1 st
century CE, and the first settlement of these tribes in the Kushite territory was
recorded in the 4 th century by Aksumite King Ezana. He left behind textual
evidence, which mentions a conflict between the Kingdom of Aksum and
Meroe. In this document, the Nobatae were mentioned as the people who took
the territories of northern Butana and Bayuda from the Meroitic kings.
Scholars believe the resettlement of the Nobatae people occurred on the
invitation of the Kushite kings. Because of the growing threat that was the
Kingdom of Aksum, it is possible that the Meroitic kings adopted the Roman
strategy of foederati , binding the nomadic tribes in the service of the Kushite
army with special treaties. But this is just a theory based on the lack of conflicts
between the Nobatae and the Kushites in the early years of the resettlement. A
similar system to the Roman foederati in Africa happened in the Kingdom of
Aksum. Their kings employed the vassal tribes in order to fight Meroe in the 4 th
century.
On two separate occasions, Meroe was occupied by the Aksumite kings, which
is confirmed by the excavation of two Aksumite Triumphal Stelae, which were
written in the Greek language. But historians cannot agree whether this meant
the Kingdom of Kush became an Aksumite vassal or not. Nevertheless, the fact
that the kings of Aksum resided in Meroe speaks about the weakness of Kush at
the time. Aksum may not have been the destructor of the Kingdom of Kush, but
it definitely contributed to it.
The end of the Meroitic Dynasty happened due to an expedition to Kush by
Aksumite King Ezana (320–360 CE). He left the Triumphal Stelae in Meroe, but
it remains unknown if he conquered the city or came to assist the Kushites
against the rebelling Nobatae people. Whatever the case was, the Kingdom of
Kush was already so weak that only a few years after Ezana’s presence in
Meroe, the Meroitic Dynasty disappeared.
The last royal burial place at Meroe belonged to Queen Amanipilade. The tomb
itself is of very poor quality, but it still follows the traditional style of the
Meroitic Dynasty. However, the kingdom didn’t disappear with this queen. It
continued to exist for several more decades, taking up the territories from Butana
in the south to Lower Nubia in the north. But scholars call this political unit the
Post-Meroitic successor state, and it was governed by the non-royal surviving
deputies of an unknown ruler who resided in the south.
Around 420 CE, the deputies of Lower Nubia assumed royal titles and started
the Ballana Dynasty and the Kingdom of Nobatia, by which the region of Nubia
got its name. The Kingdom of Kush was no more. In its stead, new kingdoms
rose: Nobatia, Makuria, and Alodia. They would soon convert to Christianity,
and the old Egyptian and Kushite gods, such as Amun, Mut, Isis, and
Arensnuphis, would be forgotten.
Chapter 8 – The Society of Kush
The excavations performed at Napata, Kawa, Musawwarat es-Sufra, and later
Meroe didn’t just allow us to learn about the chronology of the Kingdom of
Kush, its rulers, and religion. The cities contained tools, art, and everyday items
belonging to the common people. Based on these, we can reconstruct the basics
of their lives, allowing us to understand the complexity of the Kushite society.
Through the ambivalent connection with Egypt, with whom the Kingdom of
Kush was in constant conflict, we can observe the influences the two kingdoms
had on each other when it came to cultural traditions, language, and scripture.
Unfortunately, more excavations need to be done in the areas of the once-
powerful Kingdom of Kush for us to understand all the nuances of the social
structure of the kingdom. Little is known about the commoners, as they left no
trails behind them. Based on what we know of Egypt and its influence on the
Kushite culture, we can still hazard a guess, especially when it comes to the
Twenty-Fifth Dynasty and their descendants, the Napatan Dynasty.
The Settlements of the Napatan Period
The first documents from the Napatan period show the territorial governmental
structure and its implementation in the settlements that sprouted around the
Amun temples and the royal residence. These settlements, including Kawa,
Napata, and Meroe, consisted of Amun temples and the royal palace, which were
made out of stone and brick. The settlements also contained workshops and
habitation areas that catered to various layers of society. The workshops were
not only for the local production of one settlement. In fact, they were huge
spaces that supplied the whole kingdom with various items, such as pottery,
ceramic wares, and later even iron tools. These workshops were under royal or
temple authority, as they were not owned by individuals but by the kingdom.
Some settlements had minor royal residencies instead of palaces, and they also
had special open places dedicated to various temple festivals.
Life in the Middle Nile Region greatly depended on the river levels and the
occasional changes in its course. The main agricultural hubs were concentrated
there, as it was the most fertile region of the kingdom. However, none of the
agricultural settlements shows any signs of consistency. The unpredictable flow
of the Nile, as well as the political and religious trends of the period, often
dictated the constant movement of people. Also, the quality of production might
have dropped in some regions as the people moved in search of more fertile
grounds. Unfortunately, there are not many excavations done on the agricultural
settlements to reach any concrete conclusions of the people’s movement and the
density of the inhabited areas. As such, no conclusions can be drawn about the
size of the agricultural settlements or their prosperity.
However, the kingdom’s overall prosperity fluctuated, and it greatly depended
on international trade and relations with Egypt. In previous chapters, we
explained that even though there was a certain amount of conflict between Egypt
and the Kingdom of Kush, the need for the trans-African trade routes often
prevailed. Thus, the two kingdoms enjoyed various trade treaties that brought
luxury African items to the Mediterranean world. But it was the control of these
trade routes that often sparked conflict in the first place. It seems that Egypt and
Kush were trapped in a circle of dependency and conflict.
Unlike agricultural settlements, the principal cities and towns showed signs of
consistency. Scholars believe this was due to the careful selection of their
geographical location, which benefited not just their economic status but also
tactical defense. But the quality of life in these permanent settlements greatly
depended on the political life of the kingdom. When the trade agreements with
the neighboring kingdoms were in place, the quality of life in the city was high.
But during times of conflict, it was greatly reduced by the lack of international
income. But life in the city was also influenced by the wealth of the royal family
and the elite of society, which was tightly connected to the kingdom’s political
background.
In Napata, there wasn’t much change to the urban structure of the city. The only
noticeable change was the relocation of the royal necropolis from the opposite
bank of the river to the slopes of Gebel Barkal. The need for moving the
necropolis might have come from the importance of Gebel Barkal in the
religious rites of the Kushites. No changes in the structure of the Napatan
habitation quarters were noticed.
In Meroe, the habitation quarters were divided from the royal palace and the
temple of Amun by the various canals of the Nile. This was probably not done as
a separation between the social classes but out of the need for irrigation, as the
Nile gradually withdrew from the vicinity of the city. It was this change in the
Nile Basin that probably led to the abandonment of the Amun temple in Meroe
and the need for a new one.
Besides the agricultural settlements and the permanent capital cities, the
Kingdom of Kush was also rich in trade caravans and military bases. These were
seen as settlements, even though they were short-lived and often changed their
location based on the need of traders or the defense of the kingdom. Most of the
settlements discovered between the Third and First Cataracts of the Nile were of
this type, and they belonged to the period of Ptolemaic rule in Egypt.
Musawwarat es-Sufra is seen as a special type of settlement, known as the Great
Enclosure, as this was a temple complex and a place of pilgrimage.
The Art
The Kingdom of Kush adopted its iconography from Egypt but only its style. For
example, in Egypt, the representation of various peoples occurred, and
iconography was available even to the commoners. This didn’t happen in Kush.
During the early Napatan period, human figure representation was reserved only
for the images of gods and the members of the royal family. However, there
were exceptions to the rule. Besides the nameless priests, an occurring feature in
the Kushite reliefs, there are also carvings of some very important non-royal
figures, such as heroes or administrative officials of great importance.
Nonetheless, the representations of important figures never had a cult
significance attached to it.
Aside from the relief carvings of the temples, royal palaces, and tombs, figure
representations of nameless people occur in the minor arts, such as pottery. But
here, the human figure has a purely ornamental purpose and was not attached to
a specific individual. In the cases where the human figure was not used as an
ornament, it was used as a personification of the concept of kingship. This
means that humans were represented only as the king’s attendants or his
mourners after his death.
Monumental sculptures were always reserved for the divine and the royal. The
purpose of the colossal Kushite monuments was to show the connection between
the god and the king. Here, Kush always managed to follow contemporary
Egyptian trends. The early period of Kush represented the gods with eternally
youthful faces and slender figures, while the kings were represented more
realistically, with facial features with ethnic characteristics. However, the
Kushites never depicted the actual person, as they were more generalized to the
Nubian ethnicity. Unlike the divine, the royal bodies were muscular, influenced
by the Old and Middle Kingdom art of Egypt.
The best representation of Kushite ethnic realism is probably the statue of Queen
Amanimalolo from the Amun temple of Napata. She is represented as a heavy,
steatopygous person, but this was not how she actually looked. This was the idol
of beauty among the Kushite royal females, and it was also a sign of fertility.
Because the succession in Kush was matrilineal, the fertility of the king’s wife or
mother was the sign of legitimating the kingship.
The monumental depictions of kings changed after the reign of King Aspelta, as
they were under the direct influence of the Twenty-Sixth Dynasty. No longer
were the kings represented as muscular figures but rather as smooth-limbed yet
not thin men. The king now lacked muscles, but the thickness of his body was a
representation of his power. At first, archaeologists thought the lack of details in
sculptures meant a decline in its quality, but it turns out it was just an artistic
trend that quickly passed. During the late Napatan and early Meroitic periods,
the traditional depiction of muscles surfaced again.
Art existed in Kush only as a form of expression of religious dogmas and
kingship ideologies. While the ornamentation of luxury items was common, it
didn’t really represent the art of the Kushite culture, as it mostly followed the
contemporary Egyptian style. Mass production of everyday clay and iron items
were intended for both internal use and for exportation. However, the luxury
items found in the royal tombs of the temples suggest the existence of small
royal workshops, where the luxury items would have been made by artists.
Unfortunately, many of the Kushite tombs were plundered on more than one
occasion, and there are only a handful of such items. Because of this, it is
practically impossible to determine if they were, indeed, of Kushite origin in the
first place.
Government and the Social Structure of the Meroitic Period
During the early Meroitic period, the first signs of the social division between
the north and the south of the kingdom appear. In the north, between the First
and Third Cataracts, the professional elite arose, while in the south, there is no
evidence yet of any kind of elite. This might be due to the lack of archaeological
excavations in the region, but it is more probable that the society of the south
had different traditional values. After all, the north was in constant contact with
Egypt and was influenced by it, especially through the rivalry in Lower Nubia.
But the difference in social structure doesn’t mean the administration of the
kingdom greatly varied in different regions. In fact, the official titles were the
same in the north as in the south.
As for the economy of the kingdom during the Meroitic period, it was
interconnected with the administration, whether it was civic, royal, or temple
administration. Governmental officials collected taxes, but at the same time, they
were also temple officials who collected donations. This is because the Amun
temples and the royal residency were seen as two bodies of the same spirit; the
king was a ruler on Earth, but at the same time, he was divine. Later, we will
explain the connection between religion and kingship in more detail, as they
were inseparable in Kush until the very end, while in Egypt, the separation of
Amun and the king occurred during the Ptolemaic period.
The creation of the Meroitic cursive script during the 2 nd century BCE might
have been due to the need for a new administrative direction of the kingdom.
Nonetheless, the new script was primarily used by the growing professional class
of the Kingdom of Kush.
Lower Nubia was under the control of Meroitic officials, who held the title
peseto . He had a role similar to a modern-day viceroy, and he was appointed
from a non-royal elite family. The title was not hereditary, although there were
cases where it remained in the extended family. During the 3 rd century BCE,
new titles started appearing in Lower Nubia, and they show the tight connection
between Meroitic Kush and Roman Egypt. The titles were apote Arome-li-se
(“envoy to Rome”) and apote-lh Arome-li-se (“great envoy to Rome”), and they
were reserved for the administrative or priestly elite of Lower Nubia.
During the late 1 st century BCE, one more title emerged in the Kingdom of
Kush. This time, it was bound to the area between the Second and Third
Cataracts. Priests were appointed to the position of sleqen , which was a similar
administrative title to the peseto of Lower Nubia.
Due to the lack of evidence, nothing is known about the lower classes of the
Kushite society. However, excavating the various settlements can give us some
insight into the number of people who inhabited certain regions. It is safe to say
that Meroe, as a royal, religious, and trade center, attracted people of all classes.
On the other hand, Naqa, which lay to the south, lacks any non-luxury habitats,
and it is presumed this settlement was inhabited only by the provincial elite. The
nomadic cattle-breeders cannot be tracked through history. Because of their way
of life and constant movements, they left no trails, and it is impossible to
prescribe any archaeological findings to them. It is a different case with the
agricultural societies of Lower Nubia, though. There, villages consisting of
approximately twenty to thirty houses were excavated. The graves found in the
vicinity of these villages attest that the life for a farmer was of a high standard.
The items excavated both in the villages and in the cemeteries confirm this.
However, the small size of these settlements suggests the farmers were not
considered to be a low class of society but, in fact, middle to elite.
South of Maharraqa, a number of cemeteries were found, which are believed to
have belonged to the warrior class. The items found with the buried bodies are
very poor, but the burials are arranged in close groups, which indicates some
kind of military organization. Unfortunately, these cemeteries cannot give any
evidence of Kushite military life. The textual evidence always focuses on the
king as the ultimate warrior and never speaks of a regular army. Even the small
number of weapons found during the excavations of the Kushite sites were
always connected to the kings and were found only in their burial places. Unless
more excavations are done, and more sites are found, the defenses of the Kushite
kingdom and its army will remain completely unknown.
The succession in the Kingdom of Kush was matrilineal, and this wasn’t only a
rule for the kings and queens. The archaeological evidence found in the tombs of
the elite confirms that a similar matrilineal line of succession was followed. The
name of the mother is always listed first in the tombs of the deceased, whether
they were high priests, clerks, or viceroys of Lower Nubia. The mother
legitimized the social status of the individual, but it is not clear if the elite
society just imitated royal decorum or if it was the generally accepted rule of
succession that simply transcended all social layers.
Social status in Kushite culture was very important, even for the afterlife. This is
displayed not only in the richness of the tombs of the elite but also through the
hierarchy of the elite gravesites. A peseto was always buried in the tallest and
richest pyramid, which was positioned in the center of the graveyard, and he was
surrounded not just by his family but also by his subordinates. Priests were
buried at a distance from the pesetos and their families to show the unique
importance of their class.
Kushite Religion and Kingship
The religion of the Kingdom of Kush was polytheistic, and it was greatly
influenced by Egypt. During the first excavations in the region, which were
performed in the early 20 th century, a mistake was made that identified the
Kushite culture as Egyptian. The first archaeologists didn’t make the difference
between the two kingdoms, as Lower Nubia was believed to be a constant part of
Egypt. However, excessive research proved that Nubia was a specific region,
although it was influenced by Egypt to the point where the border between the
two cultures becomes nearly invisible. Kush was never inhabited by many
Egyptians, as it had its own indigenous people. But parts of it were under
Egyptian rule, which was enough for the excessive Egyptianization of the local
populace.
This Egyptianization continued once the kings of Kush conquered Egypt and
ruled it as the Twenty-Fifth Dynasty. Although the Kingdom of Kush started
showing some signs of its own independent culture during the late Napatan
period, it was the Meroitic Dynasty that distanced itself from Egypt’s influence.
However, the constant contact, whether it was through war or through trade
agreements, proved that the ties with Egypt were never really cut.
The Kingdom of Kush emerged as a successor state to the Egyptian rule over the
Nubian regions. As such, it adopted the Egyptian belief system. Already existing
Egyptian temples were the foundation for the development of the Kushite
religion. At the capital of Napata, the Great Temple of Amun was erected during
the 13 th century BCE, probably during the reign of Thutmose III and Ramesses
II. This temple, just as the god it was dedicated to, Amun, played a central role
in the religious lives of the Kushites. Since the reign of King Piye, this was
where all the kings had to be crowned before they embarked on their coronation
tour. Even when the capital of the kingdom was moved to Meroe, the kings of
the Meroitic Dynasty came to Napata to be crowned at its Amun temple.
The god Amun was of Egyptian origin, but his importance was brought to new
dimensions in the Kingdom of Kush. Amun, pronounced as Amane or Amani in
the language of Kush, was of national importance. He was the father of the kings
and ruled above all. Amun was first attested during the Old Kingdom, where he
was a god of the wind. But later, he merged with other deities and eventually
was elevated to the position of the main deity in the Egyptian religion. When
Amun was merged with the god Re to form Amun-Re, he became the solar deity,
father of all gods and men, and the creator of the universe. In Kush, Amun was
represented with the head of a ram. This was actually remnants of the old Kerma
culture and their solar deity, which was represented as a ram. When the
Egyptians first conquered the Kerma society, they identified their main deity
with Amun.
The connection between Amun and the Kushite kings starts as early as the rule
of King Kashta. Although he is not known for having the royal title similar to
those of later kings, Kashta’s respect for Amun is shown by the promotion of his
daughter to the position of the Divine Adoratrice of Amun. This was the first
known event in which a king of Kush used the power of a deity to promote
himself and his dynasty. The connection between Amun and the Kushite kings
began. From this point on, the kings were seen as the sons of Amun, and as such,
they had their own cults. Amun’s priests and oracles were able to hear the
messages of the god, and they were the ones who would announce the next king.
Once the new king was crowned at the Napatan temple of Amun at Gebel
Barkal, he would start a journey through his land to be crowned in each major
temple dedicated to this god. Depending on the vastness of territories a king
ruled, this ceremony could take up to a few years. During this period, the
kingdom was under the direct rule of Amun. Even though the new king could
assume all of his duties, he was not considered a true king until he finished the
coronation tour.
Other details of the Kushite religion are sparse, largely due to the fact that the
Meroitic language is still not completely deciphered. Not much is known about
the other Kushite gods, and all we can do is interpret the reliefs of them in the
temples and tombs of the kings and queens. It seems that other Egyptian gods
were worshiped in Kush, such as the moon god Khonsu, Thoth, Re, Khnum, and
the goddesses Hathor, Isis, and Mut.
But it seems that the gods were not worshiped in all the regions of the kingdom.
The god of the Nile Cataracts, Khonsu, was especially important in the Nile
alley. Lower Nubia also worshiped Horus, while the south of the kingdom saw
little mention of him. Mortuary tradition was also adopted from Egypt, and with
it came the worship of the Egyptian mortuary deities, such as Osiris, his sister
Isis, Anubis, and Nephthys. Isis became the wife of Amun in a later period and
was no longer associated with the mortuary rites. Instead, she became the
mythological mother of the Kushite kings.
As explained in previous chapters, with the rise of the Meroitic Dynasty, a
greater separation from Egypt’s influence occurred. The Meroitic period saw the
introduction of several deities that were clearly not of Egyptian origin. However,
it is impossible to claim that they were purely Kushite gods. The influence of
their southern neighbors is possible but not yet confirmed. These deities were
Apedemak, a warrior god associated with kingship; his wife, Amesemi, the
goddess of protection; Sekhmet, the mother of Apedemak and the goddess of
anger and chaos; and Bastet, the goddess of motherhood. All these Meroitic
deities are connected to the south of the kingdom, while the north continued to
mainly worship Egyptian gods.
Animals also played an important role in the Kushite religion, and they are often
depicted in temple reliefs. Cattle were associated with the north, where it played
an important part in various religious processions. In the south, the most sacred
animal was the elephant. Other animals connected with religion were baboons
and crocodiles. The details of religious rituals remain obscure, but from the
reliefs at the temples and tombs, we can conclude that offerings of food and
drink played an important role. Later on, animal and human sacrifices were
introduced, but they disappeared quickly.
Just like in Egypt, the afterlife was a very important religious aspect for the
Kushites. They believed that life continued after death, and this was why they
were buried with various items they might need in the afterlife, from jewelry and
pottery to food offerings and even their favorite pets. The Egyptian feature of the
mortuary rites adopted by the Meroitic kingdom was the erection of the Ba
statues. These were statues of birds with human heads representing the deceased.
Ba was the part of the soul that could travel between the worlds, while Ka was
the part of the soul that was the life force and needed a new body. This new body
was another statue, made in the likeness of the deceased so the life force could
recognize its owner. There was even a third part of the soul that, after death,
traveled to unite with the gods.
Conclusion
Although it is often overlooked and greatly misunderstood, the Kingdom of
Kush was, without a doubt, a major power in the ancient world. It was the
southern frontier of the classical world, and with its deserts, gold mines, and
exotic animals and items, it intrigued the rulers of Egypt as much as the ancient
Greeks and Romans. The kingdom, settled in the Middle Nile Valley, went
through three distinct phases. Although it was not yet the Kingdom of Kush, the
Kerma culture united the peoples of the Nubian region once it was abandoned by
Egypt. The first rulers who dreamed about a single civilization didn’t just
manage to start their own kingdom but also managed to conquer powerful Egypt.
King Kashta was named by the Egyptians, and his name simply means “The
Kushite.” This means that the growing power of his united kingdom was already
strong enough to be recognized. It became an attribute worthy of being the name
of a king. Although greatly influenced by Egypt, Kush was always a separate
political entity, whose leaders defended its riches. Although the northern part,
Lower Nubia, often saw the change of the administration as well as the ruler, its
people remained Kushites by culture, ethnicity, and nature.
During the Meroitic Dynasty, Lower Nubia was lost, but its priesthood and
people continued to gravitate toward the south. The region was torn by various
conflicts (Egypt, Assyria, Meroe, and Rome), but it was also inhabited by
rebellious people with their own idea of independence. Later, they founded their
own Kingdom of Nobatia, which gave the modern name “Nubia” to the whole
region.
The Meroitic Kingdom of Kush thrived under the new dynasty, but the center of
power moved from the northern capital of Napata to the southern city of Meroe.
This was the period when Kush started standing on its own. Although it may
have been influenced by the migrating nomadic tribes, it started developing its
own southern culture, first through language, new gods, and scripture.
But nothing lasts forever. The world was changing around the Kingdom of Kush,
and it couldn’t retain its borders. Scholars believe the rise of the southern
Kingdom of Aksum brought about the destruction of Kush in one way or
another. While some believe it was a direct conquest that brought Kush to its
end, others believe such destruction never even occurred. According to them,
Kush vanished peacefully, dissipating into the more powerful neighboring
kingdoms who took over its role in the economy and the political scene of the
African continent.
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Dixon, D. M. (1964). The Origin of the Kingdom of Kush (Napata-Meroe). The
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Kendall, T. (1997). Kerma and the Kingdom of Kush, 2500-1500 B.C.: The
Archaeological Discovery of an Ancient Nubian Empire . National Museum of
African Art, Smithsonian Institution.
László Török. (1995). The Birth of an Ancient African Kingdom: Kush and Her
Myth of the State in the First Millennium BC . Université Charles-De-Gaulle.
Trigger, B. G., & Welsby, D. A. (2000). The Kingdom of Kush: The Napatan
and Meroitic Empires. The International Journal of African Historical Studies ,
33 (1), 212. https://doi.org/10.2307/220314
Williams, B. (2001). Kerma and the Kingdom of Kush 2500-1500 B.C.: The
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